LONDON - I TRIED TO INVESTIGATE THE TWILIGHT WORLD OF "MASKING" AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY INTERVIEW

I first found out about masking through YouTube, the way everyone finds out about stuff these days. A friend sent me a link to what is essentially a man in a bad latex mask, running his hands through his frumpled blonde wig, beseeching God to help him over and over again. I figured he was just kidding because every time I find a weirdo or good nonesensical fetish on YouTube, it turns out to be a joke that's over two years old. But I looked a little deeper and it turns out there's an entire community of people who do this “masking” thing for fun.

Even though I spent a good six hours looking at masking/unmasking sites and forums, I still have no idea what it's about. I mean, I know what it's about--people wearing and taking off masks--but where that turns into something even faintly resembling the remotest iota of a morsel of a  sexual charge, your guess is as good as mine. Anyways, figuring this thing out has become a moderate obsession of mine, so I decided to speak to Kerry who, in addition to being the director of the greatest music video of all time, has been on the scene for years and runs www.maskon.com. 

Vice: So tell me about the masking scene.
Kerry: There are two camps, There are people like me who mask themselves, and there are folks who are simply turned on by seeing masked females but don't indulge it themselves. For the former, I'd have to describe it as crossdressers who are seeking a more stylized doll-like reality and want to appear to be sexy women. According to John Wilie's Bizarre, there were female maskers as far back as the 1950s. The unmasking genre, if you can call it that, is a whole different thing—it's sexual excitement gotten by some folks by watching women take off their masks. It's the woman revealed, I suppose.

How did you first get into masking?
It has always been a fetish of mine since I was young.

What do you think draws you to it?
Beats me. Why does anyone cross dress? It turns me on, that's all I know. I like the idea of masked women, like they have a secret.

Are there any celebrities of the masking/unmasking scene?
Probably a lot of people know me because I've been around for over 13 years with my own web site; plus I've sold hundreds and hundreds of masks to people, and gone to events to meet people in person. Making and selling the masks is my primary business. Marti is also known because she runs the Female Mask Homepage. Steffy the Rubberdoll in Canada has done modeling and won the Miss Rubbergirl contest in New York. These days YouTube can make a "star" out of anyone, as you know.

How much do the masks cost?
A basic mask is $130 and includes makeup.

While looking on masking sites, I saw a lot of references to masking/unmasking in popular culture, like Mrs Doubtfire and critical darling White Chicks. Is there any movie that's like the Tootsie or Citizen Kane of the masking community?
I maintain a master list at my website.  I have several favorites, mostly scenes where a realistic mask has been used for a disguise by a woman. The old "Mission: Impossible" episodes with Lynda Day George are the first to come to mind.

So, as someone who's been on the scene for years and met hundreds of
people, you must have some pretty interesting/funny stories, right?
Nothing comes to mind. Sorry. I guess we're too serious.

JAMIE TAETE

Comments

eeeep.

Wow, something so with an incredible potential to be one of the creepiest things ever turns out to be possibly the most boring thing ever.

[benny]

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