More Couples, Women Turn On to Erotica Expo

Payne, who earns $250 an hour, was about to demonstrate the fine art of spanking, which -- contrary to what you might think -- is not as simple as it looks. The hand should be cupped, not flat, she explained, and positioned on the lower part of the buttocks, never at the top, never on the leg and never ever near the tailbone.

"If your husband went to Catholic school," the 32-year-old Payne said with a sly smile, "he's probably secretly dying for it."

In the audience, more than half of whom were women, Jennifer and Jonathan Chavez, 19-year-old newlyweds from Lynwood, giggled. Their baby was home with grandma, and the pair were happily exploring the first night of Erotica L.A., a three-day retail expo that ends today at 6 p.m.

"This bondage stuff is pretty fun," said Jennifer, neatly encapsulating the evening's risque but unthreatening vibe.

This year's expo is a far cry from the first Erotica L.A. show, at the Hollywood Palladium 10 years ago. It attracted about 1,200 people, mostly men, to a warren of swap meet-like booths selling X-rated videos. This year, organizers said they were hoping for 50,000 paying visitors, an increase of 10,000 over last year. They have directed much of their marketing effort -- including 90% of a $300,000 promotional budget -- toward women, buying time on female-dominated outlets such as the Lifetime Channel and the Oxygen network.

To be sure, many events appeal to the male libido: "strip offs" on one of the three stages (nudity is verboten, stripper poles are not), a cheerleader tryout for "Debbie Does Dallas

But there are also many couples, many clusters of women, and a vibe in the air that this place is just as much about romance as sex. It's hard to find a seminar that is not tailored to attract a female crowd (or at least couples).

On Friday and Saturday, Payne presented "How to Be a Dominant Diva," which is how Tom wound up being spanked and caned in public. (It could have been worse for Tom; Payne also demonstrated hogtying on her husband, Greg Sena, a cross-dressing Chatsworth geologist who said that at their wedding two years ago, she wore a red dress, he wore a white dress