I was sad to read of the death of Cynthia Payne, who died on November 15th aged 82. As this obituary makes clear she had a rich and complicated life, and was a famous advocate for sex work. Despite having a great name for a dominatrix, she wasn’t strictly that. Instead she worked as an escort, brothel manager, sex party organizer and general provider of both kinky and non-kinky experiences. Maybe it says something about the English that she started as a general sex worker, but became known for all the kinky activities she was asked to help organize.
Two different films were shot based on her life. The early years were portrayed in Wish You Were Here. However, the more relevant one for this blog is Personal Services. Directed by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) and starring Julie Walters (from films such as Educating Rita and Billy Elliot), it told the story of her later life and sex work. It’s pretty tame by today’s standards, but I think worth seeking out. I think this quote gives a flavor for the very British humor involved…
[Wing Commander Morten, dressed in a French maid’s uniform, is dragged along the corridor to the cells after a police raid on the brothel]
Morten: [yells] I am retired officer of the RAF, twice decorated. I flew two hundred and seven missions over occupied territory – in bra and panties!
Policeman: You’re a disgrace.
[the cell door slams shut]
Morten: [yells, with hands on hips] This is no way to treat a lady!
I don’t have a picture of that scene, but here’s another one from the movie featuring another particularly British kink.
Nice depiction of a fairly traditional piece of Tory electioneering. Obviously an Eton head boy running for a very safe seat in some upcoming by election š
I read the obit in the Telegraph yesterday.
We lived in Farnborough at the time and I still vaguely remember the headlines about the raid on her home and her arrest. Not being British my parents and I couldn’t wrap our heads around it. So much ado about so little …
It was a lot of fuss about very little. Luckily most of the press and public seemed to think so to, and the police ended up looking fairly silly. The fact she’d been catering to older middle-class and upper-class men tended to play to the stereotype of eccentric British bachelors. Sure if she’d been catering to a younger crowd in a more straightforward businesslike way, things would have been worse for her.
-paltego