Note: This was written in early 2005 and I haven't updated it since, despite the exponential growth of SuicideGirls. I've leaving it as-is, below, so I can look fondly back on the site's pre-myspaceification days. That said, some of the information below may be outdated.
SuicideGirls > Pin-Up Punk Rock and Goth Girls
Apart from the burlesque stage tours that have recently thrust the SuicideGirls into the public consciousness, in the beginning it was, and remains, a website and virtual community. The owners, Missy (no last name specified) and Sean Suhl (of Seanbaby fame), first started photographing models in late 2001, and the website went public in May 2002. Its focus, as may be implied by the site's name, is on "alternative" girls (aka "altporn") modeling nude for photosets of varying size, usually between 25 and 75 pictures, as well as occasionally-released QuickTime videos, set to whatever alternative music is du jour at the time, of the models in action at 30fps. At first there were only about a dozen such girls, but as the site grew, it started soliciting more models and its collection of photosets blossomed from a few dozen to several hundred, then to several thousand as the years progressed. The "SuicideGirls" moniker is said to have been coined by author Chuck Palahniuk in his novel Survivor, whose residence in Portland coincided with SG's original headquarters. He's also one of a handful of actual celebrities to use the site (Wil Wheaton is one, Courtney Love is another), and he's given a few interviews to SG's press staff.
The financial successes of the site and its related odds and ends (the burlesque tour, a coffee table book, SG-brand merchandise, and of course membership fees) are ample enough to keep a permanent staff of two coders, four support HR/support technicians, two talent scounts, two principal photographers, and enough in reserve for traveling abroad to do photoshots (i.e., Missy ventured to Italy last year specifically to shoot half a dozen models).
I first joined the site in early 2003 (and I'm still a member; it's worth it), paying $9.00 USD for a month's worth of access. The community aspect is much like any other website community; message boards, usergroups, blogs, interviews with public figures, and even news headlines and advice columns all add to the community factor, although the thread keeping the whole together was the ability for the users to interact directly with the models. The models, as varied as they are fulsome, also interact with the users, usually through comments in users' blogs or in the models' own blogs, or any number of other aforementioned site features. At first most of the girls were quite goth, with a few punk types thrown in for flavour, but as the site grew, the typical Suicide Girl could be the mainstay goth or punk, or also emo, hippie, raver, and even a few rather plain (but nonetheless beautiful) girls, all ranging in age from 18 (the minimum acceptable age) to a few girls in their late 30s. SG even boasts (well, not openly) the fact that they have a transwoman model (and no, I don't know who it is). There were about 90 such girls when I joined; as I write this, there are 564, with more being added every day. As expected with a community like this, there is a rate of turnover among the models and users; some models retire, others quit to join other, similar sites, some are forcibly booted off for various reasons (usually unrelenting meanness towards particular users). The user base stays fairly steady at about 100,000 members, and they too leave, while new people join, if they can no longer afford the membership fees, or for flaming other users or the models themselves.
Interestingly, the entire site, backend and all, is assembled by a handful of the models themselves; Missy, the owner, acts as a general administrator and the chief photographer out of SG's Los Angeles base of operations (though she has not, as yet, modeled); Olivia first came on as a coder and completely redesigned the site to its current (ever-upgraded) state, and then became a model, lauded for her size 32G breasts, as well; Erin and Katie, both models, handle model/photo selection and merchandising, respectively; London is a model first and foremost (with about a dozen photosets of her own) and a photographer second -- usually she does the traveling for photography missions rather than Missy. Olivia, Katie, and LE handle support issues. Sean handles the business end of the site (he doesn't model, of course; there are no male models in any of the photosets). Many of the models photograph themselves or have friends photograph them, or hire a professional (such as the notable Lithium Picnic, or the actress-cum-photographer Paget Brewster) if they're so inclined. Many, many photosets are sent in, though reportedly only 15-20% of them are bought and put on display on the site.
The photosets display a great deal of variety, though multiple tattoos and piercings are largely the norm. They break down into three categories -- single girl, multiple girl, and candid.
- Single girl sets are just that; one model and a background, sometimes with various props or themes. These sets range from very softcore to very light X-rated, all depending on what parts of her body the model wants to show (i.e., not every model is comfortable with between-the-knees type shots). A good example of a single girl themed set would be the one entitled "Lydia" by the model known as LuluMae, wherein she reenacts the "my life is a dark room" scene from the movie Beetle Juice, complete with costuming, cobwebby attic, and handwritten suicide note. Also, SG very occasionally attracts public personalities to pose for the site, including Arista Records heavy metal singer Lennon Murphy, and Zia McCabe of the Dandy Warhols, who was seven months pregnant during the shoot for her first photoset and has inspired a few of the other models to work while visibly pregnant.
- Multiple girl sets always feature light lesbian themes, mostly just posing together but sometimes with light contact (kissing, breast play, mutual stripping). Mostly these sets aim for the titillation factor; what could be more beautiful than two stunning goth girls, one with the other's nipple ring between her teeth? Some of the models are actually lesbians (though they are a small minority), and so a large percentage of their photosets tends to be of the two girl variety.
- Candid sets are mostly random shots from parties thrown at SG-themed events. In the earlier days of the site, these were mostly private parties at someone's home, and would involve, for example, a dozen girls stripping, getting drunk, and playing spin the bottle. Common in the earlier days when the models were not as plentiful, but pretty rare nowadays. Most candids now involve the annual SG Prom, a bicoastal event (one in San Francisco, one in Toronto, both on the same night) for models and members.
Up until about a year ago, the site would have a "new girl day," usually a Friday, where a new model would be introduced with a photoset. When the model selection staff started loosening their standards and accepting more girls to model, they started introducing a new girl every day, along with another photoset from an already-established model, or a multiple girl set. Many of the models have been with the site from its inception to present day, and some of them have dozens of photosets available for viewing. However, due to the near-constant influx of new models, most models now average about one set posted per year, though a few are so popular that they shoot and sell several photosets per year, while most of the other models have their photosets put into a queue which moves really slowly while the big names bypass the queue completely. There are now SuicideGirls in almost every corner of the world, even Antarctica (one of the models regularly summers there, working for Raytheon at McMurdo Station). The largest international contingent comes from South America, particularly Chile.
Most of the models are American or Canadian, with sizable citizens of the Scandinavian countries, England, Australia and all over Europe. All of them speak and write English, which is a requirement for acceptance, though some don't speak/write it very well, but that's easily forgiven. A relatively new feature is voice introductions by the models for their photosets, which is (IMO) a rather cute idea -- you get to hear little sonnets or short speeches in a wide variety of exotic accents. The reasoning behind this idea is, of course, to bring the models closer to the user base, and most of the new features implemented share that cause. It's infinitely more personal than, say, Maxim or Stuff Magazine, and also unlike typical mens' magazines, the site is extremely girl-positive and feminist. SG's mission statement is that a woman shouldn't be afraid to be herself, and that nudity is an extension of that. Given the 500+ models and 100,000+ users, this philosophy has gone over spectacularly well. The user base isn't all testosterone-poisoned frat boys, either (though they have a definite presence); it includes a large number of women (lesbian, bisexual, and otherwise), male feminists, and even bisexual and gay men because they dig the fashion and style. There's a small contingent of transgendered people as well, there for exactly the same reason as everyone else -- they enjoy immersing themselves in the free-spirited nature of the site, and find pleasure by involving themselves with the community and looking at (not leering at, as is the case with most porn site visitors) non-traditional beauties in various states of undress, and for the opportunity to converse with said beauties and other users with whom they share various interests.
In conclusion, Suicide Girls is a fun place to be, inasmuch as one can "be" on a website. It's not as intellectually stimulating as E2 (and quite a lot of members type like AOLers who flunked out of the third grade), and not as stiff and glossy as Penthouse.com (or other well-known porn sites). It's definitely worth the membership fees (which max out at $48.00 USD per year, if you pay annually), and overall a positive experience for anyone who isn't a total prude.
SuicideGirls > Pin-Up Punk Rock and Goth Girls