We were lucky to catch up with Synclaire Butler recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Synclaire thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Pleasure Hauz’s Mission: Creating spaces where Black folks can pursue, commune, and conceptualize pleasure.
Synclaire , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Synclaire Butler, I was born and raised and currently reside on Dena’Ina land, otherwise known as Anchorage, Alaska and I am the creator of Pleasure Hauz. Pleasure Hauz is an emerging magazine and atmosphere, with the priority of making Pleasure accessible to Black Folks. I would say the seed for this brand was planted over 20 years ago now. My Dad kept this old collection of Playboy magazines somewhat hidden in his home office. So of course I was eager to discover what made these magazines so special, so secretive. Because the Jet and Ebony magazines were laid out on the table, the bathroom, and in the kitchen. So I opened up Playboy, and my world changed. Woman after woman, body after body, their breasts, curves, body hair, even the daring and demanding looks in their eyes saying: I’m here. Look at me, look at this body that’s mine. I own it. And I’m here to share it with you. That left an imprint on me. Fast forward to the first time I left home which was to attend Spelman College where my world opened up even further. There I was actually gaining the language to articulate what I felt then, and what I wanted to see in the future. I saw women who owned and were free to express their own sensuality and ownership of their own bodies in a society run by patriarchy. And as a young girl knowing I’d one day be a woman myself it was exhilarating. I wanted to be that free. But then I grew up and realized I rarely, if ever, saw Black women then or now in these spaces of pleasure, autonomy, and self expression. So yes, our society is run by patriarchy, but it is also run by racism and other isms that made me ask myself, who is pleasure actually accessible for in our society? And I don’t mean just sexually. I wanted to know where I had to be or what I had to read or watch to see Black women experiencing unadulterated joy, freedom, and expression of our sensuality when we want and how we want. So that’s where we come in. Whether on our social media, our website, or in our virtual and in person experiences, you will be surrounded by the experience of Pleasure. Trauma and death have continued to be more accessible to Black people than joy, life, vitality, and especially pleasure. That is the story we see and tell most days in the media. Black history month rolls around, we are watching 12 years a slave and set it off, turn on the news, another case of police brutality is unfolding, we deserve better. Octavia Butler, a Black Feminist Writer I have been so inspired by, especially as a writer myself, spoke often about the importance of creating the world we want to live in ourselves. So Pleasure Hauz is an insistence that as we dream of a world we want to live in, one that is less desensitized to violence, we actively put Pleasure and Joy at the forefront. And I want to emphasize that Black people cannot do this by ourselves. We as a whole society have to be invested in changing this narrative that Blackness is something to be feared rather than celebrated, and I think we are seeing ourselves more in a better light, the world is, but there is so much more work to be done and our stories are best told by us. Pleasure Hauz is building an environment For Pleasure to be the center of Black lives through various digital, virtual and in-person experiences that inspire a more profound and expansive definition of pleasure. We will be releasing our first very Limited edition hard copies of the Magazine in June of this year. Once the limited editions, which double as a collector’s item sell, they will not be printed again. I can’t drop the details on the features just yet, but I can say that they are figures within our community that bring pleasure through storytelling, music, and more to not only us, but millions of people around the world. Leading up to the release we will be dropping exclusive merchandise, materials, and hosting online experiences for our community. Keeping up with our instagram and subscribing to pleasurehauz.com is the best way to stay connected and updated on daily happenings! There you will find links to our prints, patreon, and other ways to support us as we emerge. We are excited to continue to build our online presence, share tips on experiencing pleasure in its many forms, and making our presence known in the metaverse.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I genuinely believe being my authentic self has helped build my reputation within this market and industry. We hear that a lot, “just be yourself.” But I think in terms of being an entrepreneur, oftentimes your businesses are extensions of yourself. So who you are, how you show up, people are watching you all the time and your network grows from that. I learned the importance of network early on at Spelman and within the AUC. So many of the people involved as either models, photographers, writers, or resources in general, are from my own personal social network, or my network’s network. It’s been really amazing and I am so grateful. Within the AUC I was a prominent voice for gender based violence and known as someone who wasn’t afraid to put myself out there, stand for what I believe in, and there’s evidence and trails of that work left on the internet from simply googling my name and my own story. Everything I have done has consistently been centered around uplifting Black women’s voices and making sure we are seen and consumed by our own prerogative. The creative and political work I did while in school and since then, includes the expression of my sexuality, my viewpoint, and the power of storytelling. I have also been an adult entertainer and danced in Atlanta, openly sharing my experiences on social media with my following and connecting with other dancers and likeminded individuals. So I would say I think just being my unabashed authentic self has helped a lot. Pleasure Hauz is truly an extension of me.
Have you ever had to pivot?
On October 14th, 2022 I was pinned between two cars as a pedestrian and one of my legs was crushed while the other suffered open wounds and scarring. A fender bender turned into a life altering moment. A hit and run driver slammed into my car, leaving me sandwiched between my vehicle and that of another driver while I was taking photos of my vehicle and that of another driver after incurring a small fender bender. I don’t know whether that person wasn’t watching the road, under the influence, or afraid of whatever consequences but their decision not to stop and then to flee the scene has had profound implications on my life and my journey. I am still recovering nearly 5 months later and it seems like I have had to pivot in everything from business, to career to my personal life. Ideally, the hard printed magazine would have been released by now and Pleasure Hauz would have established more of a presence in the industry, but, life quite literally comes at you fast. This whole experience has reminded me that nothing is promised, things rarely go as planned, and sometimes all we have is our grace when shit hits the fan. I am someone who likes to have control but that’s not how life is and I was heartbroken having to send emails and cancellations. But since then I’ve learned even more about myself, about business, and that if you want to do something that has never been done before, there is no blueprint, and only your own timeline.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pleasurehauz.com/
- Instagram: @pleasurehauz
- Twitter: @pleasurehauz