Beyond the Bay, Beyond Samois …

In it’s four years, Samois made a profound impact on the Bay Area and one can see that impact even today in the group The Exiles, the organizational granddaughter of Samois (via The Outcasts). Yet, Samois’ influence extends much beyond the Bay Area. Through it’s newsletters, booklet and book, Samois’ ideas about the possibility of lesbian-feminist sado-masochism found their way into countless women’s communities around the country and the world. Indeed, throughout the last thirty years, innumberable women’s SM and Leather clubs, publications and contests have created an entire subculture of Leatherdykes. And, in some way, that all began with Samois …