Rave Reads: POLLY, Sex Culture Revolutionary

From latex, to sex, to revolutionizing the world of intimacy and consent, Polly Whittaker has lived multiple artistic lives and created more than just sexy fashion and a place to showcase it. Her book, POLLY: Sex Culture Revolutionary, takes you along on a fantastical journey of art, community, love, sensuality, and self-discovery.

Whittaker grew up in London, raised by two eccentric parents alongside her three older siblings. Her father was a hot-air balloon pilot with a fervor for flirting and her mother was a trailblazing marriage guidance counselor who raised their kids to believe that sex is a natural part of being a grown-up. “My parents hosted fondue parties with all their swingin’ friends.” Being around her parents and their openness gave Whittaker a unique perspective on love. By the age of five, she developed a simple understanding of human relationships. At seventeen, she began working for a little latex boutique in Hammersmith. Here is where she found her love for “the sleek, shiny, modern clothes that were the uniform for the fetish scene.” As years passed, Whittaker found herself bored and depressed. When an opportunity to join a friend in the States, more precisely, San Francisco, Whittaker took it. The decision would change her life forever. 

Arriving in San Francisco, Whittaker transformed into Polly Pandemonium. A “hellion and rabble-rouser.” She started The Moral Minority, her business that not only designed fetish fashion but also promoted a lifestyle of fun, playful sexuality. A friend, and San Francisco legend, Flash, the founder of Rock Star Bartenders, a small group of bartenders that ran many of the bars in the underground party scenes in San Francisco, decided to swoop up Whittaker and spend a day together at some hot springs. Before they left the Bay, they stopped in the Mission District. Flash was helping a friend rent out a building. The minute they stepped inside, Whittaker began having visions. She wanted to have a space for “a global network of creative, sexy parties, helping restore health and balance to culture’s relationship with sexuality.” She dubbed the place Mission Control.

Whittaker’s fashion shows became such an enormous success that she had to bring on help. When a volunteer offers to assist, her life would take a new turn and rise to the next level. Artist, performer, and visionary, Scott would join Whittaker and contribute more to the lifestyle of Moral Minority than anyone could have expected. Scott is a performance artist and the creator of Superstar Avatar- A Mythical Game with cultural transformation as its goal. A social, futuristic interactive art scene to change the world. As the two worked together to develop their ventures, they realized they were also falling in love. 

By combining Scott’s interactive art gallery game and Polly’s sexy fashion and freedom community, they produced the now historic San Francisco play-party, Kinky Salon. “Money was one reason we threw the first Kinky Salon. We needed a regular income and sexy parties seemed like the obvious thing to do. We also wanted to generate a community that could be the Petri dish for our social experiments.”

Throughout the book, Whittaker escorts the reader through San Francisco, Hollywood, Las Vegas, Burning Man, family, friends, love, lust, polyamory, play-parties, and inner perspective. 

These are just a few of the stories that are sprinkled throughout the book. From Polly Whittaker, to Polly Pandemonium, and now transcending into Polly Superstar. The author arrives at an enlightened, optimistic, and revolutionary time of her life.  POLLY: Sex Culture Revolutionary, a memoir is a sexy and romantic tale of one woman’s journey of discovering herself while gifting those around her with the freedom of expression.

You don’t have to be into latex or be part of a polyamorous relationship to fall in love with this book. But if you are, I highly suggest you kick back with a copy of your own. This book is worth Reading LIT!

You can pick up a copy of POLLY: Sex Culture Revolutionary, a memoir by Polly Wittaker at Avantpop Bookstore in Las Vegas or at bookshop.org/shop/avantpop