Williams-Haas in 2019

Mollena Williams-Haas (born 1969), formerly Mollena Williams, is an American writer, BDSM educator,[1] actress, and former International Ms. Leather (2010).[2][3]

Early life and education

She was born Mollena Lee Williams on June 20, 1969, at New York Hospital in Manhattan. Her parents, Marion and James Williams, met in 1968 while using Project TACT, one of the first dating services established in the United States.[4]

In 1973, her father took her to see the Broadway musical Hair[4] over her mother's objections. At the close of the show, she told her parents that she wanted to be an actor. Within three years, she obtained a professional talent agent and began a performance career.

Career

One of Williams-Haas' first performances was singing backup to Lena Horne on the song "Believe In Yourself (reprise) " on the soundtrack of The Wiz, a 1978 movie, in her childhood.[5]

In 1992, she moved to Los Angeles, where she appeared in several independent films, including Skin and Bone. She co-starred in the independent cult movie America's Deadliest Home Video, developing the script in collaboration with Jack Perez. The movie is considered one of the grandfathers of "found footage" movies, predating Man Bites Dog and The Blair Witch Project.[6] Her performance in it has been described as "brilliant."[7]

While in Los Angeles, Williams also began exploring BDSM. She subscribed to newsletter of the Society of Janus and explored kink and fetish in what was then a newly burgeoning world of online chat forums.[8] She has been involved with the leather subculture and BDSM since 1996.[9]

In 2009, she was named Ms. San Francisco Leather. In 2010, she was named International Ms. Leather.[9]

She contributed the essay "BDSM and Race Play", which was published in Rachel Kramer Bussel’s book, Best Sex Writing 2010.[10]

In 2011, she published The Toybag Guide to Playing With Taboo.[11]

Her short film IMPACT, which involves her participating in BDSM scenes, was released in 2012.[12][13]

Also in 2012, Williams-Haas was awarded the Jack McGeorge Excellence in Education Award by Black Rose, a BDSM organization.[12][14] She won the National Leather Association International’s Cynthia Slater Non-Fiction Article Award in both 2012 and 2013 for "Tables Briefly Turned" and "On Collars And Closure and Owning Myself", respectively.[15] Also in 2013, she shared the National Leather Association International's Geoff Mains nonfiction book award with Lee Harrington for Playing Well With Others: Your Field Guide to Discovering, Exploring and Navigating the Kink, Leather and BDSM Communities, which they co-authored.[16]

In 2014, she was a guest on Season 1, Episode 6 of the Sunny Megatron show on Showtime, speaking on and demonstrating the fetish commonly referred to as race play.[17][18]

In 2016, The New York Times published an article about her BDSM relationship with her husband Georg Friedrich Haas.[19]

She has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Society of Janus.[citation needed]

Personal life

Williams-Haas is married to composer Georg Friedrich Haas,[20] who is the dominant partner in the couple's BDSM relationship.[21]

References

  1. ^ "The Bay Area Reporter Online | Kink du jour". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  2. ^ Brug, Manuel (2016-02-25). "Georg Friedrich Haas: Kinky und glücklich. So what?". Brugs Klassiker. Die Welt. Archived from the original on 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  3. ^ "The Bay Area Reporter Online | Sara Vibes is Int'l Ms. Leather 2011". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  4. ^ a b Slater (2014). A Million First Dates: Solving the Puzzle of Online Dating. Oregon State University. ISBN 9781617230097.
  5. ^ The Wiz (1978) - IMDb, retrieved 2019-10-29
  6. ^ Moore, Debi (2016-03-21). "America's Deadliest Home Video Getting DVD, Digital, and Collector's Edition VHS Release in May". Dread Central. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  7. ^ "America's Deadliest Home Video (Review)". Horror Society. 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  8. ^ Williams, Mollena (2012-08-10). "About". The Perverted Negress. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  9. ^ a b "TABOO PLAY - Mollena WIlliams — San Francisco Leathermen's Discussion Group". Sfldg.org. 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
  10. ^ "TABOO PLAY - Mollena WIlliams — San Francisco Leathermen's Discussion Group". Sfldg.org. 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  11. ^ Mollena Williams (28 March 2011). The Toybag Guide to Playing With Taboo. SCB Distributors. ISBN 978-0-937609-50-7.
  12. ^ a b Williams, Mollena (2011-03-28). The Toybag Guide to Playing with Taboo - Mollena Williams - Google Books. Greenery Press. ISBN 9781890159757. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  13. ^ "Racism or Race Play: A Conceptual Investigation of the Race Play Debates". Zapruder World. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  14. ^ "The Capital Of Kink? Why Washington D.C. Is Often Ranked Among The Kinkiest Cities". WAMU. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  15. ^ "List of winners - Living In Leather". www.livinginleather.net.
  16. ^ "List of winners". NLA International. Archived from the original on 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
  17. ^ Williams, Mollena (30 December 2011). "Race Play Resources". The Perverted Negress. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  18. ^ "Sunny Megatron - Season 1 Episode 6, #Taboos | SHOWTIME". Sho.com. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
  19. ^ Zachary Woolfe (2016-02-24). "A Composer and His Wife: Creativity Through Kink - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  20. ^ Woolfe, Zachary (2016-02-23). "A Composer and His Wife: Creativity Through Kink". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  21. ^ Woolfe, Zachary (23 February 2016). "A Composer and His Wife: Creativity Through Kink". The New York Times.
Categories