Julie Simone is In Charge

Words by Steve DiLodovico | SMUTLIFE

Julie Simone, the premier raven-haired beauty of fetish, is perhaps the best known dominatrix in the business. Known for her stunning good looks and depraved ambition, Miss Julie has taken fetishism to new and exciting levels with her forays into photography, filmmaking and directing. What once started as a glamour modeling career took a sharp turn into the dark world of BDSM and, once establish, she has not looked back. This soft-spoken bringer of pain is every slavering slave’s fantasy: a brutal taskmaster well-versed in the extreme art of pleasure through pain; satisfaction through humiliation and degradation. So what makes this fetish so virile, so electrically addictive? What drives a dominatrix? And, for that matter, a willing slave? SmutLife caught up with Miss Julie to find out.

SL: Let’s start with a basic description of who you are and what it is that you do.

JS: I am what you would call a “pro-dom.” I also run my own production company, which I’ve been doing for 11 years now. I have websites that I shoot content for and maintain. I have different content for the different websites I maintain. If you got to www.JulieSimone.com it’s mostly domination, a lot of latex. There is some stuff with women being dominated by men. It’s more bondage than anything else. I have a foot-fetish site that is all foot-fetish related.

SL: You cover a wide array of fetish.

JS: Exactly. I also do smoking and verbal humiliation.

SL: What kind of person is drawn to this kind of life?

JS: It’s a pretty wide group of people, to be honest with you. Typically, people who book domination sessions tend to be professionals because it’s expensive. Since their jobs are usually high-stress, that probably has something to do with it. There’s also financial stability, usually, with my clients.

SL: You book private sessions?

JS: Yes.

SL: How do people find you? What brings them into this world?

JS: People usually find me through the videos that I’ve done. They see me online and they contact. It’s a lot easier than it used to be. There are a lot of sites that are dedicated to bringing people who are curious about these things together.

SL: How widespread would you say this lifestyle is?

JS: I’m not really a numbers-watcher, so I’m not really sure. I think it’s become a lot more mainstream than it once was. In the music industry you see a lot of artists wearing latex; they’re being photographed with high-fashion accessories and shown on runways, so it’s definitely making it seem less weird.

SL: The videos and films that you make; what are they like?

JS: It depends: some videos are just solo girls. Those are often good for beginners. They are more glamorous-looking. I think the male-produced videos are a lot scarier. They’re more like dark dungeons and are not shot very well; the girls sometimes look real hideous and disturbed. But in a lot of female-produced videos the girls look pretty and glamorous. They can relate to it more because they’re not some tattooed-out, drug addict-looking girl in a basement and they’re never going to be. I think the more glamorous stuff appeals to both men and women. I think the truly sadistic men want to see a girl have the crap beaten out of her. But I think most people don’t want to see that. Most people, they want to experiment with something, but they don’t want to take it that far.

SL: Do you ever produce stuff were you see men dominating women more?

JS: I’ve done a lot of it, but it’s not really imagery I like to put out anymore. I think the older I’m getting, the more it bothers me. I don’t really like to see women being humiliated. It really enforces negative stereotypes and abusive behavior. When you see male on female scenes there’s really no nurturing aspect to it; I mean, the girl’s a whore, she’s a slut, she’s trash. And that’s how they’re treated and I just don’t feel good about that scenario.

SL: And what about when it’s flipped?

JS: I know this is completely hypocritical, but I have this idea that men can take care of themselves better. I’m more likely to beat a man til he’s bloody. I can’t do that to a girl anymore. I won’t do it. I feel bad. But with a man, I don’t feel bad. He’s a man, he can take it! (Laughs).

SL: Do you have female clients?

JS: I don’t. Women don’t have to pay for that sort of thing. They can go into any S&M club and have their pick.

SL: There’s definitely a sense of power in both dominating and submission, can you kind of expand on that?

JS: Definitely. Every person is different, before playing with somebody there’s always a negotiation phase where you talk about what each person wants to get out of the experience; what each person’s limits are. There are things that people want to explore. Some people want you to just follow a script, which is kind of boring. They usually want to be challenged and they usually want to push themselves. That’s something I always liked when I was a sub: I always wanted to see how much I could take and then I’d try to take it further and further. That was the exciting part to me.

SL: I would imagine the testing of limits holds a great attraction to people who are into this. What would you say is the farthest you have gone?

JS: Being dominated…I think it’s a tie. I had nine needles in my chest, which was amazing. I’ve also has someone use a single-tail whip on me, which was really exciting. Usually people do it on the back, but I wanted to watch it coming at me, and I wanted to watch the person doing it to me.

SL: I’m curious as to how pain factors into sexual gratification when it comes to this.

JS: Well, it’s a huge endorphine rush. When somebody hits you, your senses become heightened in almost every way.

SL: Is this the whole of your life? Do you work a 9-5 and kind of do this as a hobby or is this you’re entire life?

JS: It’s what I do. I haven’t had a real job in 15 years. I used to tour around the country modeling, and then I got my production company and I’ve delved into different areas over the years, but this is what I do.