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Eric Chaline Archive

  1. Archives
  2. UK Leather and Fetish Archive

About this Archive

Administrative/biographical history

Eric Chaline (1957- ) is a London-based author, journalist, blogger, and academic researcher. The archive focuses on Chaline’s academic work on MSM BDSM, which he began in Sydney, Australia, in 2003, and which he continued on his return to the UK in 2004. In 2005, he began his doctorate under the supervision of Professor Jeffrey Weeks and Dr M.J. Barker at London South Bank University.

His unpublished thesis, From Leather Outlaw to Sexual Consumer? Gay SM in the United Kingdom, 1950s-Present (2008), was the first PhD on the sociology of MSM BDSM in the UK. He used both quantitative (survey of 100 participants in the MSM BDSM scene in the UK facilitated by SM-Gays and Recon.com) and qualitative (in-depth interviews of 31 participants in the MSM BDSM scene in the UK) research methods to study MSM BDSM in the UK from its emergence as the “Leather scene” in the 1950s, following its evolution through several historical phases, which culminated in the commercial, consumerised scene of the 2000s.

The thesis features a full account of the academic and medico-psychiatric literature on MSM BDSM since the sexuality and sexual identity was first defined as “sadomasochism” by Richard von Krafft-Ebing in Psychopathia Sexualis (1890 edition) and provides the first complete history of the UK MSM BDSM scene from the 1950s to the 2000s, which was compiled from interviews with participants, the archives of British clubs and societies, and from materials made available to him by the Leather Archives and Museum, Chicago, U.S.A., which he visited in 2006. The Eric Chaline Archive also contains copies of publications and blogs relating to MSM BDSM published since 2008.

Scope and quantity

Research archives compiled by Chaline while completing the PhD thesis From Leather Outlaw to Sexual Consumer? Gay SM in the United Kingdom, 1950s-Present (2008), including:

  • Printed, draft, and digital copies of the thesis (MS Word and PDF formats)
  • Printed and digital copies of quantitative research: 100 surveys of participants in MSM BDSM in the UK from 1950s – 2000s; statistical analysis of quantitative research.
  • Printed, audio and digital copies of qualitative research: 31 in-depth interviews of participants in MSM BDSM in the UK from 1950s – 2000s.
  • Printed and digital copies of thesis notes and admin
  • Printed copies of miscellaneous MSM BDSM research papers and materials
  • Video recordings of MSM BDSM sessions (©Eric Chaline)
  • Digital copies of MSM BDSM photographs and illustrations (©mixed – please check with archive)
  • Digital copies of blog editions of whatisgaypowerexchangesex.blogspot.com (formerly whatisgaybdsm.blogspot.com)
  • Video recordings of Dream Bondage Boys MSM BDSM sessions (©Dreambondageboys.com)
  • Printed and digital copies of selected publications related to MSM BDSM in the UK: Gay Planet: All Things for All Gay Men, section on MSM BDSM in “Eros”, pp. 80-95, Gay Times Press, London, 2000; Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review, vol. 6 No. 3, November 2005, Special Issue: Contemporary Perspectives on Sadomasochism (S/M), “Researching Sexual Difference: A Survey of Gay S/M in the UK”, pp. 240-252; Safe, Sane and Consensual, 2007, ed. D. Langridge and M.J. Barker, “On Becoming a Gay SMer: A Sexual Scripting Perspective”, pp. 155-176; Sexualities, vol. 13 No 3, June 2010, “The Construction, Maintenance and Evolution of Gay SM Sexualities and Sexual Identities: A Preliminary Description of SM Sexual Identity Practices”, pp. 338-35
Quantity

3 Boxes, 7.23bg of digital material


Discover more about the UK Leather and Fetish Archive

Anna Bones and Sweet Severine performing in a red lit Great Hall

Gallery: Kink in the Archive

A photo from the opening of the UK Leather & Fetish Archive at Bishopsgate Institute. Eight men are standing round a table in the Library, dressed up in leather.

Listen to our interview with Buster (Mr Leather UK 2019)

Discover three new kink collections by female artists

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Looking to learn more about the UK Leather and Fetish Archive?

Check out our interview with Dominatrix Miss Kim

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UK Leather and Fetish Archive Go to this category page.

Eric Chaline Archive

Fetish illustration by the artist Mory. It depicts two women in maids outfits, stood flanking a woman hogtied on a table.

Mory Archive

Sugar May holds a mixing bowl and wooden spoon. They are wearing a red dress and have black hair styled in 1940s victory rolls with a red bow

Sugar May Archive

Scally Lads Fetish Archive

Lauretta X Archive

2021

Princess Augustine Archive

2016 - Present

Felicia Fisher Archive

2018 - 2021

Anna Sampson Archive

2012 - 2021

Mackintosh Collection

Find More UK Leather and Fetish Archive

Natasha Gornik ‘Nine Years’ Archive

2009 – 2018

An image of Natalie Lambert standing against a black background with a neon blue cross. A neon blue light is also over her.

Natalie Lambert Archive

SM Pride March on 28 November 1992. Protestors are holding a banner that says "Countdown on spanner" with a police officer ahead of the protestors.

Countdown on Spanner Archive

1984 – 1998

Delia Vair Archive

2016-2020

Magdalena Piech Archive

2017 – 2020

Black Dahlia Archive

2020

Luca Federici Archive

2018-2019

Matt Spike Archive

2014-2018

An image of Alex Rueda from the UK Leather and Fetish Archive.

Alex Rueda Archive

2017-2020

A photo of Mistress Eva wearing black heels, a leather corset, leather hat and gloves. She is lying on white flooring, with a shadow behind her.

Mistress Eva Archive

2012-2020

An image of Mistress Absolute, wearing a leather jacket. Her hair is dark and curly, and she is looking to her right, with her hands on her hips.

Mistress Absolute Archive

2003-2019

A photo recreating the Beatles image along Abbey Road, but this image is of four people wearing leather suits. At the top of the image it says: "London Fetish weekend 2014".

London Fetish Weekend Archive

2008-2018

A person is lying on a wooden floor in a leather outfit and mask. It says on the image: "Subversion, Bank Holiday Bender".

Club Subversion Archive

2005-2018

The Skin Two Collection magazines resting against each other.

Skin Two Rubber Ball Archive

2004-2007

The two people who run London Vagabond. The man on the left is taking a photo, and the woman is sitting next to him, both looking at the camera.

The London Vagabond Archive

2017-

An image of Peter Freeman wearing a bow tie and a suit, and holding a stick between his hands.

Peter Freeman Collection

1997-2020

China Hamilton Archive (Subba Hamilton)

Bill Ward Archive

1927-1996

Club RUB Archive

1996-2017

MSC London / London Leathermen

Formed in 1973

MSC Bournemouth Archive

Formed in February 1986

Midland Link MSC

Founded in 1974

MSC Hallamshire

MSC Scotland

Established in 1974

London Blues

Founded in 1978

Sixty Nine Club

#FROMTHE ARCHIVES

Eton Manor Boys’ Club was founded in 1909 in Hackney and was funded and run by four Old Etonians (Arthur Villiers, Gerald Wellesley, Alfred Wagg, and Sir Edward Cadogan) until it closed in 1967. The clubhouse, together with its nearby sports ground (The Wilderness), provided first-class sports and social facilities for boys aged 14 to 18, and who subsequently became members of the Old Boys’ Club. Eton Manor Boys’ Club boasts many former members who became international sportsmen.
Find out more about the Eton Manor Boys' Club Archive

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230 Bishopsgate
London
EC2M 4QH
020 7392 9200enquiries@bishopsgate.org.uk

Small Print

Copyright © 2022 Bishopsgate Foundation. Registered Charity No: 1090923. Website by Supercool