The Fetish Issue

Volume 10 Issue 5, January 2011

In compiling submissions for an issue on the the of “Fetish”, it is difficult to anticipate exactly what type of submissions an open callout will yield. Will we get a chaste response of muted reflection pieces, or a no-holds-barred explication of one’s raunchiest, out-there kinks?

It was four years ago that Blueprint sought submissions for an issue on the theme of “Sex,” an issue that received complaints for its representation of female bodies; specifically, that female bodies comprised an overwhelming majority of the issue’s visual content. Though the “Fetish” issue images have tried to narrow this gap, the balance of explicitly male and explicitly female experiences is far from balanced. Is there a cultural disconnect in this campus and community, or is something else at play?

As a magazine conceived as a reflection of Laurier student culture, Blueprint seeks to reflect that culture, rather than project any agenda or biases onto it though the content we publish. Though individuals both on our editorial staff and within our readership may perceive certain pieces in this issue to be problematic, our specific editorial choices are reflective of an overarching culture.

Whether a fetish is an object of sexual lust, an idol to be revered, or a deeply personal secret, the influence of fetishization is inherent. It is a context to be simultaneously celebrated and problematized.

- Morgan Alan, Editor-in-Chief