Being a Pro-Domme is all about discretion. Even blackmail fantasies have to involve elements of consent and responsibility. People who “out” their clients to the press for whatever reason give us all a bad name. Be reassured that the majority of Dommes harbour such hatred toward the tabloid press that, when linking to today’s annoying story, I have used the cached istyosty link so that your click won’t boost the Daily Fail’s advertising revenue.

A brief look at the story would plant the assumption that a Pro-Domme filmed her client, a cosmetic surgeon, for the purposes of blackmail, then leaked the footage to the press and General Medical Council. However, we must remember that this is the Mail.

A more detailed read hints that the incident had no connection to her having been a (retired) Dominatrix. She was this man’s patient and, for reasons that nobody quite explains, he wanked himself into a frenzy in front of her several times while she was on his treatment table. He then sent her a lot of sexually explicit text messages. It is not clear whether she provoked these actions, or even consented to them. On one occasion, she covertly filmed him masturbating, apparently with the intention of using it as evidence to get him struck off from his post. Her husband instead attempted to blackmail the surgeon with this footage, and was later jailed. The woman was cleared of any charges.

This, then, is the story of a doctor who took bedside manner to an inappropriate level, a husband’s failed attempt at blackmail, and a woman whose role in the affair – whether a victim, a perpetrator, or anywhere in between – had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the fact she used to be a Dominatrix. Yet this is the Daily Mail. The sort of sneering glance that most readers give it would convey only that we Pro-Dommes are all duplicitous, money-grabbing, fame-hungry whores. Myth perpetuated, the print presses whir and the world continues to spin as normal. Thanks a fucking lot, Mail.

In unrelated news, anti-defamation protesters are meeting outside the Mail’s Kensington headquarters RIGHT NOW. Do pop along if you fancy making yourself heard.