| Subject: Alternative Views of Corporal Punishment |
Author:
Stan
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Date Posted: 15:49:30 12/02/16 Fri
Anyone who has read my posts on this forum will have a pretty good idea of my conception of corporal punishment. I recognize that it may be different from other viewpoints more commonly expressed in print, and I'd like to briefly discuss some of those different viewpoints as I understand them.
(1) When I first "came out" in the gay community, the one concept of S&M I was able to read about was that of the "leatherman", via Larry Townsend's books on the subject. Guys subscribing to this viewpoint (and way of life) generally wore leather jackets or leather vests, motorcycle boots, and wide leather belts. It seemed to be more of a social thing than my own conception which is a one-on-one encounter with another guy. (I'm admittedly more of a loner.) Central to this viewpoint is the conception of master-and-slave. I can't pretend to understand all the ramifications of that kind of relationship. However, I could never feel comfortable participating in that lifestyle. It's just not who I am.
(2) A quite different concept of corporal punishment is that of "a male rite-of-passage", which is expounded upon quite effectively on the WhippingDudes blogsite. Also, Alvin Easter's book "Lash", which is about whipping scenes in the movies, seems to convey much of the spirit of this concept.
Corporal punishment is viewed as a test of one's manhood. I believe the idea is to be able to take the punishment stoically without crying or yelling or making a plea for mercy (all of which would be viewed as unmanly). This also seems to be the underlying viewpoint espoused in many movies and TV programs which contain whipping scenes.
I believe the whipper is to be viewed as an adversary by the whippee and the pain of the whipping as something to be resisted (or, at least, endured) by him. The concept of master-and-slave is replaced by a more generalized concept of those who have the power to dominate and those who don't. With this viewpoint, I could see a "straight" man accepting the idea of being punished by another guy.
The preferred mode of punishment in this conception seems to be flogging on the bare back. I imagine that whipping on the bare buttocks might be seen by some of these proponents as degrading and unmanly, possibly because of its association with childhood punishments or perhaps because of the possible sexual associations. I'm not sure how the role of bondage fits in with this conception, although most descriptions I've seen indicate a guy is tied up for his flogging.
There is one variation of this "male rite-of-passage" conception which seems to have maintained its popularity. In this variation, the preferred mode of punishment consists of applying strokes with a wooden paddle to a young man's naked buttocks. The other significant difference in this variation is that bondage is generally not applied. Social pressure is considered to be sufficient to motivate the individual to submit himself for the punishment and to remain in submission until that punishment is completed. The individual would "lose face" if he tried to escape from that punishment and it became necessary to apply "force" to make him submit to it.
The two most common traditions associated with the use of a wooden paddle for corporal punishment are high school phys. ed. discipline and college fraternity initiations.
I admit that, when I was younger, I too probably subscribed to this idea of corporal punishment being a male rite-of-passage. However, accepting this viewpoint caused me considerable mental anguish when I started participating in actual S&M scenes with other guys, as it became (painfully) obvious that I couldn't take a whipping for very long without crying. I felt myself to be a dismal failure as an S&M bottom.
(3) Eventually, a different conception of S&M began to form in my mind. Although it might not seem apparent from some of my posts, I consider sexual domination and submission to be an integral part of a corporal punishment scene.
I consider myself to be both a top and a bottom, although I'd much prefer the bottom role at this point in my life. Sometimes, I see a guy and I fantasize about him tying ME up and giving ME a whipping with his belt. And other times, I see a guy and I fantasize about tying HIM up and giving HIM a whipping with my belt. My varying reactions seem to depend on whether I perceive the other guy as dominant or submissive.
Whether I've been a top or a bottom, a scene is only satisfying to me if bondage is applied. The bottom must KNOW that there is no possibility of escape from the punishment being administered by the top. His only hope (not always fulfilled) is that he will be shown some mercy by the top. With the notable exception described in my post titled "The Most Painful Whipping I Ever Received", most of my experiences with bondage, either as a top or a bottom, have been with the use of leather wrist and ankle restraints to tie the bottom down spread-eagle on a bed in preparation for his whipping. This limitation has been mainly one of practicality. I readily admit that the use of "bondage furniture", such as a whipping post or a spanking bench or something similar, would significantly heighten my arousal during a scene.
I must confess that, when I've been a top, I get much more satisfaction when I've reduced a bottom to tears, or when the pain begins to mount, I see his body instinctively making those desperate (and increasingly frantic) efforts to escape from the sting of the LASH, efforts that are doomed to failure because the restraints make escape impossible. As a result, most of the bottoms in my stories eventually end up crying or yelling or screaming as they succumb to the unbearable pain of the LASH. Ironically, very few of the guys who have actually submitted their bodies to me for punishment in real-life scenes ever cried out from the pain as they could "take" the pain far better than most guys.
As to the type of punishment to be inflicted, I've mainly limited myself to whipping on the bare buttocks or, occasionally, whipping on the bare back, preferably with a leather implement.
I'm not really into fantasy role-playing during a punishment scene with another guy. I find that the reality of one guy allowing himself to be tied up by another guy, with no possibility of escape, and the anticipation of his body being subjected to physical punishment (possibly more than he can bear) by a guy who admittedly gets off on inflicting pain, provides more than enough excitement for a scene.
However, when I'm fantasizing by myself, I'll admit that a number of traditional roles lend themselves well to this activity:
(1) A dad punishing his son with a leather belt or a razor strap.
(2) A high school gym coach administering swats with a wooden paddle to a misbehaving student.
(3) Inmates in a prison being punished with a wide leather strap for breaking the rules.
(4) British naval punishment with a cat-o-nine-tails.
(5) A flogging administered by a Roman soldier.
(6) A cowboy being punished with a bullwhip.
(7) A spy being tortured with a whip to extract information.
These are all situations where one person has the power to physically dominate another person, and that domination is expressed through corporal punishment. I'm sure each reader has his own favorite scenes.
I don't really have a name yet to attach to my conception of corporal punishment, and perhaps, it is still continuing to evolve.
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