Cat girls and “Kittenplay” are about to explode on the mainstream in a new way under the leadership of The Chateau.
My interest in cat girls and the feline allure developed when I first saw the play Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I was 9 years old at the Winter Garden Theatre in NYC, and honestly looking back I do think it was one of my first arousing experiences as an impressionable boy. At around the same time I watched every episode of Josie and the Pussycats, a cartoon made in the 80s by Hanna-Barbera Productions; it fascinated me even further, three cute cat girls in costumes, what’s not to love? When I got older and worked in the Halloween business as a professional fangsmith I loved all the kitten costumes I would come across and dressed my willing (and sometimes reluctant) girlfriends in cat ears and tails. Then I met Isibella Karnstein who brought kitten play to an entirely new level in my world.
Isibella is an aristocratic girl from the UK who had the American Dream. After meeting a NASA scientist who became her mentor and guardian she moved to Denver and created “The Chateau,” a “PlayBoy Mansion for Kitten Girls.” Her style is very classic and is reminiscent of a classy burlesque scene, in my mind. Our love of catgirls and the romanticism of the vampire lead to a unique alliance between the two of us.
Because of her contributions to the kitten scene, I called Isibella the “Kitten Queen.” I gave her this nickname after the Queen song ‘Killer Queen” since she is British, and the lyrics seemed to represent her personality well. It was in the same spirit as “The King of Pop” or the “King of Rock.” Isibella and her Kitten Chateau are at the current center of the kitten scene as I am her counterpart in the flourishing vampire scene. So we have much to share in our respective courts.
A short history on Cat Girls
Animal metamorphosis for depicting sexual fetishes has been around for hundreds of years in all cultures as part of our primal nature. The first modern cat girl began in Japan in 1924, where children’s author Kenji Miyazawa created a beautiful cat eared women. The first anime Mtsuyo Seo called The King’s Tail (Osama no Shippo) in 1949 had cat girls. Of course the 1940s brought cat girls in to the mainstream consciousness with American comic characters Catwoman and Cheetah. Cosplay at ComicCons around the world have become extremely sexy. It is obvious that kittens would be the next step of evolution, especially in the BDSM scene as it went mainstream with 50 Shades of Grey.
Kitten “play” in BDSM
Today kitten play is becoming very popular in the BDSM scene and appealing outside the “kink” community as cosplay (costume play) because it can be light, fun, classy, cute and sensual fetish. Being a cosplay adds to the allure and popularity; the kitten takes up the natural instincts of the kitten within. A submissive plays the “kitten” role and the dominant plays the “master” or “the human”. The kitten wears ears and a tail and takes on the persona of a cat or kitten. Mannerisms and role-play are usually based on the characteristics of cats including personality, meows, movements and, unlike other types of dominance and submission, there is a sense of independence in the play of the submissive.
Kittens can be owned by being collared which is the traditional BDSM symbol of submission. Unowned or uncollared cat girls are sometimes referred to as “strays”. Dominant kittens can be portrayed as great cats such as lions, cheetahs, panthers, etc. Submissive kittens are often neko (Japanese for cat) or take the role of the smaller “house cats.” “Feral kittens” are considered switches and are often more, wild in their role-play.
In the end there are no steadfast rules as everyone makes their own kinks. However, Isibella’s kittens have their own traditions and culture which are setting the standard for kitten play in it’s modern form.
Kitten “Gear”
Instead of standard “sex toys” kitten play is a soft subset of BDSM and can involve balls of yarn (or shibari rope), bowls of milk (often with an alcohol of choice mixed in) or bowls of champagne, cat toys from the pet shop (usually where kitten players go and buy their own) and of course ears and tails. You can find almost all the kitty gear you want on Etsy.com made by lovers of kitten play and often handcrafted.
Today’s Kitten Scene Mini-Resources
You can go onto YouTube and growing throughout the web and here are some Kitten resources.
The Chateau “Cat Girl Manor” in Colorado, founded by Isibella.
Fetlife.com has dozens of groups catering to cat girl and kitten fetishists.
Etsy.com loads of recourses for kitten play, tails, costumes, etc.
Conclusion
In the end my passion for kittens and cat girls is one of wonder and excitement, thrills and enjoyment of the BDSM community. What’s next? I suspect it will continue to grow into an even more exciting scene so keep an eye out!
