... This strange propensity, considered as a sensual pleasure, as regards both recipient and administrator... To the uninitiated, or to those unread in the literature of the subject, it may seem incredible that any pleasure can be found in being flogged; but we cannot shut our eyes to the abundant evidence which exists that the patient, whether young or old, does really in many instances derive satisfaction when the chastisement is administered by a skilful or a sympathetic hand. In any case it cannot be denied that to some constitutions flagellation is a powerful aphrodisiac, an active inciter of sensual enjoyment.
It may come as a surprise to some readers that an entire book should be devoted to spanking-not spanking as related to childhood punishments, but post-puberty spanking that occurs between adults or teenagers and has definite sexual connotations.
The subject of spanking has typically been covered in a single chapter, or perhaps just a paragraph, in the many published studies of sadism and masochism, and in the works devoted to flagellation and various other aberrations. However, rarely have more than a comparatively few words been expanded on spanking itself; often it is casually dismissed as the pastime of a relatively few odd individuals.
Recent research, however, indicates that spanking has become a widespread, sexually-oriented activity, that cannot be passed off quite so easily. For it appears that increasing numbers of people are becoming interested in and indulging in spanking as a supplement or a fillip to sexual satisfaction.
To answer the question as to whether this is good or bad is not the purpose of this particular study. To be sure, adult spanking can have its unhealthy aspects if indulged in to excess-especially if it becomes the sole orgasm-producing act that a person utilizes. On the other hand, we can point to circumstances where the act of spanking releases certain sexual inhibitions, allowing a married couple to respond to each other more freely during intercourse.
However, as stated, editorializing is not the aim of this book. Rather it is to present specific case histories and examples of the growing number of individuals who, consciously or subconsciously, search for spanking incidents, or who take part in rituals and initiations calling for certain forms of spanking.
With the exception of our opening chapter, dealing with the physical and psychological aspects of the sexual response to flagellation, we are going to limit this book entirely to the act of striking the buttocks either with the hand or with an implement of some sort.
This will, of course, cover the types of activities variously described as paddling, caning, birching, whipping (if the striking is limited to the buttocks), fanny-whacking-the descriptions are numerous. But all terms imply a spanking. And all the spankings that occur when both parties are past puberty definitely have sexual implications; research has shown this fact to be inescapable.
Many people who indulge in the spanking of a sexual partner fully recognize this fact, although it is not often openly admitted. Some couples suspect sexual implications in the pastime but prefer to call such sex-play a form of punishment, and search for excuses, such as alleged misbehavior, in order to take the liberty of spanking.
Many parents who wield the hairbrush or paddle on their offspring far into the teens would never admit that the punishment is sexual by nature-especially the father hand-spanking the tight, blue-jeaned buttocks of his 16-year-old daughter. The sexual erection that occurs on the part of the father is attributed to "exertion" or is simply ignored.
And the fact that the use of the bare hand and the protection afforded by the tight pants renders the spanking actually ineffectual only adds to the suspicion that sexuality is the basis for the "punishment" sessions.
However, groups are springing up around the country, usually among young married couples, that are frankly sexual in their devotion to the paddle. The ancient excuse of the ritualistic initiation has been abandoned, and the paddle is freely used throughout an entire evening to promote and elicit sexual response.
More often than not, this type of sexual activity begins and ends with the smacking of each other's buttocks-buttocks that are covered or bared, depending on the modesty of the particular group. These groups enjoy a frank and primitive kind of sexuality, without suffering the consequences which sometimes arise from the more prohibitive areas of sexual behavior such as wife-swapping.
Various forms of spanking relationships, both public and private, will be discussed throughout this book. But if any particular area of this activity is to be accented, it is the spanking that takes place in the bedroom-the so-called marital spanking. Essentially, this is the area where adult spanking per se is on the increase. The formulation of "paddle clubs" among couples is a direct result of this bedroom spanking.
And it is the area of marital spanking that is interesting and concerning the psychiatric profession more and more. For not only does the act of spanking result in physical sexual response of a unique nature, but the psychological implications underlying such a relationship between two persons is a relatively unexplored research area.
In connection with this aspect, quite a large number of case histories of patients who have consulted me over the years are quoted in these pages-as they pertain to spanking. This is not to imply that spanking has ever been the basis of a particular patient's problem; it may not even have been incidental to his coming to my office.
But a number of my patients have expressed interesting views, and related extensive experiences with the activity of spanking-enough to have warranted my decision to devote an entire book to the subject. And I have preferred to base this work on first-hand statements taken from people with whom I have had direct contact, rather than to rely on second-hand research. I might add that I have not heard a single statement concerning spanking, from an adult, that has not had some sexual implications and overtones. Acknowledgement and sincere thanks are extended to Hugh Jones for his arrangement of my materials into book form.
-Harvey T. Leathern, M.D. August, 1966
CHAPTER ONE - THE FLAGELLATION PHENOMENON
As we stated in the Foreword, this book will be confined to the subject of adult spanking, or elements directly connected with this sexually-oriented activity. Before getting into the main topic, however, it will be necessary to review the whole phenomenon of sexual arousal, usually to orgasm, that can be brought about by the striking of the body.
This sexual response can be observed in all persons, or in just one individual participating in a specific flagellatory action. These participants, for purposes of simplification, can be divided into two separate categories-active and passive.
The primary active individual would usually be the one, or ones, doing the actual flagellation. But this category could also include the person who has either planned or instigated the punishment session, and who derives sexual pleasure from projecting himself into the role of the flagellator, even though he may not do any actual striking himself.
As far as passive reaction is concerned, the response occurs on the part of the recipient of the flagellation. This response is sexual in nature and similar to the reaction of the flagellator-but from a different psychological viewpoint. A sympathetic sexual response can also occur on the part of an onlooker who prefers to project himself into the role of the person being whipped rather than the whipper-if such an implement as the whip is in use during the particular session.
The sexual reaction to a particular scene involving flagellation can be from two sources, physical and psychological. Most often, of course, the particular reaction is a combination of both sources-either one can be more prominent than the other, depending on the individual respondent.
It goes without saying that not all people respond sexually to the flagellation stimulus. The whipper may apply his blows only upon someone else's orders, a sexually-reacting authority perhaps, and yet feel nothing himself. Quite often, too, the recipient of the punishment receives just that; punishment without sexual pleasure.
Or, both whipped and whipper may obtain sexual pleasure from their activity, but an observer may feel nothing but revulsion at the proceedings. However, if any of these various participating individuals experience some sort of sexual reaction during the scene, no matter how brief, the result is an activity which has to be described as sexually-based.
Rarely, in the case of adults, is there a sexual reaction of purely a physical nature where flagellation is concerned. A whipping or paddling brings about an erection of the penis in the male or a moistening of the vagina on the part of the female-a result of the implement striking the flesh. But a certain amount of psychologic conditioning to the activity is usually necessary to achieve such a result.
Of course there are examples of adults who have reacted sexually, purely from a physical standpoint, to a first spanking without there being any evidence of previous psychologic conditioning. Such cases are rare.
An interesting observation is that pronounced sexual reaction to a flagellation scene may occur on the part of all concerned, even though not one bit of physical pain or even physical contact takes place. The whipping, paddling, or spanking scene can simply be enacted without any actual physical contact taking place -or if it does, it is so light that no damage is done.
Here the entire response is of a psychological nature and, as a result, leans entirely on psychologic conditioning to elicit the required erotic arousal. Evidence of this fact exists in that type of pornography which features pictures of whipping and spanking activities. Even though the reader knows that the scenes have been posed by models and that no spanking is actually taking place, he still experiences a sexual reaction which can include the orgasm.
Another example of sexual reaction of a psychologic nature concerns reports by prostitutes who, at one time or another, have agreed to let themselves be paddled. On mounting the requesting customer's lap, and fearing the worst, they are most surprised to find that the man merely wants to pat or tap their buttocks with the paddle-and his orgasm occurs after only a few such taps.
* * *
To demonstrate what we have said thus far, imagine that a scene is being portrayed, or is actually occurring, in which a pretty young girl is bound to a wall and is wearing very little in the way of clothing. She is about to receive punishment by flagellation, from a tall, dark, and ugly tormentor who perhaps is wearing a mask. He is holding a whip. A group is on hand to witness the act.
The sexual element already present is obvious. It is suggested by the semi-nude state of the passive recipient-to-be, and the parts of her anatomy that are revealed. The mask of the flagellator lends an element of mystery to the picture. The fact that the captive is bound physically, is important to the sexual reactions of some viewers; the horrified expression on her pretty face appeals to others.
This sexual response grows and is channeled into the crack of the whip as the tormentor brings it back, then sharply curls it around the girl's body. Her scream is a symbol of the releasing of the orgasm. Depending upon the specific psychologic conditioning of the onlookers, they immediately "side" with one of the two participants. The masochistically-inclined, the more passive, will imagine themselves under the whip. The sadists will cast themselves in the role of the whipper. They do not, incidentally, need to be of the same sex to project themselves thusly.
Under the conditions as portrayed, of a brutal whipping, the onlookers who are masochists will undoubtedly gain more pleasure than the sadists in the group. The former will obtain a certain amount of pleasure, sexual pleasure, without experiencing any of the accompanying pain that the whipped girl is undergoing. While they may themselves, at one time or another, sustain actual physical punishment, it will be of a much less harmful nature.
The sadists, however, will probably be most envious of such an opportunity, that is not their own, to wield a whip on a beautiful girl. These particular persons function as pain-givers whenever a chance presents itself, but they can react sexually to mere observation -although not as violently as they do when they are actively participating.
This latter group is best personified, in reality, by college fraternity members witnessing the paddling initiation indulged in by a sorority. To some extent, the reverse situation occurs-the sorority sisters watching frat pledges get paddled. Studies have been made of students who have observed such initiations, and definite sexual response was measured on the part of nearly ninety per cent.
And results showed that almost all projected themselves into the active-sadistic role of paddler, at first, rather than lending their sexual sympathies to the passive-masochistic players. But human nature being what it is, personal sympathies switch to the initiates undergoing the pain. This happens only after the sexual desires have been satisfied, usually by a sexual climax to some degree, and the receding sexual desires are replaced by more compassionate emotions.
While initiation paddling occurs much more frequently than does the whipping scene which we made reference to, this whipping scene appears more often, fictionally speaking, than does the spanking scene. One needs only to look at any well-stocked newsstand to observe that such a whipping portrayal as we have described is a standard teaser on the cover of a multitude of sensational magazines.
However, certain sadistic and harmful elements, such as the drawing of blood and the leaving of scars, enter into whipping activities that are not a part of spanking and paddling. These elements bring additional psychological aspects into play that do not directly concern the subject of spanking, and are thus outside the realm of this book.
We would like to point out a paradox in the fact that while the lurid magazine may be sold with such a whipping scene on the cover, the portrayal of a pretty girl being paddled would undoubtedly get the publisher in a lot of trouble.
At any rate, all spanking activities that are discussed throughout this book do make use of some elements of our classic imagined whipping scene. The marital or bedroom spanking, for example, calls for a sexual reaction on the part of either man or wife. Ideally, to the couple anyway, such a relationship calls for both to react in the same manner-and to reverse the roles often, with each partner being, at one time or another, spanker and spankee.
It is true of course that a wife may play a passive role in submitting to the particular sexual desires of her husband that are fulfilled in the spanking of her. During the spanking, she may experience no sexual reaction herself. Nonetheless, if she does allow herself to be spanked, she is, in relation to her husband, acting in a sexual manner, playing a sexually-passive role.
Less often does the reverse situation exist. That situation is one in which the wife desires spankings and is the active participant in that she suggests the activity. The husband is in this case passive, but provides the flagellation to excite her sexually.
Most visits to my office which primarily concern marital spanking are from husbands who can't understand why their wives seek sexual fulfillment in this manner, and they are worried about them; at the same time they are repulsed by the thought of applying the requested spankings to their wives' bared buttocks. Actually, the problem would be minor were these husbands more willing to spank.
On the other hand, while certain females may not like the thought of receiving spankings in the form of sex-play, they almost always submit to their husbands' sexual desires rather than worrying or complaining about the sore bottom-unless the spankings are completely inhuman, or other forms of erratic behavior accompany the spanking requests.
Most wives who have consulted me purely in regard to spanking activities have done so as a result of a situation in which they had repeatedly requested such spankings from their husbands and had been refused. Eventually, they had sought relief from some other sexual partner, and they were happier with him, yet wondering whether to uproot family and home purely on such a sexual basis. Or else they had become completely frustrated sexually, and were building tensions which they were unable to release.
There is, too, a great deal of marital spanking that takes place in which, as we mentioned regarding the prostitute, only the psychological element is present. No physical punishment is actually meted out. This type of sex-play rarely causes any problems and is understood, because of the genital contact that the nude over-the-lap position affords, even by those who never indulge in such a pastime.
A husband or wife rarely comes to see me merely as a result of love-play in which contact with the buttocks is light-unless they are of a somewhat prudish nature regarding sexual matters. Almost all spouses admit some flagellation contact between hand and bare buttocks at one time or another in their married life. If they are not spanking-oriented, such activity is casually dismissed or forgotten.
There are, however, a surprising number of couples of whom one member has grown up with the idea that sex must involve just three simple steps-kiss, coitus, and removal of organ. And they specify that the entire act must be carried out somewhat quickly, and possibly for procreative purposes only.
If both man and wife hold this attitude, there are of course no problems. Such a wife will hardly ever complain of lack of orgasmic activity, for she has been taught, in her strict and rigid upbringing, that the proper woman does not enjoy sex but merely endures it.
However, if one partner wishes to stray into new sexual fields, the resulting tension often brings a husband or wife into my office. And it isn't always the wife who is inclined toward sexual purity. Often a very unyielding husband will be appalled that his wife has suddenly developed a yearning for sexual experimentation which may include some spanking.
In any case, a wife devoted to "kiss, coitus, and withdrawal" will sometimes call for a psychiatrist the instant her husband even suggests something so sexually radical as a spanking-though it might only involve his viewing her bared and upturned buttocks without so much as a pat of the hand taking place.
* * *
Almost all of the sexual elements that pertained to our imaginary whipping scene are brought into use in the second most common spanking-related activity- the spanking or paddle club. While the bedroom spanking combines both active and passive participating roles, there is, one would hope, rarely an onlooker or witness to the occurrence. But this element of the viewer's reacting in sexual sympathy is very present during the activities afforded by the paddle clubs.
We mentioned in our preface that the paddle club is a direct outgrowth of bedroom spanking. This is because not only do the participants enjoy some sort of sexual variety, and find that a variety of spanked buttocks is more acceptable than a change of coital partner, but the element of exhibitionism is strongly present. The participants enjoy the fact that they are being observed in the act of receiving a spanking or paddling-particularly if the observer happens to be a consenting husband or wife.
One reason that the paddle clubs are becoming so popular throughout this country, a documented and verified fact, is that all participants play, during the course of an evening, all roles. They are quasi-sadistic spankers while wielding the paddle. They are masochistically-inclined recipients of the same thing at the hands of another.
And they are sexually-sympathetic observers in watching others receive the same treatment that they have gotten and are getting. Furthermore, they are exhibitionists in displaying their sexual reactions to other, and showing off the parts of the body which are seen during the course of a spanking. That these people are sexually promiscuous in desiring sexual variety is obvious-but they are channeling this promiscuity into areas other than coitus.
Both basic types of sexual participation, active and passive, are very evident during the meetings of these groups. And as the spankings that are applied to the buttocks are quite real, in some cases very severe, both the physical and psychologic elements are brought into play.
Each spanking-related activity that is discussed throughout this book will be analyzed as to the amount of psychologic and physical sexual reaction present. And also as to whether or not this reaction is of an active or passive nature.
Some spanking activities have a high-orgasm content; others are used merely to begin sexual response and to bring it to a low erotic level, the spanking then being abandoned in favor of other types of sexual techniques. The amount of sexual response and the number of sexual climaxes resulting from certain types of spanking as opposed to others will be measured by statistical evidence.
But behind statistical evidence there has to be an individual. And the main portion of this book will be devoted to first-person accounts of persons participating, from one viewpoint or another, in spanking activities.
Before proceeding with Spanking and the Buttocks, we would like to observe that we have often run across a "head-in-the-sand" attitude concerning the sexuality of flagellation-as used to be the case with such topics as homosexuality and masturbation, to name just two. Nobody however denied these sexual modes existed, as nobody really denies the sexuality present in adult spanking.
But people for a long time preferred to think that the homosexual and the masturbator simply should not be acknowledged, and the less known about the subjects the better. Now, these and other sexually-related topics are openly discussed, with beneficial results to all due to increased understanding. The presence of sexual elements in spanking, comparatively ignored in generally available studies until quite recently, is just recently beginning to interest the mass public. This book is intended to contribute to that knowledge.
CHAPTER TWO - SPANKING AND THE BUTTOCKS
As we have just seen, the psychological response to adult spanking activities is the most important element in the sexuality of this act. Much mental pre-conditioning takes place before a person is able to respond in a sexual manner to this form of flagellation But no discussion of sexual spanking would be complete without our observing some facts about the physical response that takes place whenever the buttocks of an adult male or female are struck with some force.
The physiological factors behind the sexual enjoyment of spanked buttocks are really not too mysterious. The large muscles of the buttocks are closely connected with the entire sexual apparatus, in both sexes.
These gluteal muscles, as they are termed, are often brought into play during both coital and masturbatory incidents. The voluntary squeezing together of these muscles, often observed in female auto-erotic activities, most definitely can result in an orgasm, particularly if the contractions are very rhythmic. Spanking the buttocks rhythmically results in a similar reaction.
Of importance too are the involuntary contractions of the gluteal muscles that occur, on the part of the recipient, in anticipation of the blow that is about to be received. This is a natural reaction-an individual nearly always tenses some muscles in preparation for violence.
While sexually stimulating to the observing spanker, especially if the area is bare, it would appear that less damage is sustained by a pair of relaxed buttocks. Most of my patients who profess to be experienced practitioners of this activity relate that they have developed the ability to withstand severe spankings without any muscle tension whatsoever.
The buttocks of the female are particularly receptive to sexual response-the rush of blood that a brisk smack will bring to them is sufficient to stimulate an erotic reaction. The nearness of the buttocks to the vaginal entrance greatly contributes to this reaction.
In the case of the male, the nearness of the buttocks to the scrotum and penis is an important factor in the spanking-caused erection. Blood rushing to the spanked bottom causes the male sexual organs to swell, much as they do in preparation for the orgasm.
An additional anatomical element in sexual response to spanking is the fact that the anal opening shares some muscles with the perineum-a very erogenous area between the anus and the genitalia. It is obvious that during the course of most spankings this area comes into contact with either the spanking hand or the implement that is being used to strike the buttocks.
Occasionally, depending on the size of the paddle or spanking implement, the sexual organs will be accidentally struck-this can happen with either sex as the recipient. While no damage is sustained, an immediate sexual response is often the result.
An interesting physiological phenomenon is the apparent fact that the sexual feelings induced by a spanking are either stronger than, or blot out, the presence of pain. While there may be some physical discomfort sustained during a sexual spanking, this discomfort adds to, rather than detracts from, the eroticism of this activity.
Upon attainment of the orgasm, however, the element of pain becomes the uppermost sensation in the recipient. Here the requested spanking is generally halted; continued blows after the orgasm are indeed painful and no longer sexually-oriented, according to many of my patients.
While the following case histories might have fitted into other chapters, especially the one on Spanking Relationships in Marriage, I chose them to present here because they concentrate so heavily on physical reactions centering in the buttocks:
* * *
Jane L., age 24, married, two children: "As far as the spanking itself is concerned, I think the most enjoyable moment-for me, at least-is just when the first blow from Jack's paddle descends.
"This is one reason why I absolutely insist that my fanny be uncovered right from the onset of the punishment session. If I receive a swat on my slacks, or even on my panties, before proceeding to a bared bottom- well, the whole effect has been spoiled.
"It's spoiled simply because a paddle-swat on a protected bottom is not hard enough to hurt, in the 'good' sense of the word, yet it still starts some kind of sexual response inside of me. A brisk whack on the bare rear, to get things going, beings the warmth rushing immediately to the area, and this is intensely exciting to me.
"It doesn't have to be a paddle, incidentally, that gets me going. A smart hand-smack is good enough- just so it's delivered with sufficient force. But Jack's hand is only good for about ten whacks to keep me going in the right direction, if you know what I mean.
"After ten smacks, the amount of feeling in my buttocks begins to diminish. It doesn't get numb back there, I don't think my fanny ever really gets numb no matter how many I get. But the skin has gradually gotten used to the smacks, after ten hand-spanks, and a sharper, a much crisper, whack is needed. The paddle provides this nicely.
"If you should ask me where and when the height of my response comes, during the sessions under Jack's paddle, I guess I'd have to say it depends on my mood and also the time of day. A bedtime spanking is more relaxed-I know Jack and I have some time to enjoy what we're doing, and there's no real hurry. So I can sort of pace myself.
"Maybe I'll take fifty or sixty of Jack's best before either letting myself enjoy the climax or indicating to Jack that I'm ready to engage in the normal sex act. Now, fifty or sixty may sound like a lot to the inexperienced spanker, but it really isn't. I've received as many as 300 when I'm in one of my wild moods! Besides, the fifty swats are at bedtime anyway-spread out over a period of time.
"There'll be a couple of swats, then a little petting or fooling around, then two or three more smacks and a rubbing of the reddened area. Again, this happens only during our lengthy session. I'm perfectly capable of responding quickly-the whole thing can be over in as few as ten fast fanny-smacks.
"For example, I may have been in a 'glowing' mood all day long; this happens during certain days of the month, by the way. I can hardly wait for Jack to get home. I've had a drink and prepared myself mentally by anticipating and concentrating on the spanking to come, so intensely that my response has already begun before Jack has gotten home.
"Sometimes, I rub my bottom a little as if I'd already been spanked. This helps to stimulate me-I guess it's as close to masturbation as I ever get. But I've never swatted myself-you read about self-spankers but I've never gone in for it. To be truthful, I'm afraid I might get to liking it, and I think it's important that spankings be engaged in by two people.
"Anyway, I meet Jack at the door when he gets home. I have this little glow on-and I'm holding the paddle. There are no words spoken. On these occasions, I'm always wearing a loose skirt, and no panties or girdle on underneath.
"The whole incident takes place within seconds. Jack kisses me, then I bend over and he lifts my skirt up over my back. Jack knows I want only about ten paddle-swats, but good and hard. Here, a prolonged spanking is just what I don't want-just quick violence.
"Jack's first swat is as hard as the tenth; it should, and usually does, sound like the crack of a whip. The temperature on the surface of my buttocks must leap about twenty degrees. Anyway, Jack makes it fast and furious, each swat falling on a slightly different part of my fanny.
"Like I said, about ten or eleven are all that's really needed. When there have been enough whacks administered, I slowly slide from my bent-over position down to the floor. Jack doesn't touch me, he knows that as far as these occasions are concerned, I like to enjoy the throbbing all by myself. While I'm moaning around, Jack just goes upstairs and changes into casual clothes for dinner. By the time he gets back down, I'm already in the kitchen.
"This is simply a harmless form of sex play that we have always enjoyed indulging in."
* * *
Before offering any comment on Jane's case history, I should like to present an additional patient's story:
* * *
Larry M., age 29, married, three children: "My problem, and I guess it's not really serious enough to be called that, is that I have a 'short fuse'-if you know what I mean-as far as getting spanked goes. I don't know why this is true; I'm able to engage in coitus for as long as an hour before reaching the sexual climax.
"But getting swatted on my buttocks is such a meaningful event, sexually speaking, that I have never been able to accept more than fifteen or twenty swats before dissolving into-well, you know what, and I don't mean tears. I've always wanted, for instance, to see just how much swatting I could take before the pain got to me.
"But I've never gotten past the twenty or so that I mentioned. Naturally, there is no point to having the spankings continue after the climax-then they would be anything but sexual. I have to have a few moments to recover, so to speak, before I can take another.
"What brings about such a violent sexual reaction in myself? I think it's pretty easy to explain. The first blow from paddle or hand, whatever the case may be, heats me up right away. The force of the whack brings me to an immediate sexual erection.
"Each succeeding smack seems to add warmth to the area until there is sort of a cycle taking place-smack, heat, a slight recovery, then another smack to begin the cycle again. The whole emotion builds and builds -twenty smacks making twenty times over-until I just have to release the feeling in the natural way. So it happens.
"It's a fast buildup, much faster than when Judy and I are just doing a little petting or having sexual intercourse. With intercourse, the buildup is slow and sustained, and you can control it, you know just when it's going to happen.
"With a spanking, I know about how many swats it takes in all. But here's the difference: one second before it happens, I don't know just when it will occur. One moment I'm getting my rear end smacked, the next I'm letting Judy know that I've had enough. I don't mean that I have to actually tell her I've had enough. I get pretty wild, and she can tell that way.
"And when Judy and I trade positions, it's about the same thing-except that Judy doesn't have as violent a reaction as I do. And she doesn't have any reaction at all unless I spank her a certain way. She's showed me how she likes it, and I can see where it might make a difference.
"For one thing, she likes to get swatted low on her buttocks. She's always over my lap when she takes hers-she never gets it bent-over like I do. Too unladylike, so she says. But it's the way that I smack that is most important to her. She likes me to aim the palm of my hand, or the paddle, down low at the fat curve of her fanny-with the blow sort of bouncing, or glancing, upward.
"She says this smacking angle sort of pulls her- pulls her between the legs and also causes her buttocks to jiggle from the impact. This jiggling, so she says, makes the whole spanking much more sexual than when I just land my hand square on her buttocks. "Judy demonstrated, with me over her lap, the way she wants it, and I really couldn't tell any sexual difference-although I'll admit I could feel a difference in the way the paddle came into contact with my bottom. But as we are spanking purely for pleasure- there's no punishment element whatsoever-I fry hard to spank Judy just the way she wants to be spanked.
"There's another difference in the way Judy and I react to our spankings. As I said, I stop the smacks as soon as I begin the climax-I want to enjoy the pleasure without any additional distractions from the paddle. Judy, for some reason, likes the smacks to continue throughout the thirty seconds or so that her climax is taking place.
"She's said that if I stop the swats, even for a moment, her buttocks begin to cool off immediately, and this takes the edge off the whole incident, which to her is sort of quietly emotional. So she likes me to keep the area warm while it's happening.
"I don't continue to spank as hard, by the way, as I have in the buildup to her climax. As soon as she stiffens a little-she never utters any sound at this point-I can tell the sexual event is about to take place. So I ease up with the paddle just a little, still keeping the smacks crisp, and definitely angling them off the fat part of her buttocks the way she likes.
"Judy's stiffening becomes more and more pronounced-but this is her only noticeable reaction other than a mottling of the skin. Then, all of a sudden, Judy relaxes and flops her head down on the bed or the couch, depending on where the spanking has taken place. Her legs go limp and her hands fall to the floor. This signals the end of the paddling, and I begin to caress her all over in a soothing way."
Both Jane and Larry, and probably Larry's wife, were utilizing their buttocks and the spanking of them as a form of sexual fetishism. A fetish attachment-a mental attitude in which one develops sexual response to a non-sexual object-may be a form of sexual deviation but is not a perversion.
Throughout this study, in regard to the case histories presented, a differentiation will be made between such merely deviate activities as fetishism, flagellation and bondage, and those of a more serious nature-such deep perversions as homosexuality and out-and-out torturous sadism.
A psychiatrist rarely concerns himself with the treatment of fetishism-particularly if the fetish is not a full-time obsession and the patient is not extremely bothered by its presence. The opposite is more often the case, actually, as the patient is usually concerned only with cultivating rather than removing a fetish attachment.
And, while a perversion should often be treated by psychotherapy, here, again, many individuals who seek psychiatric help do so not with the express purpose of changing their ways, but with a desire to learn how they can live as comfortably as possible with their perversion.
To make it simple, most persons want to have their sexual cake and eat it, too-emotionally speaking. They want the security of the sexual enjoyment that their perversion affords, yet they wish to appear and to act like everyone else. And, if confronted with a choice -as is so often the case during psychotherapy-they will choose to retain their sexual pleasures rather than to conform with the rest of society.
As previously stated, most of my patients who reveal spanking activities are not in my office as a result of this particular fetish, but for reasons which may be only indirectly related to this aberration. I do not actually "treat" spankers, as such. In the cases of Jane and Larry, both of whom were suffering from physical symptoms which were psychosomatic, I frankly felt that their particular inclinations were definitely not of an unhealthy nature-not enough to warrant attention, anyway.
, While some of my colleagues immediately begin prolonged therapy for any and all patients who indulge in such "offbeat" activities as spanking, I believe this is an unrealistic approach. I will however, to even up the score somewhat, present case histories in this study, where I felt that the spanking urge should be curbed and subdued.
There are various reasons why persons become enamored of spanking and the accompanying sexuality. The primary cause is a combination of the physical response to spanking and a buttocks fetish.
One symptom of this form of fetishism, which has recently swept the country, is the wearing of very tight pants, especially by the female sex. The displaying of the buttocks in this manner often indicates a latent, if not an outright, desire to have the buttocks spanked. This aspect of spanking is more fully covered in the chapter on Spanking and Related Perversions.
CHAPTER THREE - THE SADISTIC ELEMENT IN SPANKING
The reader will observe that this chapter refers only to a sadistic element that occurs in adult spanking and is not entitled Sadism and Spanking, or something similarly misleading. This is simply a result of the general feeling among psychiatrists that adult spanking, taken by itself, is not an overtly sadistic activity.
This is not to state that sadists are never spankers or that spankers never go beyond spanking to indulge in more harmfully sadistic activities. But we are devoting our study only to spanking-the striking of the buttocks-and individuals who limit themselves to inflicting their pleasure-pain on this area are rarely sadistic in nature.
If we are to take the accepted definition of a sadist, one who gains sexual pleasure from the inflicting of pain upon another, psychiatric studies have found that the truly sadistic individual does not discriminate as to what part of the anatomy the pain is inflicted upon- as does the spanker.
In addition, the true sadist is not concerned with the milder degree of discomfort; he prefers lasting damage to his victim. Slowly reddening buttocks hold little thrill for him or her-flowing blood excites them to a far greater extent.
As such, the sadist's instruments are usually the whip, the knife, the needle-or just plain brute force. And the buttocks, because they are physically able to withstand blows that would cause damage elsewhere, are generally avoided by the sexual sadist. Rarely is the true sadist a buttocks fetishist.
If the sadist has a fetish of any type, it is for the sight of human blood, not for any particular part of the human anatomy. On the contrary, the average adult spanker abhors the thought of his spanking or paddling leading to bleeding. Blood rushing to the buttocks is a far different thing, to the practicing adult spanker, than from the buttocks.
This differentiation between the sadist and the spanker has been confirmed not only through my own observations but by studies made through the research of some of my colleagues concerning spankers and the flagellation phenomenon. To the layman, the words spanker and sadist often go hand-in-hand-but it is misleading to use the two terms as synonyms.
After all, the famous Marquis de Sade, from whose name the term sadism is derived, only casually mentions simple spanking in his works and writings. Sade was much more concerned with inflicting fierce whippings which resulted in damaging cuts and bruises. There does exist, as this chapter heading indicates, a hint of sadism in adult spanking activities, to the extent that a certain sexual pleasure is obtained by the spanker in observing the spanking partner squirming uncomfortably under the blows of hand or paddle.
Again, however, this sexual reaction may be more "sympathetic" than sadistic. Knowing well, from past experience as the spanked, the amount of discomfort that the victim's buttocks are undergoing, the spanker may experience a masochistic reaction that is in tune with that of the one who is being spanked.
Generally, a spanker with a dominant sadistic element in his makeup will be male, while a spanker experiencing sympathetic sexual responses will be of the female sex. And, statistics prove, the spanker who is a true sadist will never accept spankings from a sexual partner, just as a truly masochistic individual only functions as the recipient of a spanking.
Another point of fact is that the majority of adult spankers divide their indulgence in this sexual activity equally between giving and receiving this form of flagellation. They spank, and they are spanked. For this reason, neither the sadistic nor the masochistic element is more prominent than the other in these persons-if they even exist within the individual at all.
It is, therefore, entirely possible for two heterosexual individuals to form, either during or before marriage, a sexual relationship based upon adult spanking, with neither the male or the female possessing any sadistic or masochistic characteristics, nor either one being more dominant or submissive than the other.
Newspaper "advice-to-the-lovelorn" columnists to the contrary notwithstanding, two sexually healthy people often form a sexually healthy relationship based entirely on the physical and animal aspects of adult spanking-while still continuing to engage in normal sexual intercourse as a part of their sexual repertoire.
With some of my colleagues, the measuring mark- as to whether the couple are taking part in an aberration or a perversion-is that as long as a couple do engage in coitus, then their spanking is not considered to be harmful. If spanking remains the sole source of their sexual response and their orgasms, then treatment and psychotherapy are indicated.
This is a relatively old-fashioned idea-one of the important factors being that contemporary young married couples are looking for forms of sexual pleasure without danger of unwanted pregnancy. While numerous birth-control pills and other contraceptives exist, there is always a reservation in the minds of the sexual participants as to what might be the result of their coital sex-play. This worry often chills sexual response, especially where the attainment of the orgasm in the female is concerned.
With spanking, as with various other forms of fetishism, the orgasm-producing activity can be enjoyed without this fear of pregnancy-and many progressive psychiatrists and psychologists feel that the couple should be free to participate in their chosen sexual activity without being branded as "perverted." Therefore, many therapists attempt to remove, rather than to instill, these fears of perversion in those couples seeking their advice.
I have chosen for this chapter two case histories, one clearly showing an element of sadism in the spanker, and the other being a history of a true sadistic spanker. The latter, it must be mentioned, is an unusual one:
* * *
Jerry G., age 27, unmarried: "When I spank, I want it to be a good spanking. And I want it to hurt her. Would I be able to take one of my own paddlings? You mean, if one of those chicks laid it on me like I do to them-could I take it? No, I couldn't! But that's not the point, is it? I mean, I'm a spanker-that's it.
"How do I find girls to spank? It's not easy-and it's not hard. It's not easy if you rush into it too fast. As hard as I like to paddle, I'd be in trouble if I just flipped a date, any date, over my lap and began to whack her rear end. A guy could get himself arrested that way.
"But after a little brain-washing, a little indoctrination in the idea of spanking-well, then they almost all react the same way. By the time I've decided to give them the whole treatment, they respond as expected. Sure, there are a lot of chicks who would never agree to having their panties slipped down and their fannies whacked. But this type I never get around to dating, anyway.
"What type of girl do I go for? Well, for spanking I avoid the real high-class chick, the glamour doll. This kind always thinks she's too good to even let a guy have regular sex with her, much less something a little offbeat like spanking. I date this type every so often, but only for show.
"And I avoid the ultra-sophisticated, very dignified type of gal. Crawling across a guy's lap and getting whacked is not the most romantic or esthetic of human pastimes-sure, it's sexy but it doesn't always put you in the most flattering of positions, if you know what I mean. I've spanked a few gals like that, and their pride was hurt more than their derrieres!
"But that doesn't mean that the bookish, librarian type might not go for a spanking. In fact, the intellectually curious woman often is interested in all aspects of spanking. She enjoys trying new things and observing her own reactions. And this type often responds emotionally to a good paddling. Then too, this kind of girl generally is sitting down a lot, studying or something, and has developed her fanny into a nice cushion -nice for receiving a good paddling.
"But I usually go for a swingy type of gal. Not athletic, .or too mannish. But a broad that goes in for dancing and casual clothes and spectator sports, that type. And naturally, she's got to have a little something back there to lay the paddle on. I mean the hipless chick-the one who looks like a professional model-I mean-what's the use?
"One thing that I look for in the clothes department, is a gal that likes to wear her pants nice and tight, stretch ski-pants or things like Levis and Western jeans. That means she's already 'buttocks conscious'- she's aware of the sexy quality that goes with her swingy little rear. Girls who wear baggy slacks-well, they're not for me. Smacking these gals on their fannies would have, for them, the same sexuality as slapping them on their arm-it wouldn't work, if you know what I mean.
"And the petite, china-doll type of 'little' girl, so dainty that you think she might break if you looked cross-eyed at her, she's out. So you discard all these types and what have you got left? The swingy, sexually-adventurous, well-put-together-where-it-counts, sexually-emancipated little temptress. I'm getting carried away, I realize.
* * *
"The indoctrination program? Well, that takes a few dates, maybe as many as five or six. I have it worked out in my mind, and I adjust the plan to each 'case,' but basically it's a mixture of talking, showing her a few of my milder books on spanking, whacking her lightly on my buttocks after I've got her sexually worked-up during petting-then, finding an excuse to spank.
"The last two phases are the most important. If I can deliver a pretty good spanking to her when she's in the grip of a climax-well, that's just great. You see, the girl begins to relate the spanking to the pleasures of sex. Doesn't always work, of course, but it is effective much of the time.
"Then, if I can pretend that she's done something displeasing and that a good spanking is the needed remedy, my battle is half-won. Now, this sort Of a proposal has to be made when we're both in a light but sexy sort of mood. You can't bring the suggestion up when she's being serious, because she'll immediately think this is a childish idea.
"So, if you can move her into a frame of mind in which she assumes the role of a bad little girl, then a spanking won't seem so far-out. Generally, the spanking suggestion will be made in sort of a wrestling context-you're making love and you're both heated up and you're tugging and pulling on each other. She's with you, but she's pretending to fight you, her hair is all messed up, your clothes are half off. Then, it's over your lap.
"The first spanking should be, strange as it may sound, delivered on her bare buttocks. And here I've got to use my ingenuity. Maybe her skirt has slipped up during the petting or wrestling session, maybe you've already gotten your hand inside her panties. Some way, however, the fanny has to be bare. A spanking on a pair of tight pants will mean nothing to her sexually. With a man, sometimes the mere thought of a spanking is enough to sexually excite. With a girl, she's got to feel it-she can respond only to the touch and not to the idea of a spanking.
"But-and this is important-the first spanking shouldn't be too hard. If it is, you'll scare your victim off right away, and all your preparation will be wasted. Now, this is the phase where I have the most difficulty. Holding back during the first spanking can be sheer torture for me-everything inside of me is saying, 'Go ahead and SPANK!' "What's more, I'm just using my hand. This doesn't please me at all, it hurts my hand, and I'm a paddle man, myself. But I manage to take it easy on the very feminine pair of buttocks which are unaccustomed to receiving a spanking and it all pays off later.
"Also, during this first hand-spanking, I check the girl's reactions. If she enjoys it immediately, so much the better. No more problems-sometimes I can switch to the paddle right away. And if she even begins to cry, but remains submissive, that's all right, too. If she continues to fight me, as when we were wrestling still no harm done. A little screaming and yelling is natural. After all, she has to let me know that she's 'hating' it!
"My big problem is if a chick gets violent and changes her mood to a real fighting attitude-or comes up from the spanking totally disgusted, pouting. That usually means this one will never graduate to the paddle. This hardly ever happens to me, however. I don't take a lot of credit for this fact-it's just that I don't go all the way to a spanking with a girl that'll react this way.
"Sometimes, though, I goof. A broad who's been stringing me along, reacting favorably to my spanking 'suggestions,' will suddenly turn sour when she finds herself over my lap-maybe she thought I was kidding all along, or something like that.
"Whenever this happens, it usually means that I'm through with this girl. A couple of times I've discovered this negative reaction, while she's been over my lap, and I've gotten so mad that I've really laid it on her curvy rear end-I figure, what the heck! I'm through with her anyway, so I might as well get one piece of satisfaction. Usually, though, I control myself and we part good friends if not good spankers.
* * *
"Yes, most of the spankings that I give take place in my apartment-a car's no good for administering a paddling. Some cop might come by and, even if the girl was willing, you might have a difficult time explaining why her legs and feet were waving around in the air.
"The paddle? That comes on the third or fourth spanking. By this time, my chick is used to the idea, has come to expect the spanking at regular intervals, and is maybe even responding sexually to the idea. This sexual response often comes, and shows itself in different ways. A violently sobbing, but still sexual, embrace that occurs after the paddling has been delivered-or a definite movement toward the climax with a very satisfying sexual scene taking place following the spanking. Or-and this really thrills me-the girl may make it during the course of the paddling itself.
"As much as I like this last reaction, I'll have to admit that this doesn't happen real often, and that's partly my fault. Some guys who practice the spanking of dates can work a girl to a climax every time, always during the spanking. But they work differently than I do. For one thing, they hardly ever use the paddle, they work only with their hand. And they take a good deal longer to spank, starting slowly and working the tempo up to a more violent degree.
"But-and here's the important thing-they never really hurt their chicks. They just sort of keep the buttocks warm, sexually speaking, until whoever's being spanked takes off on her own. Sometimes, they'll keep spanking for as long as a half hour. Me, I've just got to use the paddle to get my kicks, and I've got to see the girls squirm. I just haven't got the patience to spank lightly and encourage the chick to make it-it just doesn't do me any good.
"So, when I'm ready, I just take the paddle and lay it on good and hard. Sure, this kills some of the desire in the girl, she can't make it while she's hurting real badly. But for me it's the only way. Bright red buttocks, a few welts, then some purple showing-and my desire is fully satisfied.
"But I try to make up for the pain that I've caused, after a paddling has been completed and my sexuality taken care of. For one thing, I'm not one of those guys who tosses a chick off his lap right after he's taken care of his own needs. As soon as I've composed myself, after the event, I begin to caress the spanked buttocks, and I start making 'apologies' to the spanked girl. For some reason, this really gets them. The more they've been hurt, the more receptive they are to being cuddled and comforted, and their tears brushed away.
"I'll have to admit, through, that I do lose some girls after I've administered a rough paddling to their fannies. Even with careful preparation, and good reactions to the hand-spanking, it's more than they can cope with, nor can I cope with their objections. But my 'drop-out' rate, as I call it, is small. I sincerely wish I could enjoy spanking without hurting them, like some of the guys that I hang around with can, but I just can't. The more I can bruise a pair of luscious-pink buttocks, the better it is for me.
"Now, here's my problem. I'm thinking about finding a girl to marry, to settle down with. I'm a stock broker, and clients seem to prefer the solidarity of a married man. I know two or three girls who would fill the bill, and who enjoy spanking-any of them would marry me at the pop of the question. But I've got a few reservations about marriage.
"For one thing, I've never limited myself to working on just one fanny-not for very long, anyway.- A variety of buttocks over my lap is what keeps me interested. And even if I could settle down with just one girl and her rear end-what happens if I keep bruising her each night? To enjoy spanking, as I said, I've got to make it rough on them. Then I let them 'recover' for about a week.
"I don't think that any one pair of buttocks could hold up under my nightly paddlings. And with me, spanking is sex. I go for the normal things, too, but only after the spanking. So what do you think of me and marriage, Doctor?"
* * *
Frankly, I didn't think a great deal of Jerry and marriage-not at our first session, anyway. Jerry's eager bragging about his sexual spanking exploits, while they were providing me with some material to study, were definitely symptomatic of some deep-seated sexual insecurity.
I advised Jerry to wait for a while before thinking of marriage seriously. And I recommended a weekly analysis session to see if the cause of his insecurity could be discovered. To make a long analysis short, it turned out Jerry was a latent homosexual. While not conscious of his attraction to other men, Jerry felt he needed something in addition to what his female partners were providing him. He was attempting to punish his sex partners severely for not providing him with complete sexual satisfaction.
The punishment that he was meting out was, of course, the harsh and almost brutal spankings. And Jerry's desire to inflict lasting pain on his girl friends' buttocks indicated that his frustration was lashing out and forming a sadistic core within him-resulting from his subconscious rebellion against the denial of homosexual liaisons.
It appeared to me that the sadistic impulses could easily be dispelled if Jerry were to indulge in sexual acts with other men. While I have often been confronted with overt homosexuality and have decided that it was best not to curb the perversion in certain individuals, this is far from recommending that a person take up a perversion that he has not previously indulged in.
The best solution in this case seemed to be one in which the patient's undeveloped homosexuality would be overcome and normal heterosexuality encouraged.
This is always a difficult problem for psychiatrists, and one in which the profession is notably unsuccessful-if the homosexuality is overt, as it was not with Jerry.
After sessions covering a year we managed-the patient and I-to root out and bring to the surface his homosexual instincts in such a manner that Jerry could confront and cope with them. To my delight, Jerry never let his problem overcome him-he kept his thoughts directed along heterosexual lines. He also, I might add, did some "growing up" during the course of the therapy. The reader will probably notice that Jerry's original statements indicated quite a bit of immaturity.
I did not, incidentally, attempt to discourage Jerry's spanking activities. Rather, I felt he could change his sexual approach to spanking, removing, in short, the sadistic element. I did suggest that he try to find a responsive yet stable sexual partner for his spanking activities and normal coitus, and to concentrate solely on her for a period of time, excluding other female sexual contacts.
To provide a happy ending to this particular case history, Jerry did just that. He eventually became engaged to a girl who both understood and participated freely in adult spanking, without allowing this type of sex-play to become a sexual obsession.
Jerry in the meantime had discovered and developed the ability to gain sexual pleasure from the application of milder, more "symbolic" spankings, rather than the terrifically brutal paddlings that had previously been the source of his pleasure. Jerry is now married and evidently happily so.
* * *
The highly sadistic statement that follows, not enough information being included to call it a case history, is not that of one of my patients. A colleague of mine, knowing I was writing this study on adult spanking, took these quotes from one of his patients who was going through psychoanalysis. It should be obvious that Mr. S. was suffering from a severe mental disturbance.
* * *
Mr. S., age 42, unmarried: "I simply buy a girl, a woman, and I pay a very good price for her services. Maybe she's a prostitute, maybe she's just a broad that's down on her luck and needs the money. I find the girls downtown in the heart of the city, and I make a 'business' arrangement with them.
"I buy the woman dinner and cocktails while I explain the whole deal. I tell her exactly what will happen to her rear end, but I also assure her that her buttocks are the only part of her anatomy that will be struck.
"Then, I have her sign a little agreement, stating she will not hold me responsible for damages sustained by her buttocks. This dinner session takes place a few days before the time of the spanking.
"Arranging the matter previously means that by the time the girl shows up, usually early on a Friday evening, she has had time to think the whole idea through. I have informed her that she is free to change her mind, should she wish, and I'll not hold it against her. But once she presents herself to me, at my soundproof apartment, the spanking must take place without interruption.
"When she arrives, I bolt the door and present her with the agreed amount of money, in cash. Then the spanking begins, and it must last until I am fully and completely sexually satisfied and she can take no more. Normally, the actual spanking lasts through the whole night-until the sun begins to come up and I am exhausted.
"The spanking? It is carried out with hand, paddle, whip, cane, a belt, anything. All positions are used: over-the-lap, bent-over initiation style, the girl crawling between my legs, tied-to-the-bed, tied-to-the-wall. I am almost insatiable sexually, and there is no end to my imagination when it comes to new implements and new positions for the poor woman's 'punishment.' j "I have a variety of exotic clothing and lingerie that I command my victim to wear-leaving the buttocks completely uncovered.
"My estimate as to the number of sexual climaxes I achieve during the night is between ten and fifteen. I have learned to whip, throughout these orgies, in such a way that a tremendous amount of damage is delivered to the girl's posterior without the skin being broken--until my final climax. I have a special cane that I save for this finish, for the final blood-letting- which takes place with the girl completely nude.
"By morning, the sobbing girl is unable to sit or walk, possibly even unable to move. As previously agreed, she is free to spend all day Saturday and Sunday in an extra bedroom of my apartment-in fact, I insist upon this.
"She has at her disposal an assortment of creams, lotions, and medications to treat and soothe her battered buttocks. I spend most of the weekend caring for her and administering to her needs, bringing her meals and drinks. At no time whatsoever do I make any further demands of a sexual nature upon her.
"By Monday morning, when I must return to my office, the 48-hour recovery period has been sufficient to allow me to release her from my care. Generally she must return to her home by then-I have previously insisted that she inform relatives and friends that she will be 'away' for the entire weekend.
"I never use a girl more than once-a new girl each session for me. Incidentally, I don't look for any particular type. They are all sizes, shapes, forms, personalities and ages, but twenty-one is the minimum age requirement for the agreement. As painful as the procedure is for the girls, you'd be surprised at how many call and offer their services for another weekend.
"The offer is never accepted. Without fail, their buttocks will always carry some marks or scars from their stay with me, no matter how much time may have passed. And it is important to me that I begin my lengthy sessions of sexual spanking on a completely fresh and unscarred pair of buttocks.
"I have no wish to give up this practice-it is the only pastime that fulfills my emotional and sexual needs."
CHAPTER FOUR - THE MASOCHISTIC ELEMENT IN SPANKING
We stated in the previous chapter that the truly sadistic spanker is male-the female who enjoys adult sexual spanking, in the role of the spanker, experiences a sympathetic, masochistic-type reaction to the punishment she is inflicting.
If the sadistic spanker is generally a male, we might assume that the masochistic recipient of sexual spankings is usually a female-that many females respond in a sexual manner, as masochists, to the hand or paddle as applied forcefully to their buttocks. This assumption is only partially true. There are of course certain instances and cases of female masochists who enjoy receiving spankings, purely due to the pain and discomfort involved. But the majority of women and girls past puberty, who achieve erotic stimulation from spanking, can be divided into two categories, neither of which includes the masochist.
One category, not necessarily the largest, is that group of women who accept spankings from their male sexual partners simply because the male enjoys applying the spankings. Here, the woman does not respond sexually and does not actually understand the reasons why spanking is sexually appealing to her partner.
The women of this group are sexually submissive in that they accept certain erotic techniques on the part of their partner-they are playing a sexually passive role in adult spanking. They are not masochists simply because a masochist must play an active role, sexually speaking, in her relationship with another individual. Naturally, the word passive refers to her sexual response-she takes an active physical part in the receiving of the spanking.
The passive participant is, incidentally, usually attached in some emotional way to her sexual partner- either through marriage, engagement, or as a steady girl friend. Generally, she will accept the spanking only from the particular man to whom she attaches her emotions.
The other category of female, exclusive of the masochist, is the type of woman who does respond sexually to a spanking-but the sexual response is not attributed to the pain incurred. Her erotic stimulation comes from a sympathetic response to the emotions of her male spanker-she realized that he is erotically stimulated by spanking her, and she finds this thought to be sexually exciting as the spanking takes place.
This group of women are also very vulnerable to physical responses to spanking as discussed in Chapter Two. Her buttocks, a sexually erogenous zone, are stimulated by the touch of hand or paddle and by the heat which is generated from her pubic area as a result of contact with the spanking implement. Generally, however, the spanking has to be applied to members of this group in a very sensitive manner to achieve erotic response-too much pain, to one who is a non-masochist, will destroy the response.
This latter group probably forms the majority of female spanking participants, and they are, of course, the most sexually satisfying type to the male adult spanker. A sympathetic erotic response, plus some sexual enjoyment of the physical spanking itself, is a typical composite of the female spanker.
It should be noted that the active sexual spanking respondent, and the passive participant, are almost always heterosexual in makeup. The third type mentioned, the actual female masochist, is more often to be found in a sado-masochistic Lesbian relationship-to be fully discussed in the chapter on Homosexual Spanking Relationships.
On the other hand, the truly masochistic spanker who is male is not usually a homosexual. The man who enjoys enduring pain brought to him upon his buttocks almost without exception desires the spanking or paddling to be applied by a woman.
Perhaps for purely social reasons related to his desire for spankings, and the difficulties of obtaining a sexual spanking, the male masochist is always a married man. Rarely is a female-dominant, male-submissive physical relationship built before marriage; psychological attachments can occur before marriage, usually subconsciously, but such physical manifestations as spanking are not indulged in until the couple have "found" each other out.
This is, by the way, not true when the more usual reverse situation occurs. The male-dominant, female-submissive combination, quite common, demonstrates itself in such activities as adult spanking long before the actual marriage ceremony; the marriage would, in fact, probably not be entered into without the physical spanking element.
So the male masochist searches for a dominant female to enter into a partnership with him and to apply his requested spankings-but she need not necessarily be a sadistic woman, if only because the real female sadist is quite rare. The classic illustration, in under-the-counter "flag" publications, of the man meekly submitting to a whipping from a tough-appearing but strikingly beautiful woman-she is always dressed in a fetishist costume of high-heeled leather boots, waist-cinching corset, and has very long hair-is largely a figment of the imagination. At least she was an imaginary fantasy until the last couple of years- now, more and more women have begun to dress in this fashion.
The male who enjoys being spanked is, as opposed to the female spanking recipient, usually a true masochist, enjoying pain for pain's sake. But most males who have a predilection for being on the receiving end of a paddle, attach sexual emotions only to that pain received during the course of a spanking-pain applied only to the buttocks. Discomfort incurred elsewhere on their anatomy does not hold any feelings of sexuality for them. And, since spanking makes such use of psychologic conditioning, the pain is thought of as being sexual only if applied by the chosen wife or lover.
The masochistic male spanking recipient is, therefore, less promiscuous and more discriminating than the sadistic male spanker-the latter cares little about the person possessing the buttocks that he is flagellating for his sexual enjoyment.
As a psychological problem, the masochistic spanking participant is of far less importance than the sadistic one, if only for the fact that the amount of physical harm for which he is responsible concerns only himself. By nature, too, the masochist is more agreeable and amenable to psychotherapy than is the sadist.
The first case history related to this chapter is that of a wife who accepts spanking from her husband, without herself sexually participating:
* * *
Laura B., age 22, married: "Ralph began spanking me even before we became engaged. At first, I was both hurt and insulted-until I soon found out that Ralph wasn't really spanking me for the sake of punishment, though he always pretended that it was for something I had done to displease him. He would only spank me when we were alone, usually out in the car petting, and almost always I could tell that he was 'up,' sexually, when he spanked.
"So, as it seemed to make him so happy, I just let him continue doing it. I did put up some objections when, after getting the treatment for a number of times, Ralph suggested that it would do me more 'good' if my jeans and panties were removed. Until this time, he had been satisfied to swat the seat of my slacks, which I like to wear real tight.
"But as long as we were going to be married, I could see no reason why Ralph shouldn't have access to my bare bottom-if that was what he really wanted. And to tell you the truth, I found Ralph easier to handle after he had spanked me. Do you know what I mean?
"Well, it's this way. I had always insisted that I would still be, at the time of the marriage ceremony, a virgin. I know that this sounds pretty old-fashioned nowadays, but that's the way I wanted it. Well, Ralph didn't always go along with this idea, and we had some rather harsh battles about it.
"But after he began to seriously spank me, the times that he fretted about my sexual restrictions became fewer and fewer. He seemed very content, especially after switching to bare-bottom spankings, to let the evening go at that. Yes, I realized he was having a climax during the spankings. To me, this was preferable to fighting him off for a couple of hours.
"Finally, the last couple of months before our marriage, we fell into sort of a pattern. We'd go out to a show or something, then head out in the country to park. An hour of petting, and usually a climax would come for me. In spite of my reservations about intercourse, I didn't really mind heavy petting, and Ralph was pretty good at it, too. I mean, he took his time, and knew just the right way to work me for the best results.
"Well, after I'd gotten my climax, and recovered, then Ralph would start making more serious advances. I'd voice the usual objections and then he'd accuse me of being a 'tease.' I'd just laugh and then he'd get mad and tell me I needed a good spanking. Then I'd shriek and we'd begin to wrestle a little-all in good fun, of course.
"Before long, though, I'd be over his lap-skirt up or jeans down as the case might be. My panties, no matter what I was wearing over them, would wind up down around my knees. Then Ralph's big hands would begin to descend upon my buttocks-not real hard, but not exactly love taps either. I could always tell, the next morning when I got up, that I'd been spanked.
"Ralph's smacks would get faster and faster until, well, until they stopped and Ralph's excitement had passed. I'd lie there real quietly, waiting for Ralph's spasms to stop. Then, when he indicated that everything was 'all right,' I'd rearrange my clothing and sit up. That's something I've never understood about Ralph-he enjoys undressing me before the spanking but he never cares to pull my panties back up when he's all through.
"As soon as we were married, naturally, I let Ralph go all the way. And for the first month I could hardly keep him satisfied. But, and this really surprised me, he didn't stop the spankings. What's more, as time went on, I found he was spending more time spanking me than we were spending in sexual intercourse.
"Not that he didn't help me to my climaxes-that wasn't the problem. While I found it was difficult for me to find sexual satisfaction in intercourse, Ralph would pet me to a climax just like he had before we were married. In fact, this is what happened: we soon fell back into our pattern of petting and spanking- like we had in the car-with me attaining the climax before the spanking and Jack's coming during it.
"Now we've been married just six months. And just recently Ralph has started to take me out every night to park, just like we did before the wedding. Ralph says he enjoys it more this way. He does, however, spank me sometimes just before we go to bed-but he doesn't pet me like he does in the car.
"Two things have been bothering me, which is why I've come to you for some advice. The first question, and not the most important one, is as to whether this going out in the car is normal-I mean, we could do everything at home in bed.
"The second question is not one that I'll bet you thought I was going to ask. You probably thought I'd ask if Ralph's desire to spank means that he's weird in some way. But I've read enough about sex and men and spanking to know that it's pretty common. However, I've been wondering about myself. Maybe I should be getting more of a kick out of being spanked. I never feel anything, except a little stinging, when Ralph spanks me.
"I've been talking to a couple of married girl friends who get spanked by their husbands. They sort of like it -one says she can make a climax just from having Bob spank her bare buttocks. Both of them think that, as long as I let Ralph spank me, I should be getting some kind of sexual reaction. The way they keep talking about it, you'd think I was frigid or something. Do you think I should change my attitude about sex, Doctor?"
* * *
This was indeed a query from a "modern" young woman, in spite of her attitude about pre-marital chastity. I have had many wives assure me that their husbands were terribly "sick" simply because they wanted to spank them. But Laura was the first wife I had come across who admitted to the sexuality inherent in spanking, and was worried at her own lack of sexual response to the activity.
I must admit, however, that I have since come into contact with three or four wives holding attitudes which were similar to Laura's.
I was most happy to assure Laura that her fears of being frigid were entirely groundless-there was no reason at all that she should either possess or develop sexual reactions to her husband's spankings. Regarding Laura's two girl friends, I explained that their responses were in empathy with their husbands-if the responses were indeed as great as their descriptions.
As far as Ralph's insistence upon the petting and spanking taking place in the car went, I felt this was just an immature phase that a young and recently-married husband, longing for the "good old days", was going through. Laura, I believed, could best serve her husband by accompanying him to the parking place without complaint, as she was already so intelligently doing. And I further mentioned to Laura that, with the coming of winter, Ralph would undoubtedly lose interest in sexual pastimes that took place in a cold car.
The only service I thought I could administer to Laura was some aid in helping her to achieve the climax during coitus. While I did not think that her reliance upon Ralph's petting, to attain the orgasm, was harmful in any way, I did think it would be to Laura's benefit to obtain the personal satisfaction of a normal sexual climax.
In addition to discussing several techniques that I felt she might employ, I gave Laura a copy of my booklet entitled The Attainment of the Orgasm in the Female. Not only did I feel that it might add to her coital satisfaction, I also felt that Ralph's sexual ego might be fed by knowing that intercourse was moving Laura to the climax, thereby diverting some of his sexual attention away from his spanking activities.
The following case history excerpt concerns a male with masochistic inclinations, but not of a serious nature:
* * *
Bert K., age 23, unmarried: "It took me a heck of a long time to find a girl like Eloise. Women with her characteristics just aren't too common. For one thing, she's big-she has big bones but she's well-proportioned. Generally, large girls are sloppy-looking, and slovenly women just don't interest me. Eloise has red hair, real long auburn hair. I really go for that.
"Anyway, once you find such a woman you have difficulty in getting her interested in you. At least, if you're like me. I mean, big beautiful girls always go for husky men, not for little guys my size. Big girls are usually already self-conscious about their height, even if they're very pretty-dating a shorter fellow makes them appear that much taller.
"So I met Eloise in this bar downtown-she was working as a hostess, or barmaid's a better word. I kept asking her for dates and she didn't really put me off she just didn't think I was very serious at first. But she'd sit and have drinks with me, and that pleased me very much. Gradually, I got to taking her out for dinner before work-before she had to be at work-and it got to be a regular thing.
"Well, the first time I brought up the subject of spanking to Eloise, I could see she had never had any experience as an adult with it. I was very disappointed. I've always had this thing about spanking, ever since I was a teen-ager, and I've often dreamed of being spanked by a big, beautiful, brutal girl. But a nice girl!
"I'd turned these dreams to reality, in a manner of speaking, by paying prostitutes to spank me, streetwalkers whose physical characteristics matched the girls in my dreams. The first few times it was exciting, then the pleasure wore off. Not that I'd lost my desire to be spanked, as I still kept having the dreams, but the girls I hired weren't really interested in what they were doing to me, in fact, they acted rather bored.
"This attitude spoiled the sexuality of the spanking as far as I was concerned, not to mention that the habit was pretty expensive for a bank clerk's salary. I felt my happiness would be complete, sexually speaking, if I could find a woman who would administer the spankings with pleasure, on the permanent basis of marriage.
"So, as I said, I was disappointed to find that Eloise knew nothing about adult spanking. I don't know what I expected to hear from her-I guess I hoped she'd tell me she had belonged to a paddle club in high school where all they did was to wander around whacking each other's fannies on the bare buttocks.
"But Eloise was, I could tell, gradually becoming more interested in me, and I was beginning to get more emotionally involved with her. At one time, I thought perhaps we could marry and then I might attempt to convert her into a spanker. But I finally decided to stick to my idea of marrying only a confirmed and willing spanking partner-and I also decided to get the situation out in the open and hashed completely over with Eloise before anyone could accuse me of 'leading her on.' "So I was blunt about it. I invited Eloise up to my apartment one night after dinner; and I explained that I would like to marry her but that she should know all about me before answering either way.
"Then, I showed her my collection of spanking literature and illustrations, in addition to several types of whips and paddles I had collected over the years- although the whips were just for show and I would never have wanted a session with them. Some of the material that I have is, incidentally, long out-of-print.
"I told Eloise that, while fully capable and desirous of normal sexual relations, I had this desire to be spanked-often. I explained to her that I had never wished to be the spanker as most men did. I simply liked the emotional and sexual experience of having my buttocks soundly whacked-but only with a female such as herself wielding the paddle.
"If I was hoping that Eloise would beckon me, seductively, to crawl over her lap for an immediate spanking-well, it just didn't happen. But things looked promising. Eloise was quietly digesting all the information that I was revealing about myself, and examining me quizzically as I talked.
"When I finally finished she said: 'Bert, you've been very good to me these past few months and we have good times together. And I think I might like to marry you. What you've told me tonight doesn't make a great deal of difference-still, it's a little of a shock to me.' " 'Here's what I'll agree to do. I'll give you a spanking-right now, tonight. I guess that I owe you that much. And it'll be a good spanking, as good as I can make it. For one thing, I'm curious to see how you react-if it really sexes you up as much as you say. And you might want to see if you really like getting spanked by me, as you say you might. Who knows? You might not like the way I do it, then you probably wouldn't want to marry me at all.' " 'But that's the last spanking I'll give you until- well, until this: if you'll go see a psychiatrist, tell him what you've told me, then have him write me a letter telling me what he thinks about this whole spanking bit-then, I'll decide about marrying you. If the psychiatrist doesn't approve, or thinks it's a real far-out idea that's no good-in that case, I wouldn't want to have any part of it. If he says it's not a real strange thing to do, to spank you, then I think I'd very much want to marry you.' " 'It's not that I don't like you a lot, Bert, it's just that there's no point in our getting married if we're going to run into a lot of trouble. I'll be glad to spank you a lot, if that's what makes you happy, as long as I know it's not a completely wrong thing to do.' "I told Eloise that this plan was fine with me. And I was beside myself with excitement, anticipating the spanking by her. I was so overcome with emotion that the details of the paddling that took place are rather hazy. I do remember that her first swats were a little tentative. Then she really began to lay the paddle on my bare bottom.
"I dissolved into a sexual climax immediately-my heart and head were both pounding in ecstasy. Eloise was nice enough, as the first sexual incident had happened so quickly, to repeat the paddling a few minutes later-with exactly the same results.
"That was two days ago. Yesterday, I called and made the appointment with you. Your secretary was very nice, especially when I told her it was an emergency. I think she thought I was planning to commit suicide or something. Anyway, it really is an emergency to me-I'm wilder than ever about Eloise, after that spanking!"
This is only a portion of the hour-long discussion I had with Bert. A good deal of the time was spent in my questioning him about his background, his childhood, his attitudes toward responsibilities-things that didn't exactly pertain to the subject matter at hand, but helped in my evaluation as to the state of his mental health.
I readily admit I do not like to form a professional opinion of a person on such short notice, but I felt that this case warranted such, particularly as Bert seemed fairly "normal" to me. (Normal is a word not usually found in a psychiatrist's vocabulary, the definitions being too varied and confused.)
Here is the letter I sent to Eloise:
* * *
March 11, 1966
Dear Miss L.:
At Mr. K's and your request, I have spent an hour with Bert discussing his sexual habit of spanking-among a great many other things. Although I do not often release personal information about a patient to persons other than the immediate family, I believe I can make an exception in this case.
While I could undoubtedly be more explicit in person, please be assured that, as far as Bert's sexual requests are concerned, there is nothing abnormal about them as Bert has described them to me. To participate in such a sexual activity would have no harmful consequences and should not be a source of worry.
I should like to add that Bert seems to have a most mature attitude regarding marriage and, as far as my somewhat limited knowledge of him goes, he seems like a fine marital prospect.
Sincerely, Harvey T. Leathern, M.D.
* * *
Bert and Eloise were married shortly thereafter.
CHAPTER FIVE - SPANKING IN MARRIAGE
The majority of adult spanking takes place within a marital context and has been termed both "marital" spanking and "bedroom" spanking. We have already observed in various case histories some of the types of sexual relationships in which spanking becomes a prominent factor.
The sado-masochistic relationship has been discussed from the point of view that either the man or the wife can be either sadistic or masochistic, with the non-perverted spouse being a willing if not active accomplice.
There do exist, of course, many cases where both the husband and the wife possess perverted tendencies. This combination usually takes the male-sadistic, female-masochistic form, with the reverse being far less common.
Either of these marital combinations is likely to have sexual spanking as the sole source and basis of all sexual pleasure within the marriage; normal sexual intercourse is practically ignored here. This is an unhealthy situation in that intense psychic, rather than physical, damage may be incurred over a period of years.
Actually, the majority of marital spanking relationships contain neither the sadistic nor the masochistic element. We have stated in previous chapters that the sadist, for one, is rarely content with mere spanking pursuits and does not employ that mild activity for very long.
A male-female relationship where both husband and wife are sadistic is extremely rare-neither one being willing to receive the other's flagellation. But a maso-masochistic combination is occasionally observed. Here, each masochist functions as a timid but effective enough "sadist" to bring the desired pleasure-pain to the sexual partner.
As such, then, the typical marital spanking relationship simply uses the act of striking the buttocks as a sexual supplement, proceeding to coitus to achieve the orgasm. This does not mean to imply, however, that all non-perverted marital spanking goes directly to coitus, or that the sexual climax is not often attained during the course of the spanking.
Each particular relationship involving sexual spanking must be studied on its own merits. There are many couples who attain a large amount of erotic response and orgasmic activity from spanking, yet their total sexual adjustment is primarily coital-oriented. Quite often, especially with younger and newly-married couples who practice bedroom spanking, the first orgasm of a session will be obtained from spanking, the second from normal intercourse.
Statistical studies show that the amount of marital spanking takes place is on the increase, as younger couples who marry early bring the practice to their sexual life. Several reasons have been proposed as to why contemporary couples are utilizing spanking to achieve erotic response.
One suggested cause is that the youth of today have been subjected and exposed to a great deal more violence than previous generations-one channel of communication being TV, with its picturing of savage combat and lurid crimes. Sadistically-oriented books and pulp magazines have also been accused.
The list of underlying causes also includes the idolizing of violence in spectator sports, particularly such school sports as football and basketball. The school, both high school and college, has provided another source of familiarity with the paddle, in the spanking initiation. This aspect will be discussed in the chapter on Spanking and Initiations, but we should mention here that a great many couples who admit to bedroom spanking have become acquainted with the paddle as the result of an emotion-filled and sexually-exciting initiation.
The hard, cold emotions currently associated with love, as exemplified in the "cool" sound of the popular songs of today, where "romantic" love is abandoned in favor of "tougher" sentiments, also have their effect. In addition, the popular teen-age dances have done away with embracing and touching, and the emphasis has been placed on exhibitionist display of the buttocks.
In fact, some sexual experts cite the main cause of the increase of adult spanking as a fetish interest in the female buttocks, both in teen-age dancing and tight clothing. This admiration of the buttocks, coupled with subconscious memories of having them spanked as a child, attaches an erotic association to this part of the anatomy.
This erotic emotion is magnified whenever the buttocks are smacked or when one smacks a lover's buttocks, especially if a sexual current is running through the relationship. Intensifications of playful smackings that take place during physical sex-play gradually turn into full-fledged spanking-often a couple discover this source of sexual pleasure in just this manner. Of course, the practice is sometimes recommended by another couple already experienced in adult spanking.
Lastly, and this reason has been pointed out in a previous chapter, many young couples are searching for ways of increasing sexual enjoyment and attaining orgasms without the threat of unwanted pregnancies. This nation is becoming more and more birth-control conscious-the diminishing birth rate definitely testifies to this fact.
While sophisticated contraceptive devices exist, almost all are expensive in some way or another. Sexual spanking provides, or so many couples insist, a unique and exciting means of obtaining sexual pleasure minus the disadvantages of other techniques.
Before presenting the case histories associated with this chapter, it should be noted that not all the marital spanking is being done by the younger marrieds. It appears that a large number of married couples between the ages of thirty and forty-five are discovering pleasure in spanking.
However, the older couples' sources of discovery seem to he in different channels. For one thing, numerous party-paddle clubs are springing up among suburban sets who, while finding such sexual activities as wife swapping morally distasteful, enjoy the sexual variety that party-game spanking offers. The origin and activities of these groups are covered in the chapter on Spanking Clubs.
For another source, older couples are introduced to the flagellation idea through the reading of spanking literature which is not readily available to, and does not particularly interest, newly-married couples. Numerous research studies are being undertaken in the field of adult spanking, incidentally. Results of these studies are not yet available; the recognition that adult spanking is an increasingly widespread sexual practice has come only within the past couple of years.
Reference must be made to one of the modern classics in the field-The Spencer Spanking Plan. Whether mention of this piece of writing belongs in the marital spanking chapter or in the chapter concerning erotic literature depends on how you view Dorothy Spencer's suggestions as to the attainment of happiness through spanking.
To those unfamiliar with this literature, The Spencer Spanking Plan was first published in 1936 and is still in print. The Plan consists of four or five pages of text, the last page being a written contract to be signed by both husband and wife.
Mrs. Spencer outlines her basic philosophy and attitude toward spanking, the main premise being that a couple can achieve added happiness, not only sexual but personal, through the administering of mutual spankings.
An important point is made in that Mrs. Spencer recommends that a wife be "spanked," but a husband "whipped." The female buttocks react better, so says the Plan, to the touch of a hand, but the male buttocks will only respond to a whipping, a belt or paddle being the suggested implement.
The Plan goes so far as to stipulate the exact positions to be used. The wife should be spanked in the traditional over-the-lap position while the husband, to receive his punishment, should lie flat across the bed with the wife wielding the belt from a standing position. A few racier editions of the Plan suggest that the wife sit across her husband's spine, facing his bottom, . "to obtain better leverage." The buttocks are to be bared, with both husband and wife.
As the Plan purports to be punishment-oriented, the pleasure aspect is referred to only in an oblique way. Nonetheless, the whole idea is slanted to give the impression that each spanking and whipping received will proceed directly to sexual intercourse, although this fact isn't spelled out in so many words.
The Plan again betrays itself in that it recommends punishment for the offending spouse-but, after the spanking has been administered, the suggestion is made that the spanker then request the same punishment from the spanked.
'Further indicating that a pleasure element is involved, a great amount of emphasis is placed upon the idea that either husband or wife should "request" to be spanked whenever the urge strikes them, and the spouse should immediately grant the request. However, a "request" spanking need not require a return of the punishment immediately.
The official-looking contract is simply an agreement entered into by both parties that the various rules and regulations will be strictly followed, and it is to be signed by both. Only the suggestion that the couple get the statement notarized appears to be lacking.
Viewed by a psychiatrist, this document testifies to the pleasure element inherent in adult spanking. A close reading of the Plan indicates nothing in the way of a sadistic element - the request spanking mentioned might be described as a form of masochism, but not to a serious extent.
Historically, it is interesting to note the 1936 date. At the time it came out, The Spencer Spanking Plan was thought to be an odd curiosity and, like the chastity belt, more a fantasy object than a modem reality.
. The fact that the Plan has stayed in print for so many years is a testament to its use and popularity. I have talked to several couples who have signed and used the Plan. While they don't view it as an extremely serious agreement, they do attach an element of mysticism to the Plan which lends it a kind of sexual excitement-something along the line of the popular masochistic "slave" bracelets which are worn around an ankle by today's teen-agers.
The following excerpts are taken from a conversation with Jim and Ellen, a couple who came to my office. Their problem was a medical one-they had been trying unsuccessfully to have children for some time. In giving the background of their sexual relationship, they mentioned the part that spanking played.
I have included this portion, dealing with spanking, as typical of a married couple who have achieved a sexually workable relationship with no apparent hint of sadistic or masochism impulses on the part of either. The statement also testifies to the sexual element in marital spanking and to its common result in the orgasm-an important aspect to consider when dealing with non-perverted spanking. It should be noticed that sexual intercourse still plays a large part in Jim and Ellen's sexual life:
* * *
Jim and Ellen S., 25 and 26, married, no children: "Jim and I both enjoy the warm feeling that goes with spanking."
"Ellen always uses the word 'warm' in regard to our spanking. But it's more than that. I mean, the spankings do hurt."
"Well, it hurts me too, Jim. But it's not a lasting pain."
"No, it's more a sting for the moment, so to speak."
"Jim has never really spanked hard enough to make me cry, Doctor-unless it's a punishment paddling."
"That's true. I don't enjoy hurting Ellen. Even when she's done something to make me unhappy."
"The same with me. The punishment paddlings I give Jim are not really sexual. At least they're not supposed to be."
"But I've often given Ellen as hard, or harder, bedroom spankings, before the sex act, than punishment spankings."
"I know Jim has spanked me awfully hard when we're making love. But when you're sexually excited, the hardness of the whacks isn't felt as much-you just aren't as sensitive to smarting buttocks as you are when you're getting punished."
"When Ellen spanks me or paddles me, I still have a hard time keeping the sexuality of the bedroom spanking apart from the punishment type. I know Ellen may be mad at me and sometimes it hurts like hell-but that, to me, adds to the sexual excitement."
"Well, I realize that Jim doesn't really get 'punished.' Even when I'm so mad that I really would like to hurt him. But there are other ways that I can show my displeasure if he's really done something to bother me. Things that don't have anything to do with spanking."
"I think Ellen can tell when her punishment spankings aren't really doing any good-that's when they have the same effect as the bedroom ones. After all, we always spank each other's bare bottoms. Ellen can see when her paddle is having a sexual effect."
"This may sound strange, but when I'm really mad at Jim and I see that he's getting a sexual reaction, then I just quit spanking him. He suffers more if I leave off while he's really enjoying things, rather than spanking him all the way to a climax."
"Well, Ellen's exaggerating a little. I don't mean about the sexual reaction-that nearly always happens -but I'm talking about her being a tease. She's usually real nice about finishing whatever the paddle has started."
"That's because I know how frustrating it is to be left short of the climax. It used to happen quite a bit to me before Jim learned more about women, and about me in particular. Both as far as spanking and normal sex are concerned."
"I'll admit that I got in too much of a hurry just after we were married. I was content with just satisfying myself. But I learned some things about the female sexual climax-I can always help Ellen achieve hers during intercourse. Not always during spanking, though."
"It's funny, but I have to be in a certain mood to make the climax purely from spanking. It's easier on certain days of the month. You know, sometimes I just feel like having my bare bottom beaten until the emotions are all built up inside me, then the paddle finally releases them. But other times, the spankings seem too brutal and I prefer the sensitivities of other things."
"I've learned enough about Ellen to know what she likes on a certain evening. Some nights it's difficult, because those are the nights that I may feel like making it while giving the spanking, rather than getting it."
""Yes, those are the evenings that Jim's spankings are roughest on me"
"You see, I can make it either way-as the spanker or by getting spanked. But, like Ellen, I am in the mood to spank on some evenings, and other times I just prefer crawling over Ellen's lap and getting it from her paddle. When I want to use the paddle, however, and Ellen's not in the mood, she never objects, she always endures the spanking without complaining."
"Well, Jim's real nice about those times. He spanks just hard enough, sometimes sticking just to hand-spanking, to take care of his own sexual desires without causing a lot of pain for me."
"That's true. I don't have to spank Ellen extremely hard to enjoy it. Sometimes, just light pats on her buttocks are enough to send me off-this is very exciting for me on certain nights."
"And, when Jim has satisfied himself, he always sees to it that I'm taken care of-sexually, I mean. We just wait a few moments and then Jim is ready again."
"Yes. Or, if I'm too tired, I've learned some other sexual techniques that Ellen likes."
"In the four years we've been married, we've formed a good sexual relationship, and spanking has played a large part in keeping things stable."
"The variety of things we are able to indulge in, sexually, keeps our life exciting. Some of our friends, for instance, are so bored with each other. The only element I wish was added to the spanking part of our relationship is the ability for Ellen to complete her climax while spanking or paddling me. This would be very exciting to me."
"I've tried. I really have. But the climax has never happened while I've been the spanker. I do, as I've said, make the climax fairly often while receiving Jim's spankings. And I've tried to project myself into his position, to pretend that what's happening to him is happening to me, while I've been spanking him. I enjoy watching his sexual reaction-it really pleases me. But I guess I just don't have the sexual makeup to achieve a climax while spanking."
"I'm just happy that Ellen does get some kind of sexual enjoyment out of our spanking activities. I recommended spanking to a friend. His wife not only didn't respond sexually but she got very mad at him- she almost went home to her mother."
"Well, Bill and Alice were having their troubles before that, and to hear Alice talk, Bill was pretty rough about that spanking."
"Yeah, Bill just went home one night and flipped Alice over, removed her panties, and went to work on her rear end. You just can't do things that way. You can't introduce spanking with such force. It would be much like making the first sexual episode, on the honeymoon, a rape."
"Anyway, that cured us of recommending spanking to friends. We do know this couple who have mentioned casually that they do a little spanking-they don't know that we do a lot of it. We enjoy discussing the subject with them-maybe we'll do a little trading off."
"We'll trade off only as far as spanking each other is concerned."
"Yes, Doctor, I should have been more clear about that. We have to be careful, though. Spanking is still considered a little too offbeat in this part of the country. I guess it just hasn't caught on in the conservative Midwest."
"Yes, but spanking is on the increase around here, to hear some of the fellows down at the office talk, anyway. Of course, it's a lot more common to hear of adult spanking out on the Coast where we lived before."
"There were a few paddle clubs around the suburb where we lived. Jim and I had just learned about bedroom spanking and we were thinking of going in for one of the party-paddle clubs-we'd even been invited to join one. Then Jim got transferred suddenly, of all the bad luck. I think it might have been a lot of fun."
"So do I."
"I've gotten several letters from a girl friend out on the Coast-she and her husband were neighbors of ours. They've belonged to a party-game spanking club for a couple of years. I enjoy hearing her descriptions of what goes on at the meetings. Perhaps you'd like to see some of the letters, Doctor, if you're writing a book about adult spanking?"
One of the letters that Ellen referred to is included in the chapter on Spanking Clubs. An additional case history excerpt follows: Edward P. age 47, married, three children: I find nothing so beautiful as to have my wife's bottom relaxed across my lap, completely unprotected, awaiting my job of turning the buttocks from pure white to rosy red-the color that I limit myself to attaining. The fact that I've performed this act many times during the twenty-one years that we've been married increases the pleasure each time.
"Rosalie never hurries me, and I often take as much as ten minutes to just caress the buttocks. Or, lifting her up slightly, I can look at that part of her where I spend so much of my time after the delightful occupation of spanking. Then I signal that I am about to begin the spanking.
"Rosalie tightens her buttocks and I descend with the first smack. My swats are well-placed, each one having a meaning of its own. As I spank, my sexual joy gradually reaches a climactic point-on its completion I am emotionally exhausted. I must say that it's at this very time that I feel a deep regret at having to inflict pain on such a beautiful pair of buttocks.
"But my wife never complains, and continues to lie obediently across my perspiring lap. I must admit, however, that the sight of tears brimming in her eyes brings a little additional pleasure to me, in spite of my hatred for pain. But this little lift helps me to emotionally prepare for the second sexual incident of the evening-one that has happened after nearly every spanking that I can ever remember-the complete sexual fulfillment through intercourse. To me, this indeed is beauty."
CHAPTER SIX - PRE-MARITAL SPANKING
We are in this chapter dealing exclusively with those younger couples who are past puberty but who have not yet reached their middle twenties. With the teenage couples especially, we view spanking as an important part of these sexual relationships-even if the association does not indicate that marriage will result. These couples are "pre-marital" in behavior, if not in actuality.
On the other hand, certain characteristics of youthful spanking relationships can be seen that aren't observed in adult associations, whether the adults are married or not. As a result we are not concerned, here in this chapter, with the eligible bachelor of thirty-five who spanks and is spanked by his 28-year-old girl friend.
The two may be engaged, they may be doing premarital spanking, but they are adults with adult sexual responses. So they are, essentially, participating in "bedroom" spankings without benefit of marriage. Furthermore, because of their age and sexual sophistication, they will be more aware of the sexuality connected with their spanking activities. And they will more freely indulge in coitus than the teen-age couple.
So our pre-marital associations containing a strong spanking element concern mostly teen-agers. The premarital label fits such a group because, approve of it or not, members of this age group have marriage on their minds a great deal of the time. This is particularly true where the association has become so strong that regular spankings have been introduced into the sexual repertoire of the young couple.
The primary difference between marital and premarital spanking is simply that most spanking taking place between two persons before marriage is usually a subconscious sexual expression. Even if a married couple have waited until after the wedding, sometimes as long as two or three years after the ceremony, to begin bedroom spanking, they immediately recognize the sexuality inherent in the activity.
A married couple, married for even a short time, can gauge the sexual response of each other, and are well-acquainted with how sharp an erotic response the marital partner is undergoing when confronted by a certain sexual situation.
If, after a few years of marriage, a playful slap is delivered to the wife's-fanny or the wife will impulsively smack her husband's buttocks when he bends over to pick something off the floor-if there is an erotic response in either case, it will be recognized as such immediately. And, with an unashamed and sexually experimenting couple, the sensation will undoubtedly be further investigated.
Long engagements now being a thing of the past, the newly-met couple who are engaged to be married, or the boy or girl dating more or less regularly, are usually not entirely familiar with the sexual makeup of each other. They may, of course, be thoroughly familiar with each other's sexual apparatus, but the physical apparatus and what makes it respond are two very different things.
Therefore, when the pre-marital couple happen upon sexual spanking, they may not see it for what it really is, and they may neither comprehend their sexual reaction nor feel that they should allow themselves to respond erotically. This can cause some worry and tension in certain very young romantic relationships, particularly if just one of the partners is sexually-oriented to the spanking.
It may not be, of course, the first association that either the boy or the girl has had with spanking. A girl may have undergone one or even several initiations in which the paddle has been used forcefully on her buttocks, and she has experienced a physical response as demonstrated in the chapter on The Flagellation Phenomenon.
The boy, on the other hand, may have been subjected to a large number of parental spankings and whippings that took place well after the age of puberty. If these punishments have been administered by a much-admired mother, erotic feelings may have developed during these sessions-further punishments from the mother may even have been sought out.
In either case, the boy or the girl may have experienced sexual emotions, much as they are experiencing sexual emotions in their first kissing and petting activities. Remembering that the same erotic responses occurred while getting spankings, they may-usually sub-consciously-wish to be spanked by their newly-acquired lover. They have transferred their erotic emotions from the spankings to their love interest-as they wish, with typical teen-age loyalty, to have all their erotic stimulation coming from just one person.
* * *
The two incidents we have mentioned, the girl's paddle initiation and the boy's parental spanking, are only two isolated examples of previous spanking "conditioning," and both happen to be representative of the masochistic element, the urge to be sexually mistreated. The example pointed out is probably more representative of the girl than the boy, as the masochistic urge to be sexually dominated is more characteristic of the female response.
The male orientation to sexual spanking has more probably come about through playing the role of the spanker, either in having administered spankings to younger sisters and brothers or, more usually, after having participated in paddle initiations. While the boy himself has probably been a recipient of spankings and paddlings, he has more often experienced his sexual response and conditioning while using the paddle on another.
While an additional factor will be covered more fully in the chapter on Spanking and Initiations, it should be noted here that the majority of current high school initiations take place with mixed participants-that is, both boys and girls are invited to use the paddle on each other. This greatly increases the chances of a sadistic type of heterosexual erotic response in the boy, and a masochistic type of response within the girl. Naturally, it has brought about an increase in the number of heterosexual female spankers.
Often these spanking and paddling initiations will be "replayed" in the private sex play that takes place between a youthful couple. The excuse for participating in such an activity, if an excuse is needed, is that the ceremony of initiation was meaningful and it is therefore meaningful to wield the paddle on each other's buttocks in a symbolic repetition of the incident.
At times such as this, and on other occasions when the boy simply turns his girl friend over his lap, the sexuality of the event is neither admitted or recognized, except with extremely intelligent and sensitive teenagers. This subconscious sexual element plays a large part in the numerous over-the-lap spankings that take place between young persons in parked cars or in the privacy of the living room.
The stated reason for these "punishments" on the part of the boy is that the girl "needs a good fanny-whacking to bring her into line." The girl on the other hand may purposely and unmercifully tease the boy friend, until the desired spanking of her buttocks has been effected. Neither wants to admit to the other that the spankings are merely creating sexual excitement- that an erection is taking place with the boy and that secretions are beginning to flow within the girl's sexual apparatus.
If they realize that not much physical damage is taking place and therefore not much punishment is being endured, the twosome will probably just laugh off the spankings as being "all in good fun." But "good fun" is one thing to a teen-ager, and sex is something quite apart.
It is for this reason that the statistical measurings of spankings in regard to the number of times that spanking results directly in the orgasm show that attainment of the sexual climax is low with teen-age couples, during the actual moments that the hand is descending on the buttocks. The participants in these young relationships achieve a tremendous amount of erotic response, of course, during spanking-but they usually switch to normal petting, and maybe even coitus, to achieve the ultimate orgasm.
The reasons for this are several, but the primary one is the ancient teen-age predilection for wishing to be considered "normal" and conforming to other people's ideas of normality. Spanking to orgasm not only puts him-or her-into a category considered "queer," but it also causes them to come face-to-face with the fact that they are indeed obtaining sexual enjoyment from the spanking activity. Previously, they haven't had to admit to this.
The male and female teen-ager may pass off the initial erotic response to the spanking as mere excitement, perhaps from the body contacts made while attempting to ward off the inevitable contact between hand and buttocks. And the erection and glandular secretions may be rationalized as anticipation of petting and sexual intercourse that comes after the spankings have taken place.
But, when an orgasm occurs in either the boy or the girl's sexual apparatus while the spanking is taking place, there is no denying the fact that he or she has found something very sexual about an activity that shouldn't really be sexual at all. At least it shouldn't be sexual, according to everything they have learned about sex thus far.
Thus the presence of spanking in the early sexual relationship can often be a disturbing factor, because of the inner wondering and worry as to whether there is "something sexually wrong with me." This worry may not be successfully subdued even if both the boy and the girl fully enjoy the sexual spankings-since the subject is one that is difficult for the teen-ager to discuss, however intimate the love match may be.
But the problem definitely becomes acute when one of the youthful participants very strongly desires to spank, or to be spanked, and the other not only does not understand this form of erotic response but harbors no such sexual feelings at all about spanking.
The amount of tension stemming from such a sexual situation varies according to the type of spanking conditioning that has previously taken place and whether it is the male or the female who is so oriented. Generally speaking, in a relationship in which only one member responds to sexual spanking, there is less trouble if the boy is the active participant.
Most teen-age girls, especially if wishing to maintain an association with a steady boy friend, will submit uncomplainingly to an occasional spanking to please the male-just as a number of wives have mentioned to me they always permit their husbands to spank them even though they don't understand the attraction of this activity.
This permissive and unargumentative attitude on the part of the teen-age girl, who finds herself in love with a boy who enjoys giving spankings, is just another indication of the earlier maturing that takes place in the female-she is usually two years ahead of the male in this respect.
The problem becomes more troublesome when it is the girl who requests spankings and the boy is merely a passive participant-he spanks his girl friend when asked but does not himself experience sexual response while doing so. Often, however, the boy will be repulsed by the thought of "hurting" the girl and mystified as to why she desires this "hurt"-not realizing that she is actually experiencing pleasure rather than pain.
The cases in which the girl desires to spank but the boy does not enjoy receiving the smacks can cause a very rocky relationship. This is not true, of course, if the boy avoids receiving flagellation but enjoys administering it. In these cases, the boy in question is aware of some sexual connection with spanking, and will undergo the punishment for the sake of pleasing his girl friend.
The most trouble occurs-and this type of association will usually not be very long-lasting-when the boy has definite masochistic inclinations and desires fairly severe spankings, and the girl has no comprehension of the sexual reasons whatsoever. It is very much against the feminine nature to mete out actual physical pain-the many sadistic females around prefer the subtleties of mental torture and anguish.
Most girls, however, have a built-in revulsion to taking the role of master where a male is concerned, although they often enjoy dominating another female. But they rarely wish to "enslave" a boy with physical whippings. In cases such as this, the girl will usually lose respect for the boy requesting spankings, and the association will come to an end.
This is undoubtedly the reason that the tabloid newspapers-those that specialize in putting like-minded individuals in touch with each other-carry a large number of ads from masochistic males in search of females willing to spank and sexually mistreat them in other physical manners.
The following diagrams indicate various types of spanking relationships, in the order in which they most often occur. The term "active" is used to indicate a sexual response-"passive" shows that the activity is taken part in without there being any erotic reaction. The first two categories are of course the ideal-as far as the sexual participants are concerned-types of relationships.
MALE
FEMALE
1. Active Spanker -- Active Spankee
2. Active Spankee -- Active Spanker
The "one-sided" relationships listed below are given in the order in which they most often cause tension, or completely break up, a young love-match. These same relationships within a marital context are the ones most often brought to my attention as a psychiatrist dealing in problems of mental tension.
Active Spankee
(tension-male)
5. Passive Spankee --
Active Spanker
(more troublesome-male)
6. Active Spankee --
Passive Spanker
(troublesome-male desires but femial is not willing)
Passive Spanker (troublesome-male desires but female is not willing) The above chart can also refer, as we have noted, to marital spanking relationships-with the exception that there is very little of the "passive" element in marital spanking, as the erotic response has usually been developed to some degree in both parties over the years.
Rather than presenting several short examples of pre-marital spanking, we have chosen a lengthy case history that is representative of the most troublesome category-the boy who is an active-spankee, matched with a girl friend who is a passive-spanker. Ellie is a very sensitive girl and she had undergone some emotionally painful experiences in regard to Paul's spanking requests.
Ellie came to see me at the university, where I spend one day a week in consultation with certain students who have been referred to me by the resident psychiatrist. Not having sufficient time to see all the students requesting treatment, a colleague of mine asked me to relieve some of his patient load. Most of the referrals concern students whose problems are sexually-based.
I was most happy to accept this extra responsibility, as this type of consultation brings me into contact with young persons who normally would not have the financial resources to see a psychiatrist in private practice. A great many college students are burdened with certain types of tensions-one of the exigencies of college life. Ellie was one of those students who had been brought almost to the verge of a nervous breakdown by a seemingly small and insignificant problem.
Ellie related the situation to me, along with a verbatim account of some of the conversations she had with Paul concerning the subject of spanking. Both Paul and Ellie were, at the time she consulted me, twenty years old.
* * *
"Paul and I met just after we began our freshman year here at school. That was just about two years ago. We are quite serious about each other, but this problem has come up. I wouldn't say that it became a problem until about the middle of last year. Until that time, we'd been just another boy and girl getting to know each other better.
"Both Paul and I come from the same type of background. We grew up in separate little towns and we both went to high school in a nearby city-a consolidated type of arrangement. I suppose the most important thing about that fact is that kids from small towns tend to cling to a member of the opposite sex sooner than a city kid, who'll play the field more. Then too, because you travel to school on the bus, you don't always get a chance to socialize with classmates as much.
"So Paul and I took to each other right away when we met at the Freshman Mixer. We had another thing in common. We'd both had 'steadies' whom we'd recently lost-I lost mine to the service, and Paul's girl decided she wanted to go to a smaller college. Maybe we got together on the rebound, as they say. Either way, we've stuck together through some thin times. But I'm afraid we're now facing the thinnest situation we've ever come up against.
"Like I said, we got along just fine, and I'm sort of speaking sexually, until three or four months ago. We had been, up to that time, real intimate on two or three occasions-I mean, naturally, we had gone all the way. But we didn't want to have to get married too soon, and we were trying to be careful, sticking to other forms of sex like heavy petting.
"Some of the things we were doing, and still do, are a little wild, I suppose. But we figured it was better than having intercourse too often and me getting pregnant. So we'd try to surprise each other with different little 'tricks' that we thought would be sexually exciting but not too dangerous. The kind that could bring about a climax and get our minds off going all the way.
"One night, I introduced Paul to something my roommate had mentioned. I guess the nice term for it is fellatio. Paul liked that very much and I didn't mind doing it-it was the first time either of us had experienced this act. When my roommate had mentioned the idea I had been repulsed at first but then when I told myself that it would be Paul, it didn't bother me nearly so much.
"After we tried this sex technique, we talked a little about whether or not it was wrong. We finally decided, 'why not?' After all, we were curbing our full desires and trying to do things as right as possible. There seemed to us to be no reason why we should give up everything. Whom would it hurt?
"I'm giving you all these intimate details for a reason, Doctor. Simply so you'll know that I don't hate sex, I'm not frigid, and I don't mind sexual variety and experimentation, or anything like that. I am definitely not a prude. So when I tell you about the trouble between Paul and me, you'll understand a little better just how I feel.
"After my telling you all we've done, you'll probably wonder why I'm so upset over Paul's requests. But there's one thing about me. I just can't stand pain. I can't take it and I can't give it. I've never been able to do either. Just thinking about a hypodermic needle gives me the chills-and when I got slapped as a child I'd scream for hours. Well, I've always been so sensitive about this that I guess it's grown into an obsession.
* * *
"Anyway, this one night, when we were having our usual battle in the parked car against going all the way, Paul said: 'You know, Ellie, there's something I'm wild about, and I think you just might like it too, even though I know you have a 'thing' about pain. It's something I've wanted to suggest for a long time but I -well, I really didn't have the nerve.' "I said, 'For heaven's sake, Paul, spit it out! It can't be a whole lot worse than some of the other things we've tried. The worst I can do is refuse.' " 'Well, Ellie, it's not that it's bad or anything. In a way it's pretty tame, I guess. It's just that it's-well, it's different.' " 'Come on, Paul! You've got me all bothered wondering what it is.' " 'Well, it's spanking.' " 'What?' I thought he must be kidding.
" 'It's a spanking!' I could tell he was getting on the defensive a little, so I figured he was serious. 'Haven't you ever heard of adults who spank each other?' " 'Once- a girl friend of mine told me her parents spanked each other sometimes. But you know I can't even stand to have anyone slap my arm even a little.' " 'Oh, I know that, Ellie. I wouldn't ever think of hurting you, not the way I feel about you.' We paused here for a long kiss. 'I mean, you could spank me. I know I'd enjoy it, and maybe you'd get a sex kick out of it, too. For a little variety, maybe?' "'Okay, Paul! How do you know you'd like it? Who's been spanking you? You don't, you can't mean that you guys spank each other in the dorm? I'd heard some pretty wild things went on in that dorm, but-' " 'No, no! I haven't been spanked in quite a while.' " 'So tell me all about it, lover boy.' I was always a little jealous of Paul's previous girl friends. 'Or should I say, spanking boy?' " 'Look, Ellie. I'm very serious about this. This is something I've been wanting to bring up for over a year. I just didn't have the nerve. Have a heart, will you?' "I became properly quiet. 'Okay, Paul, I'm serious. I'll listen to your suggestion. But tell me how you got started on this spanking kick?' " 'Well, I remember getting spanked as a kid, of course. That doesn't mean a whole lot-I just re- member that I wasn't very bothered by it. And maybe the urge would never have developed, I don't know, except that I overheard this conversation on the school bus. I was in the eighth grade then, and we were riding home to Pine Cliffs. A group of senior girls were talking near the back of the bus.
, " 'These girls had always fascinated me-I had sort of a crush on them. Naturally, they hardly even bothered to speak to a junior high school kid. That just made them all the more fascinating. And I'd always been interested in female buttocks. You know that, Ellie, from some of the things we've done. These girls would wear tight Levis, designed for men, and they fitted their big buttocks skin-tight. I'd just stare at their fannies wrapped up so nicely in the jeans-and just looking would be enough to get me all excited.
" 'Well, this one afternoon as we were riding home from school, I heard the girls talking about how they were going to initiate some sophomores that evening. They talked about the paddles they were going to use, and the fact that they'd instructed the new initiates to wear tight jeans. My heart was pounding, just thinking of the paddles smacking against the girls' buttocks!
" 'But what was getting me most excited was the thought of 'my' beautiful girls, whom I adored so much, bringing pain to other girls. The thought of them throwing their heads back--with their long hair streaming down-and laughing as the spanked girls wept and wailed, was powerfully exciting to me, sexually. I could almost hear the lusty laughs intermingled with the crying of the paddled sophomores.
" 'Then, just as one of the girls hopped off the bus, I overheard them mention the time and place where the initiation was to be held. It wasn't school-sponsored, of course, since the principal would never allow any such hazing. So they were meeting in these woods near the school, Mitchell's Grove, it was called.
" 'Well, Ellie, I knew how to drive the pickup truck -of course, I didn't have a license. My dad kept it parked behind our house. Mom and Dad always went to bed early and I was determined that I was going to get to watch that initiation. As soon as my parents were in bed, I sneaked out, just about the time that the initiation was supposed to start, and drove over to the school.'
* * *
"Paul was obviously excited as he related the story to me. The palms of his hands were sweaty and he kept rubbing them on my leg as he talked. I reached over and switched off the car radio so Paul could continue his story without competition from rock 'n' roll."
" 'Mitchell's Grove was just about a quarter-mile from the main highway. I parked the truck at the edge of the road and crossed behind the grove, walking through a field. I could hear the giggles of the girls as I approached, and I could see the beams of a large number of flashlights. Only girls were there-evidently boys had been ruled out.
" 'The first smacks of the paddle were sounding as I came up to the secluded grove-and the first cries of anguish were coming, too. I got so excited that I almost clomped through a bunch of dry twigs, and I knelt down to try to control myself.
" 'Looking up, I could see that the girls had arranged themselves in a double line. Half of the initiators held the flashlights, while the other half formed a line and spread their tight-blue-jeaned legs to allow the initiates to crawl through. The flashlights were trained on the curved bottoms of the sophomores, who were making their way slowly through the maze of legs and the blows of the paddles.
" 'Figuring that I could get a better view from a little higher up, I carefully climbed a nearby tree. It was a pretty solid tree, and the smacks from the paddles smacking the tightly-covered buttocks, plus the cries from the sophomores who were getting it, covered any sounds of my climbing.
" 'I had just gotten up in the tree when one of the seniors-one of my favorites from the school bus, in fact-informed the already well-spanked girls that it now was bare-bottom time. I could hardly believe my ears and eyes. Those buttocks that I viewed with such pleasure in their coverings would soon be completely uncovered! Reddened flesh came into sight as the blue jeans were peeled down to the sophomore's knees. The sound of the paddles hitting bare flesh had a much different tone. So did the cries of the girls getting spanked.
" 'Well, all this sexual excitement was too much. My response to what I was observing was full and complete -and it happened twice. The first time, I was left feeling a little disgusted at myself for being such a Peeping Tom. But the continuing sound of buttocks being spanked sharpened my interest once more. When a repetition of the same reaction took place inside me, I was left very much exhausted.
" T was so dizzy and fatigued, in fact, that I let go of my hold on the branches and lost my balance, crashing to the ground. The fall was only a few feet and I wasn't hurt a bit. But the sound attracted the attention of the girls! I can still remember the panicky shrieks of the sophomores as they danced around trying to pull the tight pants up over their swollen bare bottoms.
" 'About fifty lights flashed in my direction. Seeing that I was alone, the paddle-carrying juniors and seniors rushed over and grabbed me. One of them identified me as a kid from the school bus. Naturally, I was horribly embarrassed and completely mortified-at being exposed as a peeper in front of the objects of my affections. I had lost a good deal of 'face' and I was not happy about that, at all.
" 'But I was going to lose more than that! Because one smart senior thought they shouldn't send me away without a taste of what I'd been watching. And I don't mean they were going to let me do some paddling, either. At the suggestion from the girl, all the initiators lined up, respread their legs, and told me to start crawling.
" T suppose I should have been frightened, but my senses were just swimming. I gazed up at all those tightly-clothed crotches awaiting me, and the paddles all raised to swing down on my buttocks. My emotions were sincerely mixed-and I wondered if it would really hurt or if the sensations would be sexual.
" 'It's really the cruel laughter that I remember most -the laughter that echoed each smack that fell on my Levi-covered buttocks. I crawled slowly and steadily, each sharp swat increasing my excitement. In spite of my two previous climaxes, a third came readily near the beginning of my journey through the legs. By the time I had come to the end of the line-well, I was ready again.
" T thought that would be all the paddling-but the ones who had been holding the flashlights demanded a turn, and paddles and flashlights were quickly exchanged. Back I went again. This time the sophomores, who were just standing around rubbing their spanked buttocks gingerly, joined in the raucous laughing.
"'I had gotten part-way through the line when I suddenly began to wonder if I was due for the same bare-buttocks treatment the sophomores had undergone. This thought pushed me off to my fourth 'incident' of the evening. I was young and strong-but this was, after all, too much. Utterly exhausted, I collapsed in the dirt under one pair of spraddled legs.
"'The girls, thinking they'd hurt me badly, were very concerned. They rushed over to me, stood me up and brushed me off, asking if I was all right and if I had a way to get home. I mumbled that I did have a way. They asked me if they'd paddled too hard. Feeling that my buttocks were just sort of numb, I shook my head. As I walked off down the road, the girls all applauded my bravery-after all, I hadn't cried a bit!
" 'Well, Ellie, this incident has never left my mind. Now, I did ask Louise to spank me once, but she either thought I was kidding, or she just didn't go for the idea. In any case, things hadn't been going well between us so I didn't force the issue. With us, Ellie, it's different. And since we're looking for new and different ways of having sexual fun, I was hoping you'd try spanking me.'
* * *
"Paul's story had interested me, Doctor, but not in a sexual way. I just could not understand why those girls Paul had been watching were bringing pain to each other. And I definitely didn't understand Paul's sexual reaction to anything but seeing their bare buttocks. After quite a bit of pleading on Paul's part, during which he insisted I ought to at least give it a try after his long confession-I agreed to spank him just once.
"I had intended to use my hand. But Paul had already reached into the glove compartment and brought out a thick ruler that he used in his drafting courses. I shuddered as I looked at it, but Paul insisted that it was only about one-fourth as heavy as a real spanking paddle.
"Paul slipped his pants down, along with his shorts. This didn't bother me, of course, since we were pretty familiar with each other's 'private parts.' Then Paul squirmed over my lap, his head under the steering wheel and his feet up in the air. I enjoyed caressing his firm white buttocks, which I noticed were actually quivering in anticipation of the spanking that I was to deliver.
"I had a hard time delivering the first blow-I just couldn't see why that smooth skin had to be reddened. My first swat with the ruler made a little plopping sound, and Paul twisted his head around impatiently. He said, 'C'mon, Ellie. You promised to spank. Now go ahead and spank!' "I told him I was trying, and I dropped the ruler on his flesh a little harder. 'Is that better, Paul?' " 'No, damn it, Ellie! Haven't you ever seen anyone get paddled? You're supposed to hit me as hard as you can!' "I brought the ruler down with more force-the resulting sound of the smack horrified me and I shuddered once again. 'Oh, Paul. Did I hurt you?' I was concerned. But I could feel the beginnings of a sexual response from Paul, where he was touching my lap. "Paul was almost shouting. 'Ellie! We've always kept our promises to each other. Haven't we? Well, you promised to spank. Now SPANK! I knew Paul well enough that I could see he wasn't mad just at me -it was the situation I had created that was making him mad.
"So I decided to grit my teeth and go through with it. I shut my eyes, and began to smack as hard as I could. I also began to cry, saying, 'Oh no, Paul. Don't make me do it.' But I kept going and Paul didn't seem to be paying attention to my tears.
"He just said, 'That's the girl, Ellie. Now, keep whipping that ruler!' I had no choice, and I continued smacking Paul's slim buttocks. His response was much more noticeable now, and his hips were jerking with every smack. The ruler rose and fell, and the bottom on my lap rotated with every downward blow. Paul kept urging me on, practically screaming at the top of his voice.
"My tears were flowing so hard I couldn't see-and my right arm was tiring as I sobbed and sobbed. The smacks of the ruler were-to me, anyway-simply deafening. Finally, Paul entered the height of his emotions with the reactions that I knew so well from the other methods of sex that we had used.
"Convulsive movements-and then Paul was still. I fell down on the car seat, lying on my side, and kept sobbing as Paul sat up and got dressed. When he put his arms around me, I said, 'Oh, Paul. I've hurt you so badly! How can you ever forgive me?' "He was laughing. 'The only way you've hurt me, Ellie, is that you didn't enjoy what you were doing. The pain-there just isn't any pain, only a little sting. And it feels real good. You've made me so happy-I just don't know when I've enjoyed sex with you more!' "I said, 'Gee, thanks! I'm real nattered about that.' I was beginning to recover my composure a little, and Paul was happy to see this. Then he surprised me again.
" 'Could you spank me again, Ellie?' " T don't know, Paul. We'll see.' I stifled a few last sobs.
" 'I mean right away-right now, Ellie.' "I shrieked and started to cry again.
" 'AH right, Ellie, skip it. I won't ask you again for a while. But we've got to discuss this sooner or later. Suddenly, this spanking business has become very important to me.' "Well, Doctor, this problem comes up about once a month now. Paul mentions a spanking, and insists that I give him one. I try to avoid it as long as possible, then I try to give it without crying myself. But it's no use. Paul says my attitude is spoiling the pleasure for him. Our other sex relations are normal and enjoyable. But Paul insists there should not be any sexual barriers between us-and the spanking, my feelings about it, is a barrier, as he sees it.
"He has told me that I fit the bill as a wife, and as a future mother. And he pictures me with the same affection that he remembers the girls on the school bus. He likes the way I dress and the fact that I like to wear pants tight like the girls of his memories. He says I look just like a spanking girl friend should look-but there the resemblance ends. And I can see it disappoints him terribly. This thing has become an obsession with us. What should I do, Doctor? How can I get over my fear of bringing Paul pain?"
* * *
I was most interested in this final question of Ellie's -the way she had phrased it. She was seeking not to change Paul's attitudes, but only her own. On the surface, this indicated a very unselfish and mature girl. My problem was to ascertain just how deep-seated this willingness to change was ingrained in Ellie. While I felt she was somewhat oversensitive, I did feel that her aversion to pain was more natural than Paul's obvious sexual obsession.
Not that Paul's request was in itself so unique-the desire to be spanked is noted in a large number of males. And I did feel, from what Ellie had told me, that Paul's inclination grew out of a psychologic conditioning. It was not the actual pain of the spankings that obsessed Paul, it was more of a buttocks fetish and the connection with the older girls who had brought him sexual pleasure at the scene of the initiation. Paul could not really be described as masochistic.
I was of the opinion that Paul's insistence that the spankings continue, in the face of Ellie's strenuous objections, was a symptom of immaturity. But, as Ellie kept insisting she wanted to adjust to Paul's sexual wishes, I decided to approach the problem from two different angles, hoping, in the process, to help them both.
As for Paul, I spent one consulting session with him. I found him willing to talk about his sexual habits. During this visit, I suggested that, as long as his conditioning to spanking was primarily psychologic, he attempt to adapt his sexual response to lighter slaps from Ellie. In other words, the spanking could be 'enacted' without incurring a great deal of violent physical contact.
More time, I suggested, could be spent in sexual preparation for the spanking activity, rather than relying solely on the flagellation to begin and complete the whole sexual response cycle. As for Ellie, I certainly had no desire to turn her into a sadist. But I did believe that if I could raise the threshold of her sensitivity to pain, then she might overcome some of the other nervous symptoms she was displaying.
The use of hypnosis would, I believed, help Ellie, if she was willing. As it turned out, she was most willing. I am unfamiliar with hypnotic techniques, so I sent her to a colleague of mine. He made certain post-hypnotic suggestions which reduced her sensitivity to certain stimuli-but only to the small degree required.
Paul and Ellie achieved a good sexual adjustment, and are now engaged.
CHAPTER SEVEN - HOMOSEXUAL SPANKING
The amount of adult sexual spanking taking place as a part of the homosexual relationship is, as is marital spanking, on the increase, This is true in the case of either sex, although it appears that spankings of a sexual nature play a more important role in the Lesbian association.
The increase in this form of erotic sex play is seen as a "reflection of the times" by many psychologists and sociologists. Gone is much of the old-time, purely romantic love-at least on the adult level where the majority of sexual inversion is found. The sensual appeal between two persons, whether they be of the same of the opposite sex, is now emphasized-and this sensual appeal includes some of the harsher emotions represented by adult spanking.
The use of flagellation between homosexual lovers will often be more representative of sadistic and masochistic leanings then can be observed with the married couple-the sadistic element occurring more often in the male association, with the Lesbian displaying the masochistic tendencies.
The explanations of this factor are simple enough. The homosexual is usually of a distinctly perverted nature, and one form of perverted activity often leads to or includes another. Many a fetishist does not just admire the high-heeled boot-he prefers the boot when worn by a dominating and sadistic female to whom he can attach his distorted affections. Or he does not just simply like silk panties-he prefers to wear them as a woman would, becoming a devoted transvestite in the process.
We have seen, in talking about the Flagellation Phenomenon, that some types of spanking may be indicative of a deep-seated aberration-or, the activity may be simply a sexual supplement, a heightening of the senses in preparation for coitus. In like manner, the viewing of a high-heeled boot or a pair of silk panties may only be a means to bring about erotic response-it is when these objects complete the response in the form of an orgasm, that the process becomes a perversion.
So the spanking that takes place within a homosexual context is more violent, more perverted, and generally more physically harmful than is the marital bedroom spanking. Whether it is also more psychologically harmful is hard to measure-as the homosexual is usually already suffering from a certain amount of psychologic damage.
As far as comparison between male homosexual and Lesbian relationships goes, adult spanking will be more sensitive and be observed more often between two women who have taken each other as lovers-the Lesbian will act similarly to the female marital partner in her erotic use of the paddle.
Certain statistical studies show, however, that paddle or hand-spanking will be used in the Lesbian relationship only if both women are actively-responding participants. This does not necessarily need to be the case with marital spanking. The term "active," again, does not indicate that both spank-especially where the so-called "butch-doll" association is concerned. But one girl will respond to the administering of the spanking-the other will have an erotic reaction to the receiving of it, if adult spanking is included in the sexual repertoire.
A definite reason for the extensive use of a variety of orgasm-producing techniques, such as erotic spanking, in the Lesbian relationship is a result of the simple fact that female sexual associations lack the basic physical ingredient of sex-play-a phallus.
Since the male reproductive organ is used to a large extent in sex play between two men, other forms of erotic stimuli are not needed as often. When the paddle is introduced into the male sexual relationship, it is often to give vent to the sadistic desires of both men. This means, obviously, that while one man is functioning as the active-spanker, the other participant must take the role of passive-spankee. Each endures the punishment from the other to insure his own opportunity as a spanker.
As we have mentioned in a previous chapter, the male with definite masochistic leanings much prefers his pain to be administered by a woman, preferably an older female with a dominating nature. Naturally, it is quite possible for a male homosexual association to be based on the balance between a sadistic-active-spanker and a masochistic-active-spankee-but this is rarely the case.
The erotic use of the paddle differs in another way when homosexuality in the male and the female is compared. In the Lesbian relationship, adult sexual spanking usually takes place in private, in the confines of the sexual bedroom. And the paddle is usually used only as a sexual stimulant-the orgasm coming from other Lesbian sexual techniques.
The male homosexual, given more to exhibitionism than the female, makes more use of the paddle, and even the whip, in the group orgies he seems to enjoy so much. The paddle will be brought out at a gathering of several homosexually-inclined men, and the purpose of the flagellation will be an orgasm-to occur while the spanking is taking place.
The viewing of this sexual climax incident by the other males is one attraction-to the participants, that is-of this activity. As noted, two homosexuals in a more sensitive association rarely involve themselves with adult spanking, as they have other sufficient sexual techniques at their command which better suit their personality and sexual makeup.
This exhibitionistic element in the male homosexual is, incidentally, one reason that the male invert is more easily noticed and discovered. This has lead to the opinion that there are not as many Lesbians around as there are male homosexuals. On the contrary, Lesbianism is far more prevalent, if only because there are more unmarried women than bachelors-but the Lesbian acts more like the "normal" female than her male counterpart acts like other men.
According to personal testimony by inverts of both sexes, the use of the paddle with the male occurs only sporadically, a spanking or paddling taking place only on special occasions. The Lesbian, on the other hand, makes regular use of sexual spanking on her fellow female if she uses flagellation at all. If she spanks- and a large number of Lesbians do-the spanking will usually be the primary means of obtaining initial sexual stimulation preparatory to such forms of sexual intercourse as body contact and oral-genital techniques.
I present here two excerpts from statements taken from patients of mine who were male homosexuals. The first demonstrates the exhibitionist syndrome which affects many male sexual inverts:
* * *
Albert D., age 34, unmarried: "A group of us fellows -eight, all true blue to the cause-get together four or five nights a week. We meet in my apartment-it's the only one with plenty of bedding-down space. Drinks start to flow and the cards are broken out, shuffled, and dealt. We play a few rounds of strip poker, just to get down to the bare essentials.
"When we're pretty well unclothed, we choose some partners and play a few games. All the games center around our sexual organs, and all are slanted to bring about an erection at one time or another. Then we switch to something a little more competitive, where we're individually on our own.
"In every game there have to be winners and losers -and the losers get the paddle. Sometimes, it's bent over initiation style-sometimes we crawl between legs. Since we do this nude, the latter method is called 'bumping the pendulum.' In either case, we play enough games so that everybody gets a chance to be a winner-and everybody, unfortunately, has to play the loser.
"We smack pretty hard-the paddlings, or whippings if we're in a real 'Greenwich Village' mood-are no fun for the one being paddled, and there aren't any 'massies' in our gay little group. We use these paddlings for the first sexual 'incident'-you could call it -of the evening. The first time a guy makes it will be while he's holding the paddle over a flaming rump.
"This is the way we've always worked. And the climax takes place out in the open, with all the other fellows watching. That's part of the excitement, the camaraderie. The element of being devoted and united to each other is important to our sexual excitement. Messy? Well, uh-we keep a bunch of towels handy.
"Like I said, everybody gets a chance at the paddle, and we don't quit with the whacking until all of us have made it for the first time that evening. Then, while we're giving our rear ends a rest, we make 'arrangements' for the rest of the evening.
"We decide who our partners are going to be. Then we head for the bedroom or a nearby couch for a little private love-making. The pain of the paddlings puts a little edge on our activities-gives it a nasty little biting effect that we all seem to enjoy. Why else would we have kept up the paddling bit all these years?"
* * *
Albert was, incidentally, an incurable homosexual who had consulted me not in an effort to curb his sexual inclination, but to seek means whereby he could adjust other aspects of his life to this perversion-always a difficult situation to handle. The prognosis was not favorable.
The following case history demonstrates the presence of a definite element of sadism that has crept into the sexual relationship between two men.
* * *
Harry J., age 28, unmarried: "Jack and I have known each other for nearly three years now. We met at this amateur theater group-both of us wanted acting careers but neither of us had the stuff that it takes. We both enjoy hanging around the theater, and I help out backstage, fitting costumes and applying makeup.
"We-Jack and I-took to each other right away. We both have the same sort of humdrum office jobs, I'm a personnel manager and he's an accountant. Well, we started getting together after work. Gradually we began to have dinner together, and then it would be up to one of our apartments for a session of sex. It was as easy as that.
"Live together? No, we've never even considered that. Both of us have to be on our guard. They don't like 'queers' at the offices where we work. In fact, I could have had a couple of promotions if I'd been married. The boss always says, 'You don't give off with that dependable image that we need, Harry. Why don't you get yourself a wife?' "Anyway, what I came to see you about is an element that's creeping into our relationship. It's threatening to consume our happiness. I don't remember exactly when this element first cropped up- but I do remember where the idea originated. Jack had bought some 'flag' magazines-you know, publications devoted to different forms of flagellation.
"So Jack made the suggestion one nights-he thought a spanking session might be an interesting diversion. At first I thought he was kidding when he said it was spanky time, but he definitely wasn't. There was a certain look in his eye that I hadn't seen there before, an evil gleam of some kind. And he showed me this article titled 'Spank-If That Pal Acts Up' in one of his magazines.
"Well, it was pants down and over Jack's lap. Jack insisted that I adjust my position so that certain private parts of my anatomy were placed between his knees, I thought a couple of love taps might be in order, but Jack really brought his hand down with a great deal of force.
"I jumped from the force of the smack, and grabbed for my stinging buttocks. Warming-and I do mean warming-to his task, Jack continued to whack at me for several minutes. I soon discovered why he had requested the grip on my sexual apparatus-it was in order that I wouldn't get away. What's more, I couldn't figure out where the pain was bothering me most-from the spanking or the squeezing.
"Well, Jack finally dumped me off his lap-he was sexually satisfied. After a cigarette I said, somewhat cautiously since Jack's the stronger of us: 'Honey, don't you think I should have a chance too? I mean, we're in this together.' The thought of applying the same treatment to Jack that he had given me was beginning to grip my imagination.
"And there I was a few moments later-beating a wild tattoo on Jack's big buttocks and feeling the muscular reflexes every time my hand landed. I spread the smacks around the whole area so that the redness would be evenly distributed. The animalistic sensuality of it all-the savagery of the whole pain-producing act-well, it was just as frankly sexual as some of the other things Jack and I did. Only the sexual response was greater and the results more prolonged.
"The hand-spanking had no unpleasant after-effects, but the novelty wore off after a few occasions. So Jack bought this paddle downtown and we preceded to give that implement a try. Well, the paddle seemed to magnify the response, but it left a strange feeling after the sexuality was over. We tried to return to hand-spanking, but it was too tame after the effects of the paddle.
"So we worked ourselves into a trap. Now it seems that neither Jack nor I can become sexually satisfied until we've actually hurt each other. Only when we see how bruised and sore the area is-only then can the sexual reaction be complete. It seems as if we're actually almost trying to punish each other for the way of life that we're leading!
"There's no longer any joy in what we're doing. The first hand-spanking we did-well, the excitement came from the act itself. Now the excitement comes only from the damage the act of spanking produces, and that's a completely different matter. I don't think this is a very commendable emotion-although I worry about it a good deal more than Jack.
"And our 'normal' sex life has gone downhill. Somehow, we can't enjoy sex after the paddlings because of the after-effects. But neither are we able to enjoy sex before the paddle has been used. So we whip, and then we just sit around and stare at each other glumly, hating ourselves for the way we are. It has come down to the fact that the only time either of us enjoys a climax is with the paddle in hand.
"What do you think should be done about this relationship?"
* * *
Bluntly, I thought this none-too-pleasant relationship should be terminated. I am-if labels are appropriate-a sexual liberal in that I am not one to always call on principal for a curb on homosexual inclinations, nor to suggest that homosexuality need always be treated by psychotherapy. This is especially true if a good adjustment to the inversion has been achieved.
In this case involving Harry and Jack, I felt that no adjustment was possible-and I did not think the association warranted the striving for an adjustment, had there been such a possibility. Rather, my first advice was to make some suggestions as to how Harry might "try" the heterosexual world before resigning himself purely to sexual associations with other males.
I thought Harry's dating a girl might be the best way to signal a break off with Jack. This first objective was easily achieved, but Harry was so uncomfortable in the sexual-not the social-company of women that he soon turned to another male who was in sympathy with his own desires.
The details of the new relationship are unavailable to me, as Harry evidently was much happier in his new situation and stopped coming to me. He did mention, on the last occasion that he talked to me, that spanking was not included in the sex-play with his new-found friend.
* * *
The following study of two Lesbians is a close look at a sexually-intense and long-lasting relationship between two women-and the part that adult spanking plays in contributing to the sexual happiness of Bertha and Josephine. Bertha's viewpoint is presented first:
* * *
Bertha H. age 24, divorced:
"In a way, Josephine and I had a lot in common when we met. We had both started to work at this restaurant at just about the same time-if s an exclusive dining club. I'm a hostess and Josie is the cocktail waitress. I had just had a short, unhappy marriage and Josie was trying to recover from a long engagement that had been cut off a week or so before the wedding.
* * *
"I won't say we had actually sworn off men, but neither of us was especially looking for a repeat of our unhappy experiences. In our dateless positions, then, we became friends-shopping, eating, and drinking together, and just generally keeping each other from getting too lonely. Oh, we'd hang around and chat with the guys down at the bar, after getting off work, but it was strictly 'no dates' whenever we were asked.
"Inevitably, Josie and I decided to cut down on our expenses, and we hunted around for an apartment. We finally located something we liked in this luxury building that was just going up. It's real pleasant there, and I know it adds quite a bit to our happiness, as neither of us had ever lived in such surroundings before.
"We were enjoying our apartment and making good wages and tips, so, as we both began to recover from our past unhappiness, I guess our thoughts just naturally began to return to the one element still missing. Sex. Naturally, I'd enjoyed a pretty full sex life with my husband before things went sour. And Josie had been pretty intimate with her fiance. So we missed the sexual activity a little.
"But we still didn't want to get involved with men- not just yet, anyway. Josie and I didn't rush into each other's arms, either. We just kept discussing sex. And we didn't, at first, consider the thought of using each other for sex purposes very seriously. Josie would say, 'Well, Bert, if we don't have men, at least we have each other.' We'd laugh at this, and touch each other affectionately, maybe even kiss. We kissed quite often, in fact. But we didn't feel we were ready for more intimate sex than this. "You might think that our spanking-since it is so sexual-might have come only after we had tried other sex techniques. As it was, however, the sexual barrier was broken by the spankings-the first intimate contacts that we indulged in came only after spanking had become a regular addition to our lives.
* * *
"In spite of the fact that we now recognize our spanking as having a definite connection with our sex life, it wasn't that way at first. All Josie and I wanted to do was to become better persons. For one thing, Josie had a habit of not keeping our nice new apartment as clean as she ought to-I was having to do housework for the both of us.
"As for me, I simply had never been able to get anywhere on time. We both had to be at work at four in the afternoon, and more than once Josie would pace up and down as I was fixing my hair and putting my makeup on. She'd get furious, and I'd explain that was late because I'd had to clean up after her. But we weren't really mad at each other-the arguments were nothing compared to the ones I used to have with my husband.
"We tried depriving ourselves of things, to correct our behavior, but it didn't work because neither of us really cared that much about anything. Then, one day, Josie noticed this article in a women's magazine, mentioning that spanking was becoming more and more of a corrective measure among groups of working girls who had to live together in close proximity.
"We talked about the idea of spanking a little, and Josie seemed to think it might work. I hadn't had any experience with getting spanked-my parents were the progressive type. But Josie had been acquainted with the paddle-she'll tell you about that when she comes to see you. Anyway, Josie suggested we buy a ping-pong paddle and pretend that each of us had just done something wrong-not that we really would have to pretend much. We'd give each other a trial spanking, and see if the results were sufficiently painful to curb our misbehaving.
"One evening, just before bedtime, we applied the ping-pong paddle to each other's fannies. We had decided, and the magazine article had helped make up our minds, that the bare bottom was the best target for a spanking. We slept in the same room, in twin beds, at that time, and we always undressed in front of each other. So we were quite familiar with each other's rear anatomy.
"Josie decided to spank first, since she was the 'expert.' Over her lap I went. Well, it hurt-not enough that it was an intense pain, but I can tell you the tears were flowing from me. As she spanked, Josie said: 'Now, Bert, suppose you've caused us to be late for work. When we get back home, I might pull you right in here, slip down those pink panties, and give you about ten whacks just like this.' The swats fell. 'Would you feel like being late again the next day?' "I shook my head-weeping at the ten swats. 'No, I sure don't think so-I'm not sure I could even get up the next day!' I was joking, of course, but I really didn't think I'd want to undergo the paddle very often. I can honestly say there was no sexual response to the ten swats that Josie had delivered to my slim fanny. And Josie didn't act as if anything out of the way had happened to her, as she pulled my panties back up and rearranged my skirt.
"But things immediately seemed a little different when we changed places. Just as soon as Josie was in position, slacks and panties down around her knees, I felt a strange tingling inside-a sensation that had nothing to do with my bright-red buttocks pressing against the bed. I repeated the same sort of speech Josie had made, asking her if she would still leave the house a mess after receiving ten swats like this-and then I started to spank.
"Immediately, I had a feeling of power I'd never felt before-a desire to control the happiness of another person, to manipulate Josie's emotions completely. I began to smack those curved buttocks as hard as I could. I remember thinking, incidentally, about all the men who glanced at those buttocks of Josie's as she swung by in the bar-I had always been a little jealous of those looks. So I laid the paddle on that rounded bottom just a little harder, as if to punish the buttocks themselves for causing my twinges of envy.
"I stopped at ten smacks, and waited for Josie's answer to my question. There wasn't any sound from her for a moment, then she said, sort of lazily: 'Oh, I don't know, Bert. I might still leave some things lying around.' I remember gasping a little-defiance wasn't like Josie. Then I could see that what she really wanted was an additional few swats. So I gripped her spine a little tighter with my left hand, and laid on ten more.
"I was gritting my teeth, trying to make Josie cry like I had. Josie looked back at me over her shoulder, saw the energy that I was exerting, and laughed. This got me mad, and I didn't even bother to question her any more. I just began to really lay the paddle on her fanny. Finally, after about fifteen more well-placed blows, she rolled off onto the floor-her eyes closed in pain and her hands busily massaging the buttocks, even though there were no tears in evidence.
" 'Okay, Bert, I'll be a little more careful before deciding not to clean up the house.' And she laughed some more. In spite of this strange reaction, we decided to use the paddle for purposes of punishment. And believe me, when I was on the receiving end, punishment was the right word! I began to get places on time. But it didn't seem to be changing Josie's sloppy housekeeping habits, and we gradually got to the point where she was getting all the spankings and I was giving all of them.
"I could see as we went along, that the paddle was useless in correcting her misbehavior-but I was getting too much enjoyment out of our nightly spanking session to bring this fact up. Besides, Josie didn't mind in the least our continued use of spanking. I had, by the way, begun to occasionally use my bare hand on Josie's buttocks. I had shown her another article on spanking that suggested a 'warmup' period with the hand before switching to the harder implement. Deep down, I think I just desired closer contact with the object of the men's affections.
"Well, it wasn't long before our spanking led to something more intimately passionate... "
* * *
Both Bertha and Josephine spoke with me at separate times concerning their homosexual activities. I have quoted Bertha thus far because she was the dominant force in the continued use of spanking-with a very willing recipient in Josie.
Bertha obviously was experiencing sexual reactions that were slightly sadistic in nature, but sadistic more from the psychological viewpoint of wishing to control and enslave another human being, rather than consciously wishing to inflict physical pain.
Josephine was a little more articulate in describing the transition that took place from the time the spankings were regarded as purely punishment, to the point when they became recognized erotic acts.
* * *
Josephine B., age 26, unmarried: "The more Bert spanked me-and I'll admit that I enjoyed the spankings right from the first-the stronger her personality seemed to become. Now this is just what I had missed in Jim, and was probably the reason why we called our marriage off. I need to be guided and led. From Jim, I could never get any kind of decision as to what course our lives were going to follow. He was just too namby-pamby.
"I had always insisted that the next man I became involved with would have an inner strength that I could see and feel. Then, all of a sudden, here was Bert providing me with just the sort of correction and just the sort of disciplining sessions that I liked. And not only was I getting a sexual reaction to the spankings, but I was beginning to react sexually to Bertha herself.
"Why the reaction to the spanking? I liked the warm feeling it gave me-the throbbing, rhythmic feeling as the paddle descended. Then too, I was sharply reminded of the spankings my father used to give me-I was paddled by him until just about the age of fifteen. I was strongly attracted to my father and the firm manner in which he treated me.
"So Bert and I are together at home and at the restaurant. This is a fine arrangement with me-she can sort of keep her eye on me. Naturally, I appreciate the attention I get from the men in the bar. And the sexy walk that I put on is just part of my job-I was hired on the strength of my figure, and I have to fool around with the guys a little.
"But, whenever I get too interested in some of the stuff the guys are filling my ear with-hoping they'll get me to a motel, of course-I just look over at Bert hostessing in the dining room and say to myself, 'Now there's just what I need most! Before too long, we'll be in our cozy apartment and getting ready for bed. I'll be slipping over her lap for the spanking and guidance that I need so badly.' And I brighten up even more.
"Did I ever think about getting spanked by a man? I've thought about it, sure. But Bert has such a 'female' touch with a spanking-a touch that my dad certainly never had-that I just can't imagine any man working my buttocks with the paddle the way Bert does. Maybe I'll meet such a man sometime. I hope so, certainly.
"Meanwhile, Bert and I have worked things out- sexually. You see, the emotions aroused in me by the spankings, can be only started in this manner-it takes something more than that to complete the climax. But this isn't true with Bert-she experiences such violent responses to the act of whacking my fanny. When we began to realize that spanking was a sexual activity, we also realized that it was completely fulfilling only for Bert.
"Being such good friends, we realized that this one-sidedness was unfair. One evening, then, when I was emotionally suspended in mid-air during the spanking, Bert laid down the ping-pong paddle and slipped her hand down near the area she had been striking. Without dislodging her hand, I scooted around until I was lying on the couch. Bert dropped down and wrapped one arm around my shoulders, still keeping the other hand in place.
"We began to kiss, as we had done many times before. But I think this was the first 'sexual' kiss between us-and Bert's searching tongue in my mouth made it a very deep kiss. The heat was still generating from my buttocks. Added to that heat were all the other sensations being provided by Josie's skillful manipulating.
"Before too long, I had experienced a more complete sexual reaction than I had for a very long time. So it should be no surprise that we fell into the same pattern of love-making. Bert spanks-and as she fulfills her sexual emotions, then mine begin. Relaxed and in a giving mood, after completing her climax, Bert then provides me with my happiness. This ritual rarely varies.
"So what's our problem? Simply this. I don't think we're really Lesbians. We want children, we want a normal social life, we recognize that sexual happiness isn't everything. And we do enjoy being around men. But all our sexual responses come from each other. Now how do we go about combining all our different' desires?
* * *
This situation was at best a somewhat sticky one. A good many of my colleagues would probably, if confronted with Josephine's final question, insist that the liaison break up and psychotherapy begin. While I did, in spite of the objections of the girls, feel that they were both most homosexually inclined, I still did not feel that their respective sexual makeups needed to be changed right at the moment.
Taking into consideration the still youthful ages of Bertha and Josephine, I suggested that they let things ride as they had been going, for another year or so. After all, I reminded them, they had both given heterosexual contacts a fair try with little success. They should, I advised, enjoy the sexual adjustments they had achieved, and should not feel that they must suffer feelings of guilt over the situation.
I did request that they keep in touch with me, and consult me more regularly should any difficulties occur at the time they felt a transition back to heterosexuality should be attempted. It has now been nearly a year now since Bertha and Josephine first consulted me, and nothing has changed in their relationship whatsoever.
Their spanking activities still, by the way, form the basis of their sexual repertoire.
CHAPTER EIGHT - SPANKING AND INITIATIONS
The initiation ceremony, in which the spanking paddle or occasionally the bare hand is used, is just one facet of sexual spanking. As such, the paddle initiation interests us not so much in itself, but in the influence that it exerts on later adult spanking activities such as bedroom and party-game paddling.
There is no doubt, of course, that the paddle initiation has definite sexual connotations, the element of the sadistic being catered to almost exclusively. While there is some sexual response for the masochist found in the initiation, conditions are not such that the person undergoing the paddling can sexually enjoy the occasion.
The reason for this favoring of the sadistic element over the masochistic is that the amount of pain incurred by the initiation paddle is generally far out of proportion to that necessary to achieve erotic response. The public environment and the concern over how much damage may be sustained during the initiation usually overrides any sexuality connected with the event-at the time of the ritual, anyway.
However, a great many people look back on the initiation-having taken part in the role of the initiate -and view the ceremony with much masochistic pleasure in retrospect. The pagan element, in addition to the savage frenzy that usually accompanies such uninhibited occasions, brings a definite sexuality to things remembered.
So most of the sexuality present in the paddle initiation is, as was noted in the opening chapter on The Flagellation Phenomenon, an appeal to the sadist The mere act of bringing tears and discomfort to another human being, in the same type of 'mob' environment that sometimes turns normal men into a crowd of lynchers, is an appeal to several kinds of sensual emotions. This is especially true if the pain is being brought to a person of the opposite sex.
As such, then, only the most devoted masochist obtains a sexual response to the public initiation. This is not true, however, of the individuals who receive spankings at the group orgies or the paddle club gatherings which are formed in later life. Here, knowing that the roll of the spankee is to be played only for a while, and realizing that his own turn with the paddle will come soon enough, the party-game player experiences frank and unrestrained erotic response to being paddled.
Statistical reports show that nearly all the participants in paddle-game clubs have had one or more experiences with the paddle initiation either while in high school or near to high school age. Naturally, this experience had to come when they were past puberty, to have the incident qualify as a sexual occurrence in their lives.
Actually, the paddle initiation has only recently been identified as a primarily sexual activity-within the past ten years or so. It is for this specific reason that paddling is now somewhat out-of-style on the college campus. Most such hazing that has ever taken place with the paddle as the main implement has done so in a homosexual context, in either the fraternity or the sorority house.
While sexuality may flourish more or less openly elsewhere on the campus, it never is overtly seen in the very conforming and image-conscious atmosphere of the "Greek" social organization. Here the paddling and hazing that was most common some years ago never crossed the line between the sexes-the frat pledges were never invited over to paddle the sorority sisters. And, hearing in modem psychology classes about the sadistic sexuality connected with hazing, these groups eventually decided to abandon the paddle, to avoid any activity with a homosexual tag attached.
If the paddle is still found on the college campus, it as part of the very private relationship between sorority "big sister" and "pledge." And there is a good deal of evidence to suggest that the more brutal paddling has been withdrawn in favor of the more intimate bare hand against bare buttocks, the hand-spanking method used by the experienced coed to guide and discipline her freshman pledge. Such spanking relationships, with Lesbian overtones, exist in nearly every sorority house on every college campus.
* * *
There is, however, one last frontier of fraternity and sorority initiation paddling. This takes place in the "teachers' colleges" which, having recently attained a type of university status, attempt to shed their provincial image by taking on the characteristics of the Big Ten schools.
This goal is sought after by going through all the phases that the established university has gone through years ago-one being the forming of fraternities and sororities, complete with spanking paddles. Such schools inevitably attract a great many devotees of the paddle, who are more in search of sadistic fun than a quality education.
Incidentally, the reputation of the paddle as representative of the worst kind of brutal sexuality is an image which was furthered by the college fraternity between the two World Wars, and has caused almost all adult spanking to be labeled as "evil"--which we have seen throughout this study is definitely not always the case.
Currently, the spanking initiation thrives more on the high school level and-despite expose magazine stories to the contrary-appears to be no more physically harmful than a football scrimmage, for example. But the really surprising thing about the high school initiation is that, when the paddle is used, the event will almost always be heterosexual.
Whether the club or organization holding the initiation is itself made up of both sexes has little bearing on the matter. Socio-sexual studies show that almost all high school students, especially in urban areas, prefer to invite the opposite sex to wield the paddle on their initiates. The "athletic letter" clubs request that the girls bring their paddles to spank the sophomore letter-men, and the female cheerleaders like to see their new recruits crawling between wide-spread male legs.
A surprising amount of bare-bottom spanking and paddling goes on in this heterosexual context, although this is more often the case with unsponsored initiations -those taking place outside the authority of the school. One particular research project, the Mama-line Study of Teen-age Spanking Habits, mentions three examples of supervised bare-bottom spanking that were noted taking place between the sexes.
Here, such school supervision of the spanking of bare buttocks had been traditional for years within the three school systems, and the existence of this initiation method was accepted by parents and students alike-who were rather sexually sophisticated to begin with in all three cases.
Further studies have noted that the sexual element in high school initiation spanking is recognized by about half of the participants-even including various admissions to having experienced the orgasm while using the paddle on another's buttocks. The orgasm nearly always occurs, incidentally, in a mixed initiation. Naturally, the recognition of the sexuality connected with the ceremony becomes more common as the age of the students increases.
The paddle is, incidentally, almost always a prominent implement in all such initiations-whether or not the initiates are allowed the benefit of protected buttocks or not. The small amount of pure hand-spanking connected with initiations is usually found in girls' groups which don't include male help in their ritual. All-girl high schools, too, which make use of flagellation in their ceremonies, almost always stick to using the bare hand-but usually against bare buttocks.
The following is an example of a married couple who had both been pre-conditioned to the effects of adult spanking while taking part in initiation paddlings:
* * *
Jeanine N., age 30, married, two children: "Both Herb and I took to spanking each other like the proverbial duck takes to water. And it's largely because we'd both had quite a bit of experience with paddling and initiations. The incidents connected with my paddling had taken place in college, in the sorority to which I belonged.
"I went to college during that transitional period, about ten years ago, when the paddle initiation was going out of style. In fact, the initiation in which I was well-spanked was the last ceremony of that type that the house ever had. But I wasn't real disappointed-I had no great desire to give back to other girls what I had received.
"That's because, while we were painfully paddled for a long period of time, I found the initiation intensely exciting, and my tingling buttocks gave me an emotional sensation that greatly perplexed me. I could hardly wait for the everyday spankings I would traditionally receive from the 'active'-the big sister-assigned to me.
"My relationship with Greta, my big sister in the sorority, was especially good, and we understood each other perfectly. There is, of course, sort of an unspoken acceptance of the sexuality in such an intimate act as getting your bare buttocks spanked-you never mention it out loud but you know it's there.
"So both Greta and I were well aware of there being a sexual response, on both our parts, to the spankings, but the element of punishment was always there too. I guess, on looking back, the basic philosophy was that a healthy 18-year-old freshman girl is both a sexual and a misbehaving individual, and both these human elements need to be fulfilled.
"So the sexual response between pledge and active were tacitly allowed-but there definitely had to be some punishment taking place. I don't want to give the impression, by the way, that there was any actual Lesbianism going on. The most intimate thing we ever did, outside of the spankings, was to adhere to the tradition that the pledge and active should kiss each other on the lips after a spanking had been administered.
"Occasionally, I'll admit, the kisses were a little more prolonged than necessary, particularly after a severe and emotionally upsetting paddling had taken place. This was customary and accepted in our sorority house, and was evidently also the case with the girls in the many other sorority houses on campus.
"How did the element of punishment come about if we were sexually enjoying the spanking? Simply by applying the spanking past the point where the peak of sexual enjoyment had taken place. This doesn't mean that a climax always occurred, although it often did. But there comes a point, when you're receiving a spanking, where the sexual capacity becomes saturated. Any smacks received after that point are just no fun at all!
"It was just these additional smacks that provided the punishment. Besides, suppose you enjoy every hard smack that lands on your bare fanny and the climax comes right at the end of, say, fifty good hand-swats. You haven't felt the sting of the smacks at all, because you were too involved in the sexual enjoyment that was going along with it.
"Okay, but as soon as the sexual enjoyment is over, -well, you still have a pretty sore and stinging pair of buttocks that are going to cause you some discomfort for at least an hour. That's the punishment-the burning buttocks that are the 'hangover' from the spanking.
"I've talked more about the response from receiving the spankings than from giving them. Well, for me, I've simply always preferred being the one getting the treatment-but I did enjoy the other duty to a certain extent. I know Greta got more pleasure out of spanking me, according to the way she acted, than I got out of spanking Maxine the following year.
"It had been decided, after I became an active, that the paddle initiation would be discarded, under pressure from the dean of women. But we had voted to keep the use of the paddle in the disciplining of the individual 'little sister' who was assigned to each active. Naturally, we were to use this pledge paddle with discretion, as the dean was beginning to keep a close watch on such things as hazing.
"We decided to have each little sister sign sort of a secret agreement, before being accepted into the pledge class, that stated her knowledge of the fact that she might be punished for her misdeeds, and this punishment might come in the form of a spanking or paddling. If she didn't feel that she could stand this corporal punishment, then she could refuse the offer to become a pledge.
"Hardly a freshman ever turned us down-not only were we the most chic and exclusive house on campus, but we took the trouble to explain that our spankings were never administered in too brutal or too prolonged a manner. While they were devised as a deterrent to bad behavior, they had never been dreaded by the sorority sisters of previous pledge classes.
"And, it was further explained, the actual pledge paddle that each little sister had to buy was more symbolic than actual-unless the particular rule that had been broken was exceptionally serious, and severe punishment necessary as a result. Generally the spankings were applied by hand.
* * *
"Maxine was, of course, the little sister assigned to me. I'll admit that the reversal of roles was interesting, if only in that it was unique and novel for me-my personality has always been on the submissive side. And I couldn't have asked for a more willing partner that Maxie-she seemed to recognize both the sexuality and the necessity of pledge spanking immediately.
"The very first time I suggested to Maxie that it was time for a spanking-she'd been late to a pledge meeting-she simply nodded and said, "I guess you're right, Jeanine. Just a minute and I'll get myself undone here.' Maxie knew that all punishments, whether they were given by paddle or hand, were to be applied on the bare buttocks. Slipping her tight pants and panty-girdle down, Maxine slipped her well-rounded buttocks over my lap.
"I spanked with some enthusiasm, but during the whole session I was wishing I was in Maxine's place. It's strange, but I could notice the same symptoms in her that I displayed whenever I began to react sexually to the spankings Greta had given me. A rhythmic reaction to the swats, a jerking of the hips, some low moaning sounds, a different coloring of the skin-I remember laying the smack's on Maxine's rear end a little harder in an attempt to offset the sexual response. You see, I was jealous of the enjoyment that she was getting.
"To tell you the truth, I think I got more pleasure out of the traditional kiss Maxine gave me after that first spanking-during the whole year I always looked forward to this short moment when Maxie's cool lips would be pressed against mine.
"The two times that I felt the use of the paddle on Maxine was necessary were, curiously enough the two times that I most enjoyed playing the role of the spanker. The first time, Maxie had promised to return early from a date to help decorate the house for an important dance. She was more than two hours late, and the decorating was already completed by the time she walked in the front door.
"I promptly dragged her up to my bedroom, removed her clothes myself, although I usually let her do this, and took her pledge paddle from her. I spanked her buttocks good and hard for about ten minutes, bringing out a bright red color in addition to a couple of blisters.
"I'm sure there was very little sexual response on Maxie's part to that paddling-at least the sobs and screams that came from her didn't indicate that anything pleasurable was taking place inside her. But as for me, I had the wildest emotional response imaginable! The louder Maxine hollered, the redder her flesh became, the madder I got, and the more excited I became.
"Oh, I knew what she'd been doing, all right. After all, girls know other girls pretty well, and I had felt her panties when I stripped them off her bottom preparatory to spanking. And that made it all the worse- knowing that she'd been too busy making love to come home and help with the decorating.
"So my reaction was complete this time-happening as I spanked. It was really the only time in college that I ever experienced the climax while spanking. Now, of course, I've conditioned myself so that it happens quite often with Herb-though not nearly so often as when I'm receiving the paddling.
"Not even the other time that I paddled Maxie, when she'd skipped too many classes in this one course, did I get the same response from myself. But I must admit that the kisses between Maxine and myself were far more passionate after the two paddlings were over, than when the many regular hand-spankings had been completed.
"Herb went to college, but he didn't join a fraternity. His sessions with the paddle came in high school. Herb had lettered in football and was to be initiated into the 'C' Club. The upperclassmen had evidently gotten bored with initiating their pledges, and thought it would be a great kick to watch some girls do the paddling.
"So, as Herb tells it, the girls from his own sophomore class were allowed to use ping-pong paddles on the boys' bare buttocks-an athletic supporter was worn out of modesty, but that doesn't give a person one bit of protection to the buttocks. As far as sexual response to this initiation goes, Herb has said that his own and most of the other fellows' supporters were bulging more than usual.
"But Herb said his own response was far more pronounced when the 'C Club was invited to initiate the 'Girl Boosters'-a group of female students who cheered at basketball and football games and were, with inevitable high school humor, nicknamed the 'Girl Goosers.' "Here, according to Herb, the method was also bare fannies, with the girls crawling between the boys' legs. Herb says it was decided not to use any paddles-but that the contact of hand and bare buttocks was a good deal more exciting than a lot of damage from the paddle would have been.
"With Herb enjoying the giving part, and me preferring the receiving, we've fallen into a good spanking relationship. Only very occasionally, when I'm in a deep and mysterious sexual mood, will Herb and I trade roles. For the most part we just stick with what we enjoy most.
"We do enjoy a wide variety of positions in addition to the usual over-the-lap method. Quite often, I find myself crawling through Herb's legs in a recreation of his Boosters experience. Or I'll bend over and grasp my own ankles. We've discovered a few exotic positions where we're both on the bed-we use these when we know that the spanking is going to proceed directly to sexual intercourse.
"In any case, spanking makes up a big part of our sexual life, and we wouldn't give up the spanking for anything-even if you tell me that I'm out of my head for enjoying it. Does that sound like too uncooperative a patient, Doctor?"
* * *
No, it sounded quite normal. Jeanine had come to see me about guilt feelings occurring after an automobile accident in which she felt gravely responsible for having caused a serious injury to a friend. In discussing her background, Jeanine's spanking activities were revealed, and I asked her to expand a little on this facet of her life for the purpose of this study.
CHAPTER NINE - SPANKING AND RELATED PERVERSIONS
Sensitivity to the flagellation phenomenon within an individual often sustains other sexual perversions that are connected with the urge to participate in sexual spanking. In the vast majority of individuals who harbor the adult spanking aberration, the spanking is the dominant activity-with the supplementary sexual "deviation" playing a lesser part in the person's life.
The exception to this fact is noted where homosexuality is the primary sexual inclination of the individual. But homosexual response is mostly a psychological phenomenon, whereas spanking and related deviations exist partly because of the physical reactions involved in this activity. So the homosexual is psychologically attracted to a member of his own sex-and the flagellating sexual invert physically expresses his sexuality through the use of spanking.
However, as the majority of adult spanking practitioners are heterosexual, the related perversions are usually connected with the opposite sex. Perhaps the aberration most commonly believed to accompany sexual spanking involves the rope-the rope being the symbol of sex to the bondage devotee. In reality, this is not actually the case.
Much flagellation literature does, admittedly, include a little something for the bondage fetishist, as personified in the tying-up and physical restraint of the spanking victim. Upon binding his pretty and physically well-endowed girl friend, the traditional character from bondage fiction than applies the whip or the paddle to her.
Strange as it may seem, if the particular reading material is aimed at the spanking enthusiast a hint of bondage is always present, usually represented by the whip. But the out-and-out bondage literature-such as the unique publication entitled "Bound"-contents itself with being a self-sustaining aberration and doesn't make many references to spanking.
The flagellation publications that do try to combine spanking and bondage are more of the "exotic" type as opposed to the "real." The predilection for the whip as the symbol of flagellation testifies to this fact. As often as it is mentioned in spanking literature, the whip is rarely used by spanking devotees in actual practice- because of the vast amount of physical damage it can cause.
The paddle, being a commonly-used spanking instrument, has become the symbol of practicing spankers, as distinguished from the whip enthusiasts who more often day-dream and imagine their flagellation fantasies. Our study is naturally more concerned with the realists who participate in actual adult spanking activities, rather than with the flagellation exotics.
In observing my own patients, and consulting with several of my psychiatric colleagues, it would seem that adult sexual spanking almost always involves a buttocks fetish of some sort, commonly called natelism. This fetish attraction is especially prominent in those individuals who limit their flagellation to spanking and to the buttocks-the very group of persons upon whom we are concentrating in this book.
There is always some argument as to which comes first within an individual-the fetish for the buttocks, or the desire to spank them. This is a difficult question to answer. Most psychologists feel that the two attractions go hand-in-hand. The fascination that the buttocks hold for certain individuals generally creates more than just a sexual admiration for this part of the anatomy-the dominant urge is to do something to them.
Because of previous conditioning from either receiving or observing childhood punishments, the urge is to strike or smack the buttocks, just as the prevalent urge in a bosom fetishist is to suck the breasts. There are a few examples of people who admire the buttocks purely for themselves, or for their close proximity to the sexual organs-but there are few spanking enthusiasts who do not spend a good deal of their sexual time in contemplation of the area that is the target of their spanking and paddling activities.
* * *
An associated fetish develops in some individuals to whom both spanking and the buttocks have very sexual connotations. This is an attraction for the types of clothing that both cover the buttocks and place them on prominent display. This fetish attachment is found mostly in the male, and is directed to such female clothing as under panties and tight pants-although it is quite common for a woman to have a fetish for her own buttocks, and to dress in such an exhibitionistic way as to emphasize this part of her anatomy.
But the sexual fetish is, on the whole, mostly a male monopoly-since the male more often responds to psychologic sexual stimuli, such as viewing the female buttocks, than does the woman, who prefers physical touches to bring about her erotic response. The lingerie -fetishist, if his attention is directed mostly to panties and girdles, will usually be a practitioner of adult spanking.
Of course, the fetishist who admires all items of female underclothing is more often a transvestite, who cares little for spanking. But the spanker who is also a clothing fetishist will probably prefer female garments that can always be observed, and he concentrates on the admiration of tight slacks, blue jeans, men's Levis as worn by women, and other articles of attire that make the buttocks prominent.
A piece of feminine apparel that has just recently attained a great deal of sexual popularity is the high-heeled boot, which covers the leg as far up as mid-thigh. The boot is made of leather-a material which has a great deal of sexual symbolism to the sadist and the masochist-and the tight encasement of the leg plus the fact that the high heels project the buttocks outward, has obviously caused this item to be a favorite of the buttocks admirers and the spanking devotees.
In fact, the woman's high-heeled boot has, for several reasons, become the symbol of all fetishism. A tribute to its popularity is the fact that as recently as five years ago the female boot was an exotic item, sold more or less surreptitiously and worn more as an erotic costume than as street wear. Now, calf-high boots, with spike-heels, are very common on any public street, and several fashion designers have already brought out the first commercial buttocks-high leather boots for women.
Not only has the boot become an object of sexual interest because of the visual aspect-a result of the accentuation of the legs and buttocks-but the spike-heel has for a long time been a favorite symbol of sexuality to the masochistic man and the sadistic woman-as in the traditional portrayal of the female walking up and down on the back of the outstretched male while wearing her high heels.
Thus the fetish is an addition to the sexual circle cultivated by the adult spanker, and whether it is a "vicious" circle depends upon in what light you view the various fetishes. The spanking aberrant spanks the buttocks, becomes sexually fascinated by them, appreciates their display in tight female pants, highly approves of the way spike-heels shift the buttocks backward into prominence, and derives masochistic and sadistic illusions from the heels themselves-all of which factors feed his urges to spank and be spanked some more.
The following case history excerpt demonstrates a decided correlation between spanking and the boot fetish:
* * *
Allen W., age 32, married, one child: "I can enjoy the usual type of spanking with my wife-and we do it fairly often and pretty spontaneously. There is no pre-planning as with our other form of spanking. Like in the morning we'll wake up a little early and find that we have a little extra time on our hands before we have to get up.
"So I'll just reach over, grab Madeline and turn her over my lap. I lift up her filmy nightgown and spank her bare bottom until the buttocks are slightly pink. I just use my hand, that's all. There's no crying or anything on Madeline's part-she's used to this mild contact. Sometimes, I'll turn over and she'll return a few of the smacks to me.
"This is mildly exciting to both of us, and always leads to a sexual session in which we can enjoy the usual form of sex. This early-morning spanking doesn't ever produce a climax by itself, but the resulting sexual intercourse always does, with both Madeline and me. And we never would have been interested in starting the intercourse, at that hour of the morning, without the spanking to perk up our sexual senses.
"Now that's one kind of spanking. We have another type which is far more sexually exciting to both of us- and is the kind of spanking where the climax comes during the actual application of the paddle. Here, we don't bother with, or really want, any additional sexual intercourse.
"And this is where the leather boots come into play. I've always been attracted to boots, even before they became popular with a great many women. Some years ago, I had a pair of boots specially made to fit my wife's legs perfectly. I'm real lucky in that my 30-year-old wife has the exact same measurements now that she did at the age of eighteen.
"The boots have heels about eight inches high, and the black leather comes all the way up her legs, right to the buttocks. In fact, the curve of her bottom jutting out over the tops of the boots gives the nice effect that she is sitting on the leather. The boots fit tightly right up to the knee, then leather lacings go up the sides, along Madeline's thighs, to the top.
"Our sexual session begins when I put the boots on Madeline. She undresses down to her panties and bra -this is usually quite late in the evening. In her semi-nude state, she then sits on the floor with her legs spread wide. I take my place between her legs-sitting with my back to her stomach, my buttocks pressed in against her crotch.
"Taking her right leg in my hands, I pull the boot up over her foot, easing the leathery material up over her calf. When the lower half is snugly in place, I begin the long process of lacing the leather thongs. I pull the lacings as tight as possible-Madeline is used to this construction and doesn't mind in the least.
"After I have tightly booted the other leg, I stand up and turn around, grasping Madeline's hands. I lift her to her feet. This is necessary, as she can't raise herself to a standing position because of the exceptionally high heels. But she is able to walk-the boots are so designed that the weight is evenly displaced.
"She walks up and down to test how well I've handled my lacing job. This is when my sexual excitement becomes more pronounced. Naturally, my desires have begun to stir the moment I start the lacing. Madeline's long black hair, the well-filled bra, the tightly-clinging panties-and those beautiful black boots with the leather creaking at every step, accompanied by the sharp staccato click of the spike-heels as Madeline places her feet heavily and rhythmically. This is when my response begins to approach its highest point.
* * *
"Perhaps I could complete the whole response merely by contemplation of Madeline taking her long strides, with hands on hips and feet spread apart as she takes a pose at the other end of the bedroom. I probably could. But already my fingers are itching to close around the handle of our spanking paddle-a souvenir of Madeline's sorority days. I walk to the wall, where the smooth wooden paddle is hanging, and I remove it from the hook.
"At this gesture, Madeline stands quietly, her back toward me. She turns her head slowly to look at me over her shoulder. Her lips curve into a smile that is a combination of sensuality and love. Then she turns her whole body slowly and walks towards me with measured steps. When she has covered the distance between us, Madeline bows slightly, turns her buttocks to me, and bends over-tightly grasping the ankles of her boots.
"I move to her panty-covered buttocks, slowly pulling the panties down until they are around her leather-covered knees. At this point, Madeline spreads her legs, stretching the panties almost to the breaking point. I allow myself a look at the smooth bareness of her buttocks above the roughness of the black leather.
"The tightness of the boots has pulled the flesh of the buttocks snug against her hipbones, and the bent-over position adds to the firmness of the curves. My sexuality is growing-a savage roughness is building inside me. This is no time to be gentle; a simple hand-spanking would be terribly out of place at this moment.
"I grit my teeth, feeling the surge of emotions within myself. I bring the paddle back, cracking it hard across Madeline's buttocks. Her only reaction is a slight rocking of the body, but she never loses her balance. The sound from her lips is simply a low moan-no sharp cry whatsoever.
"This time, as I draw the paddle back for the long swing, my attention is riveted to the red mark across the white buttocks. I attempt to criss-cross the mark with my second swat. My sexual response is almost at the top of it's peak. One more resounding swat with the paddle, and I collapse on the floor in ecstasy, stretching flat on my stomach.
"At this signal, Madeline suddenly turns, because she knows that my sexual climax doesn't last long. She steps quickly onto my back and stands stock-still, with the heels digging hard into my ribs. The sexual reaction that has just begun is greatly fortified by this act -my climax is much more intense than with other forms of sex.
"My sexual cycle is now complete, and Madeline's is growing as a result of watching what she has done to me. She walks slowly up and down my back. Then she turns, bends her legs, and sits down on my spine, facing my buttocks. The position of her legs, tucked up underneath her bottom, places those lovely high heels right next to my face.
"Madeline takes the paddle from me, slips my shorts down to expose my buttocks, and begins to spank- very hard. Unfortunately for me, it takes more than just three swats to complete Madeline's sexual response. But she could spank all night if she wished-I would never dream of interrupting her work with the paddle, after all the pleasure she has brought to me.
"She begins to sob, in unison with the smacks from the paddle, as her moment approaches. It comes violently with Madeline-and I can almost feel the pulsations on my back where she is sitting. Then, it's over- for another evening, anyway."
* * *
Allen had come to discuss some psychomatic symptoms of tension connected with his high-pressure job and having nothing to do with his sex life. If anything, Allen's and Madeline's unique sexual techniques were probably the most soothing element in his life-I would not have wanted to advise a change.
* * *
The following is a vivid description of a type of clothing fetish supplementing the activities of a paddle club:
* * *
Susan B., age 27, married, three children: "My husband and I belong to one of these party-paddle clubs-we've been members for well over a year now. The group consists of about eight couples, and we're all devoted to different forms of spanking. We get a good deal of enjoyment out of bringing our sexual pleasures out into the open without doing anything really immoral. We're not a group that goes for wife-swapping.
"The only kind of swapping we do is when we play certain games. In fact, it's rare that a married couple will find themselves playing as partners in the different games that we've thought up. Not unless we're doing some special kind of spanking where we paddle to get an intimately sexy reaction-then we stick to married couples.
"This one game, for instance, is called 'trading clothes.' Naturally, the man and woman who are paired off have to be pretty near the same size- because the two trade whatever clothing is being worn. And I do mean everything is traded! The idea occurred to us one night when one of the men remarked that all the girls were wearing men's jeans-probably because the tough denim affords better protection for the buttocks during spankings.
"Well, some of the group were wondering how it would be if the men wore female clothing. We kicked the suggestion around a little, and finally came up with an idea. The girls would show up wearing really frilly, feminine things with lots of silky lingerie-and the men would wear the usual. A same-size partner would be chosen and the clothes exchanged before delivering our traditional paddlings.
"Some modifications of this basic idea were made which greatly added to the excitement. It was decided that the change would take place out in the open- everyone undressing and laying their piles of clothing neatly at their feet. Now, this provides a moment when everyone is completely nude. However, we were all experienced in bare-bottom paddling at the time this suggestion was made-most of our spankings are administered in this state of undress, especially later on in the evening-and one more part of the anatomy being revealed wouldn't really make that much difference.
"For another thing, while the stripping portion of the activity would be slow and leisurely, for maximum enjoyment, the dressing in the opposite sex's clothes would be clocked. The couple finishing first would have the privilege of smacking the buttocks of the rest of the group. And, for a little extra spanking, the partner completing his dressing first would be allowed to paddle the other partner's buttocks until he or she had also finished the job.
"Well, it has worked out just fine, and it's been a mainstay of our selection of games. After the partners are chosen, the stripping begins. Since this isn't timed, the men have an opportunity to closely watch their female partners, studying to see what items they will have to put on. The women wear quite a few things- girdles, panties, bra, hose, garter-belt, and either a blouse and skirt or a dress. No jewelry allowed, and we don't bother with hats or shoes.
"The women wear as many items of clothing as they can wrap around themselves, in the hopes that their partner will take so long that the girl will be able to smack her man's buttocks while he tries to figure out how to hook the bra or to fasten the girdle. "The men have counteracted this somewhat by adding certain pieces to their game wardrobe. These include athletic supporters-you should see how funny a jock-strap looks on a girl-garters for stockings, elastic support stockings that are harder to put on, and even girdles made for men.
"Then too, the men wear tight jeans. The women they exchange with can get every other article of clothing on easily enough, but their bigger, womanly hips mean that they must really tug to get those Levis on. Not only do they sometimes get well-paddled while attempting to get the men's jeans on, but the longer it takes the girl to get the tight pants on, the longer their buttocks get spanked-which makes them swell, and makes it that much harder to get the pants buttoned!
"More often than not, however, the men have more trouble figuring out some of the more intimate female under things. It's quite a bit of fun to see a hairy man's panty-covered bottom sticking out as he tries to work his way into a panty-girdle-and the smacks bouncing off his fanny make it that much harder.
"Other rules have been developed as we've played the game. If the partner tears a piece of clothing, two additional swats are allowed. A popped button is worth another two smacks-a sprung zipper is five, but if the zipper has been torn out, then that costs ten good ones to the rear end. An unclasped bra is worth two swats- as is an unbuttoned pair of men's Levis when they won't go around broader hips. All the extra swats are received, by the way, on the bare buttocks.
"The game makes for a lot of interest. Of course, it's a good deal more fun to watch the men in the women's clothing than a girl dressed as a man. Especially the under things. I know, too, that the men in the group enjoy this 'costume' dressing-I certainly know my husband gets a big kick out of it. Louie and I have even gotten to trading intimate items at home, before doing our before-bedtime spanking!"
CHAPTER TEN - SPANKING AND THE PROSTITUTE
The prostitute can be readily found in almost any fairly large city or town throughout this nation-but the prostitute who either specializes in spanking or allows herself to be spanked in addition to her regular coital services is still somewhat of a rarity in this country. In England, as in other parts of Europe, the girl who is paid to spank and be spanked is quite a common part of the sexual life in the city in which she works.
Several reasons are proposed as to why the American prostitute has an aversion to sexual spanking. For one thing, the sexuality of adult spanking has only recently been discovered here-and the sadistic label that until recently has been attached to much of adult spanking scares off a good many women who might be tempted to enter this lucrative field.
The British boy and girl-as noted in the chapter on Spanking-The English Vice-grows up with the spanking cane and a pair of continually sore buttocks. Not only does this pre-condition a great many of England's younger generation to sexual spanking, but many women who relish the opportunity and recognize the sexual connotations take up the profession of catering to flagellation-oriented men.
Another theory as to the lack of professional spankers in this country is put forward: the current popularity of "normal" sex, represented by fornication and adultery, as opposed to the relatively unpopular abnormal sexual activities which carry the label of "perversion."
There have been, of course, some changes of attitude, in that such activities as homosexuality and fetishism are not so violently condemned as they were as recently as five or ten years ago. These, and other fringe areas of sexuality, are more tolerated and understood in the light of better knowledge.
Nonetheless, anything not involving "straight" sex-play between two people of opposite sexes-sex-play leading more or less directly to coitus-is still considered most unhealthy and "queer" by a large segment of the American population. As verified by the Kinsey studies in sexual behavior, the less education an individual has, the less prone is he or she to sexual experimentation.
Not only is the prostitute usually of a lower educational class than the average, but she caters more or less to men of about the same educational attainment. When the more expensive streetwalker does involve herself with men who can afford her asking price, these customers are most often middle-class businessmen- on business trips-who are also of the same opinion as the prostitute regarding the "normality" of straight coitus.
If approached by a male who desires something out of the ordinary-a spanking, or an opportunity to indulge in such exotic activities as "back-walking" or bondage-the typical prostitute will generally refuse the request. Most prostitutes are, incidentally, extremely proud of their ability to elicit sexual response and indulge in intercourse with a lot of men, and they do not wish to "contaminate" their sexual gifts by involving themselves in anything "queer."
There is supposed to be considerable activity in the area of sexual spanking that involves high-priced call girls-prostitutes who do not work the streets but make their phone numbers available to certain hotel desk clerks and bartenders, who are on the lookout for prospective customers of their special type.
Some cities are particularly well-known for the availability of the paid professional spanker by phone. The customers are usually well-salaried men who work in the more creative types of positions.
But, like much of the spanking and flagellation literature on sale, the professional spanker is priced far out of proportion to what she is worth-if an "average" price can be attached to a sexual activity such as spanking. This is particularly true if the prostitute is one who allows herself to receive the sexual punishment.
If a comparison is drawn with the price of an ordinary coital session, a liaison in which the prostitute does nothing but spank costs a customer nearly twice as much as it would for normal sexual intercourse. And if the streetwalker or call girl is a professional recipient of the paddle, the cost is much higher. Since so few women work the fringe area of flagellation, the prices can be kept high.
* * *
Some undercover studies in certain parts of the nation do indicate, however, that the more sexually sophisticated a section of the county is, the easier it is to contact a professional spanker. And the more experience that a girl gains with receiving sexual spanking-harsh whipping not included-the more she will find that such spankings cause very little discomfort. And the male spankers, rather than being men to fear, are invariably rather meek persons who do not wish to cause lasting damage.
As our knowledge of adult spanking grows and the aura of "sadism" is removed from the activity, the availability of paid prostitutes who offer their sexual services for spanking increases-and their exorbitant prices go down. All of which, naturally, interests the socio-psychologist in his job of keeping an ear open to the sexual "temper of the times."
Before looking at a specific example of the professional spanker, mention should be made of the so-called "houses of torture" that service sadists and masochists. These are, of course, favorite subjects of spanking and bondage fiction. In reality, few such places exist, and if they do begin business, they inevitably attract so much attention that they are quickly closed down.
A very recent and infamous case involved a "masochist's heaven" in New Jersey-which was raided by the polios-where a customer could present himself to be chained, whipped, and beaten. Presumably, some spanking and paddling of the buttocks took place there, too, which puts the house within the realm of this book.
This house of torture was supposedly only interested in masochists, and did not provide a bevy of beautiful girls to be whipped and spanked-which would have undoubtedly made the business enterprise far more popular. News releases did mention a customer list of ten thousand, though it seems more likely that a large number of these people expressed an "interest" in the various activities without ever actually turning up for a "treatment."
Visiting Chicago recently while researching another study, I learned that there was operating in that city a call-girl "ring" that catered to certain fetishes and perversions. Informing the desk clerk of my hotel of my interest in the type of girl who is the subject of this chapter, I received a visit from Marilyn. She was quite willing to talk with me for the same fee she usually received for her spanking activities.
* * *
Marilyn M., age 30, divorced: "I became a spanking specialist about a year ago-and it's a better racket than working the street, I can tell you that. Not that I wasn't good at the regular stuff. But I really understand this spanking bit, better than a lot of other broads do.
"How come I'm so good at this? Because I know just what kind of rump-whacking makes men react-and I know how to take as good as I can give. I've been spanked for most of my life, starting with my father and older sister and including teachers and the warden at the girl's reform school where I spent a little time. And I've seen how people react to getting their fanny smacked-especially men. There's some tricks to it.
"Now, a lot of broads think that if a man ain't responding to a spanking, then you just smack him all the harder. That just won't work. It's not so much how hard you spank-but how and where. Like you aim for the fat part of his buttocks and you'll make a man happy. You aim an inch higher where it really hurts the spine, and you'll get the guy madder than hell.
"I can work any man to a finish with about twenty swats, though I may take longer with the guy to give him some extra enjoyment. Sometimes, if he's a little slow to respond, I'll move the paddle a little lower and flick him down between the legs just a little, to remind him what he's getting spanked for. That usually brings him around.
"My attitude helps the whole situation. Some broads think they're going to switch to dumping and make a good living. But they're really disgusted at what they're doing, hating every minute of it. Well, a guy can tell if you don't like what you're doing, or if you're acting like you think he's queer.
"And that kills him as far as making it goes. You gotta act like you're getting a kick out of the spanking -you gotta jive him-whether you're banging his rear end or he's swatting yours! Either way, you make him think he's doing you the favor-that's the secret of success in this business.
"I've got a special costume, too. Not just plain old street clothes like the usual whore wears. The guy who digs spanking, he's usually got other strange ideas, too. He likes certain kinds of clothes. I went and bought myself a corset, made of black leather, too, that points up my fanny and boobs and really cinches my waist in.
"Black-mesh nylons with garters attached to the corset-and boots-black boots-with sharp heels on them-the boots come right up to where I'm going to get spanked. Panties? No panties at all. Then there's nothing to take off, see? The guy gets a big kick out of seeing my whole body covered except for where he's going to spank. Look-the more excited my trick gets, the less I've got to work. Right? A look at my costume and my job's half done-and it sure saves wear and tear on my poor fanny!
"Oh-another thing. For some reason, the guys who are going to spank me get a charge out of seeing red welts on me as soon as I uncover the butt. They don't care about starting out with pure-white flesh-I'd be in trouble if they did. By the end of a hard night's work, it's plenty red back there. But how about the first few tricks? I tried rouge on my buttocks-some guys liked it, but most of my tricks thought I was cheating them a little.
"So, what the heck, I get a girl friend to lay the paddle on me a little before I head out on the street. So what happens if I've been spanking most of the evening but haven't gotten spanked? And I've got a trick coming up that wants to whack me? I just excuse myself for a second, go to the restroom of whatever bar I happen to be in, and take this little paddle out of my purse.
"I slip the old undies down and lay a few back there myself. It gets the whole area all toned up, you know what I mean? Then I go back to the table and we head right up to my room. And the redness lasts-I make sure I've given myself a hard enough fanny-whacking for that.
"I charge per job, not per swat like I've heard the chicks do in England. Most of my customers wouldn't stand for me charging them per swat. They'd think I was cheating them by easing up on the first few smacks just to run up the bill a little. No, it's strictly the same price, no matter how many I have to give to make him bust it.
"I do have one rule when I'm the one that's over the lap. One hundred swats maximum. If the guy hasn't made it by then, no more spanking. Oh, I'll finish him off some other way, I won't just send him off half-done. I've got a million little tricks that will work. But I've got to protect myself-my bottom can take just so much!
"My fee? Twenty bucks either way, giving or taking. I know most girls charge more for getting their butts swatted-but they're the ones who make their price for getting spanked so high that they're hoping nobody will take them up on it.
"That's twenty bucks one way or the other. I've got a cut-rate for going both ways at the same session-some guys like it either way, and they also like making it either way. Thirty dollars for that deal-that's for about an hour's work, giving the guy time to recover from his first busting, and that's not a bad price for all that time.
"That's just about it-that's the way I make my living."
* * *
A more detailed case history, outlining the background of a prostitute who had quite a bit of experience with spanking and who had been a patient of mine, is included in the final chapter of this study.
CHAPTER ELEVEN - THE SELF-SPANKER
Self-spanking is, of course, a form of auto-erotic stimulation. We are devoting an entire chapter to this unusual practice, because its popularity appears to be on the rise-in the forms of both self-hand-spanking and self-whipping using some sort of implement.
Regarding the amount of the milder hand-spanking that goes on, as compared to harsher self-whipping activities, I have observed that about 75 per cent of the self-spanking that comes to my attention makes use of some kind of spanking instrument.
The reason for this higher ratio of self-whipping is fairly easy to explain. The buttocks, at which the blows must he aimed to come under the heading of a spanking, are easier to reach and to strike forcefully with some type of extension of the arm. The implement I find is used most often for this purpose is the common ping-pong paddle.
However, while not so readily available, quite often a paddle made for the express purposes of spanking, such as those used in sorority or fraternity initiations, is the chosen instrument for inflicting this unique form of self-punishment.
Additionally, the flagellant seeking sexual pleasure in this manner usually prefers a fairly hard whack on his or her buttocks-as do those who indulge in social spanking relationships. It is quite true, however, that the orgasm can be attained by many people who merely "pat" their buttocks in a symbolic type of spanking.
With this gentler technique, the attainment of the sought-after orgasm depends on the sexual sensitivity of the spanker and of the "victim." Each has had to be previously "conditioned" to the entire act of giving and receiving swats on the buttocks, which are usually bared. And this conditioning has, generally, been brought about through the use of actual pain-producing whippings.
So the patting or tapping spankers almost always include doses of "punishment" paddlings in their flagellation repertoire. The orgasm is achieved faster in this latter category, of course, because of the violent nature of the act. But those patients of mine who have been devoted practitioners of spanking admit that the orgasms produced as a result of the gentler and more sensitive love-slaps are much more prolonged and satisfying to them than the quickly-attained type.
We have described the physical aspect of spanking as a means of producing the orgasm. Blood rushes to the spanked area, causing sexual stimulation-this occurs in both male and female. In addition, certain muscles and erogenous zones-those areas most sensitive to erotic feeling-are important in sexual reactions to spanking.
The closeness of the buttocks to the sexual apparatus and the involuntary contraction of the rectal area that takes place whenever a blow is delivered, both stimulate erotic reaction and an eventual orgasm.
The rhythmic factor, an ever-present element in most spankings, whether extremely fast and violent or slow and sensuous, is, according to those who have studied the flagellation phenomenon, important to sexual responsiveness. Since the approach to the orgasm is built upon rhythmic contractions of the muscles, and since a sustained and increasingly faster rhythm is essential to the whole sexual act, measured blows upon the buttocks can magnify the intensity of orgasmic buildup.
Psychologically, the deriving of pleasure from being spanked is somewhat masochistic, demonstrating a desire to be sexually subdued or enslaved.
Just as certainly, the deriving of pleasure from the administering of a spanking is of a sadistic nature. While the pain that is inflicted upon a pair of buttocks may not be lasting, nor do the violent feelings aroused in the spanker ever approach a really dangerous degree, the mastery of the whipper over the whipped is undeniable.
The self-spanker, making use of auto-erotic stimulation, mixes both the sadistic and the masochistic elements within his or herself. The sexual pleasure can be twofold. First is the infliction of pain on a sexually-oriented area. Secondly, the receiving of sexual pain-pleasure is a completion of the circle.
However, if one area of sexual perversion is more dominant in the self-spanker, it is the presence of masochism. The sexual arousal caused by the painfully yet pleasurably spanked buttocks is most prominent here.
With the absence of a willing partner, the recipient of the pleasure-pain must also be the one who inflicts it. Generally, a sadistically-oriented person is far more apt to look for other individuals to whip and is unlikely to be either an occasional or a compulsive self-spanker.
Not too surprisingly, most of the self-flagellants with whom I have come into contact were women. This is undoubtedly because the female is more likely to have a masochistic or sexually submissive nature.
I have had occasion to treat some females repeatedly for bruised and swollen buttocks which they admitted, after some questioning, were a result of self-spanking activities. Most of them, while still seeking medical help for the bruised portions of their anatomy, carried the sore buttocks around with some degree of pride. This is, of course, a masochistic characteristic.
I do, admittedly, encounter more battered derrieres that are a result of socio-sexual, rather than self-administered spanking. These well-spanked bottoms generally belong to married couples, between the ages of twenty five and forty, who indulge in too much marital sex-play involving the paddle. While I sometimes attempt to persuade an older couple to either forego or curtail their spanking and whipping in favor of less damaging precoital sex-play, I have found that most persons using this form of sexual stimulation really prefer and even savor this type of activity, no matter what the painful consequences.
Self-spanking is a sexual pastime that is beginning to catch the ^research" attention of more and more members of the psychiatric profession. The sadistic and masochistic instincts underlying the phenomenon of self-spanking are the interesting elements which are studied more than the possessor of the aberration- who is perverted to a lesser degree than, say, the homosexual.
Most of my patients admitting to self-spanking have not been severely disturbed mentally. Rather, I discovered their activities while treating them for such unrelated tendencies as extreme nervousness and tension. Surprising as it may sound, the self-spanking is more of a helpful than a harmful element-it serves to release pent-up sexual tensions in the absence of either socio-sexual relationships or masturbation of a more common nature.
I have included here some excerpts from taped statements taken from three of my recent patients who discussed their self-spanking activities with me. As their particular problems, for which they were going through psychotherapy, didn't directly concern the self-spanking, I have not provided comments on the particular quotations.
* * *
Sidney L., age 38, unmarried: "Of course, when circumstances permit, I much prefer spanking and getting spanked by a female partner. I either date a pretty girl whom I know is willing, if I'm in the mood, or I hire a prostitute who specializes in this sort of thing. Either way, the ritual is pretty much the same. After a little fooling around, my pants land on the floor, as do my shorts. Then the little paddle that I always carry around with me in my car is put into use by the particular female of the evening.
"Depending on my mood, the amount I've had to drink, the number of climaxes arrived at previously that same evening-taking all these things into consideration, it usually takes about fifty swats to set me off. But I've received as many as three hundred swats before reaching the climax, although I've had a pretty sore time of it the next day.
"Sometimes, though, if the girl has been especially seductive, or has removed her clothes before taking me over her lap, then a mere ten or fifteen bare-bottom smacks is enough to cause the orgasm.
"When I'm alone, the situation is somewhat different. A mere pummeling of the buttocks isn't really enough, of course, to make me reach the goal I'm after. It's the thought of past sexual experiences, plus the anticipation of a few that I plan to have in the future, that makes the difference.
"I sometimes begin a session by simply applying the paddle to my bare bottom. This usually happens when I'm looking for a quick, additional climax. Perhaps I want to reach one before going out on a date-this enables me to better withstand the evening's sexual activities without getting over-excited. I use this technique especially if I haven't made it for a couple of days-a rare occurrence, really.
"Sometimes, however, I have experienced a very satisfactory orgasm during my date, either through normal sexual intercourse or as the result of a spanking. Then, for some reason, I've found myself erotically aroused toward the end of the evening. Lacking time or opportunity for a repetition of the coitus or the paddling, I get home sort of dangling in a sexual mid-air-you must know what I mean.
"In this case, a few whacks, which I administer to my already reddened buttocks while undressing, and a fond remembering of the more intimate details of the evening's sexual activities, can finish me off with no trouble at all.
"If I'm to endure something so terrible as an evening at home alone, then I take my self-spanking a little more seriously. I pick a time when I'm not very tired yet could fall asleep if sexually satisfied. I take a shower, getting myself in a proper frame of mind. Then I spend a few seconds in a more usual form of stimulation-I never start a spanking while sexually cold.
"When ready, I take out my paddle, the special model I keep for times when I'm alone. It is much larger than the slimmer and lighter one I carry in my car. My personal paddle is oval-shaped so that the wood covers my two buttocks quite easily. And it is so heavy that much of the force of the smack against my ear end is from its own weight.
"This way, I need to use only enough wrist-action to set the paddle in its downward motion toward my buttocks. The pendulant swing brings a crisp and satisfying smack to the target area.
"Usually, during this specialized form of self-spanking, I am in a standing position. My back is to a full-length mirror-this enables me to keep a check on the amount of damage to my rear end. Actually, the damage itself isn't so important-there's not a lot of that. The redness is what interests me. This redness is a definite part of the sexual excitement.
"Then, too, I have learned various movements that have a great deal to my pleasure. One effective motion is a quick back-thrust of the buttocks. This takes place just as the paddle is about to meet its target. This little snap of the pelvis makes the flesh hit the swinging paddle at a terrific rate of speed.
"A lot of blood rushing to the spanked area... the swelling buttocks... an intense but pleasurable sting... thoughts of exotic girls wielding pain-producing paddles... the climax comes quite quickly.
"Of course, I've got a problem of trying to find a willing partner who would be both a good spanker and a good wife. In that order, too. There have, over the years, been a few candidates for the position. But some of the girls spanked only because they knew it was the quickest was to my heart, so to speak. I could tell that they neither understood nor enjoyed it.
"Other women might prove themselves to be the perfect spanker, applying their brisk swats in just the right spots, at the right times, and in the right sexual rhythm. But I could tell they would make pretty poor living companions. Besides, I do like some variety in my spanking partners, and marriage would put an end to that luxury. Maybe I'll just continue my lonely ways for a while longer."
* * *
Kathleen R., age 26, divorced, one child: "There's nothing very complicated about my sexual process, my self-spanking. I've been doing it for about ten years, since I was sixteen years old. I even kept it up during the two years of my marriage, although it had nothing to do with the divorce.
"I just strip down-it's certainly no good with protection on the buttocks. I lie down on my bed, flat, with my head right against the backboard. I flip my legs up over my head, just as if I was trying to do a backward somersault. I have two leather grips which I slip my feet into. This means that I am able to relax my body and still be held in this position.
"Then I have a choice of either approaching my rear end from the outside, around my thighs, or spreading my legs and striking the buttocks from an inside position. Usually, the last posture is the one I choose for spanking myself. I take my short cane, a souvenir of a recent trip to England, and start to put it to use. , "I have learned to whip equally well with either hand. My right hand applies the cuts to my left buttock, and then my left hand takes over the cane to mete out the same punishment to my other buttock. In this position I must take care, because of my stretched-out fanny, to strike only the fattest part of my rump.
"If I am standing up, or kneeling, then I don't have to be quite as careful. My buttocks are much fuller in this position-I can let the strokes from the cane fall with abandon. But this is not nearly so intimate a position as with my heels over my head. Either way has its advantages and disadvantages.
"As I whip my fanny, I begin to agitate my hips from side to side as if trying to dodge my own blows. This gives the whole spanking a very frantic quality which is what really leads to my getting sexually stimulated. The faster I whip my buttocks, the faster I must attempt to avoid the blows.
"Sometimes, I put on a very rhythmic record, with a real good beat. This music is a big help to me. The primitive beat, the stings coming from the strokes of my cane, my bottom wiggling to and fro-it's just great! Sometimes I even scream at myself to stop, knowing there is only one thing that will really stop me -the beauty of complete sexual fulfillment "When the orgasm finally does happen, I throw myself on the bed almost convulsively, rubbing my sore buttocks and assuring myself that I'll never whip my aching behind again. I rub for thirty to forty seconds while I'm in the throes of the climax, then I gradually begin to relax.
"After I'm completely released from the grip of everything that has happened, I'm just too tired and too sore to even move. After a while, I am able to struggle to the dresser to pick up a jar of cold cream I keep for just such incidents. Moaning softly, I spread the cold cream on my spanked fanny, soothing the reddened flesh.
"This treatment is especially necessary after I've given myself a spanking in the head-over-heels position -my skin has been stretched in such a manner that the blows have struck areas that really shouldn't be exposed to the cane. As I rub the injured flesh, my sexual desires slowly begin to return. Not enough, though, that I ever repeat the process twice in an evening.
"Occasionally, however, I can make two or three 'beautiful moments' from a standing position. This is because the blows have struck only the full, curved flesh of my buttocks. I can take a little more of my own punishing in this position.
"But just one 'head-over-the-heels' fanny-whacking finishes me for the entire evening. For that very reason, I usually save this type for a pre-bedtime ritual. I'd never think of applying this kind of bottom-smacking before a date or an evening out with some of the men from the office where I work. I really wouldn't be able to sit down!
"I suppose, though, that the warm glow from back there would bring a certain kind of excitement to the date-if I didn't let it get out of hand. I'll have to try that tomorrow evening!"
* * *
Vincent B., age 29, married, three children: "I found I enjoyed the effects of a spanking, even when I had to give it to myself. But I also discovered that the energy I used up while applying the strap to my own buttocks was taking away some of the fun of the whole deal. So I devised this fairly simple scheme.
"I took a pretty powerful cooling fan, the kind that's up on a stand, and I removed the protective wire cage. Using a special drill, I cut a hole in one of the blades. I did the same with this leather strap that I bought. The strap is pretty strong, about a quarter-of-an-inch thick, four inches wide, and about a foot long.
"I attached the strap to the blade with a screw, and then turned the fan on. The circular motion of the blades flung the strap out-you could hear it snap as the blades rotated. I moved the fan near my bed and then I took all of my clothing off.
"Then I lay across the bed with my bare bottom sticking straight up. Rotating the fan slowly by hand, I determined the position in which the strap would whack me squarely on the bottom each time it came by. When it was properly arranged, I turned the fan on at a slow speed.
"The smacks from the whirling strap, too numerous to count, were very exciting. It took about thirty seconds of this automatic whacking to bring about my orgasm. In a very short time, my bottom was a bright red. The moment the climax appeared, I reached over and turned the fan off. Then I twisted and groaned through the climax.
"Since that first occasion, I have repeated the process nearly every evening. It is most effective, a surefire means of getting the climax, and the redness and soreness go away after a couple of hours-at least it's gone by mornings."
CHAPTER TWELVE - SPANKING BOOKS AND PICTURES
The study of literature which is centered around or includes many references to sexual spanking is an interesting one, and probably deserves an entire book in itself. Spanking literature, commonly called "spankology" or "flag" writing, is a unique art form and one that has come in for a good deal of attention recently.
Pornography has usually been defined as that type of writing which is calculated to bring about erotic arousal-and a great many censors, some elected and some self-appointed, are quick to place the major portion if not all of spankology writings in this category.
The universal problem in pinning down and labeling pornography has always been that the reading material bringing about an erotic response within one individual will, because of his different type of sexual conditioning, leave another reader cold. Then too, many classics of literature, appreciated by scholars, have been condemned because they have contained passages which some provincial, uneducated soul considered to be blatantly arousing, erotically and sexually The recent Supreme Court decision (U.S. vs. Ginzburg) regarding pornography more or less side-stepped the issue by avoiding the passing of any judgment on the material itself-yet drawing definite guidelines to be followed in the way that such reading matter is promoted and advertised.
A slanting of the advertising copy itself so that it promises a sexual reward by appealing to the "prurient" senses can now bring down the wrath of the local district attorney's office down on the publisher and bookseller. Conversely, one might presume from the judicial edict that the most insistently "hard core" pornography might be legally sold, provided it is advertised with dignity and restraint.
As a psychiatrist, however, we are not particularly interested in the legality of pornography in general nor spanking literature in particular, but rather in the psychological reasons as to why such material is so extremely popular, so high-priced, and continues largely to be sold "under-the-counter," in view of the fact that much of the writing and illustrations are far less erotic and in many ways more proper than those in the free-swinging pinup magazines.
Of course, the basic objection most people have to this type of material is that it places its primary attraction in an appeal to such debasing and perverted emotions as are represented by sadistic and masochistic impulses. Here again, the ever-present cross that adult sexual spanking has always had to bear makes itself felt-the label of being a brutal and savage activity.
There is, admittedly, a line of flagellation literature which centers its attraction around the whip, and the blood-letting which is the inevitable result. The buttocks of the whipping victim are mentioned only in passing: it is the damage the whip does to the entire body which remains the main theme and focal point of these specific writings.
A number of these works are quite crude, not only in the way they are presented but also in their blatant appeal to sadistic inclinations. The devotees of adult spanking plead-and usually to no avail-that the literature of the whip has nothing to do with the reading matter that revolves around simple contact between hand or spanking implement and the buttocks.
Studies indicate that the majority of flagellation literature is spanking-oriented-perhaps 75 per cent involves itself primarily with adult sexual spanking in a sexually-healthful context. The publishers and readers of such material feel that the "whip and rod" pornography which comprises about 10 per cent of the flagellation material available is the bad apple spoiling the whole barrel.
The remaining 15 per cent of printed matter aimed at the flagellation market includes-for most purposes of measuring-bondage writings. This statistic is not entirely accurate since, as we pointed out in a previous chapter, most bondage literature involves itself very little with spanking.
In speaking of flagellation writings, incidentally, we are making no separation between the printed word and illustrated matter-it seems that while there may be more pictures than words in a particular piece of spankology, the two usually go hand-in-hand where this aberration is concerned.
* * *
An interesting observation, to the psychologist, is that the most successful-in terms of popularity and sales-spanking literature contains photographs depicting spanking scenes which have either been model-posed or reader-contributed. This pictorial element of actual spanking incidents seems to be an important factor in the selling of spanking materials. The majority of such photographs, for various reasons, feature two women spanking and getting spanked. Heterosexual spanking seems to have more trouble getting past the numerous censors.
On the other hand, for purposes of comparison, the bondage literature that sells best is accompanied by drawn illustrations-often in color. These drawings are highly detailed and usually portray young women with exaggerated physical features-extremely large breasts and buttocks offset by very tiny waists-wearing bizarre costumes of leather or rubber, and tied up in contorted postures that would be physically difficult to imitate in actuality.
The best explanation for this preference for imaginative illustrations is that bondage remains a pastime that stays within the realm of the "exotic"-it appeals to the sexual daydreamer. Bondage is a passive sexual activity, more esthetic and slower to arouse erotically than other forms of sex. Descriptions of bondage activities usually run the gamut from the philosophical to the poetic.
Spanking, on the contrary, is a physically active pastime and appears to best satisfy its practitioners as an actually-occurring event. The spanking enthusiast uses his literature to supplement the physical activities that he indulges in-he buys such materials to maintain a type of communication with other devoted to the same sexual predilection.
The bondage devotee-if we are to believe the many psycho-sexual studies of this person-uses the fantastic illustrations as the basis for indulging his particular fetish attraction. This rope fetishist employs his reading and illustrated matter as an actual and distinct source of erotic stimulation-thus making it true pornography in the accepted definition. The sexual spanker may derive a little vicarious pleasure from his spankology-but he much prefers to find erotic enjoyment in the practice of the activity itself.
Because bondage is such a lonely and rarely-indulged in form of sex-play, the bondage publication has its loyal fans who sustain this type of magazine by avid reading. Readers of spanking literature tend to be a little more capricious-which is why magazines devoted to adult spanking have not been especially successful.
There does exist, of course, a mass of reading material aimed at the spanking aberrationist and specifically created to bring about erotic arousal and perhaps an orgasm. This literature is presented from various view- points-from the wildly exotic and ethereal recounting of "fantasy" spanking experiences, to the bluntly crude and explosive type of literary construction causing a rhythmically-intense form of erotic response on the part of the reader.
\ Essentially, most of the spanking material that purports to be orgasm-producing has an element of unreality about it-similar to the whipping literature-and expects to find its audience in the individual who does not have opportunities for experiencing actual incidents that involve sexual spanking.
The "middle-of-the-road" publications aimed at the practicing adult sexual spanker make much use of simple photographs and are more or less unemotional in their recounting of spankings as administered in the home, at party-game club meetings and in the school initiation. The photographs would not be particularly interesting to a non-spanker, and the general atmosphere is that of any magazine-it functions as a "town forum" where non-erotic discussions of adult spanking may take place and ideas and opinions be exchanged.
Descriptions in these conservative publications read much as do the accounts in this book-both being representative of actual incidents. The sexual element is taken for granted and the erotic stimulation is mentioned in an objective manner-it is assumed that erotic arousal will come from the reader's own spanking activities, and not from reading about the arousal on the part of others.
For purposes of study, we have included an example of the exotically "far right" flagellation material- flowery and verbose--in addition to a sample of the type of flagellation writing that strives for a quick and crude response on the far left. Naturally, there are gradations between the two that are too numerous to be included in this short chapter.
It should be obvious as to what type our first excerpt represents:
* * *
"I flipped Madge over! With a smack right across her pretty face!
"Crack! Just like a gunshot!
"Wham! She landed right on her gut! On the floor!
"I picked up the whip! Brought it down right behind her knees!! "Crack!!
"That brought her legs up under her! Just what I wanted!
"Crack!! Crack!! Twice-right across her back!! "Madge reached both her hands back! To protect herself!
"There she was! Right where I wanted her! Big butt sticking up!
"I picked up the paddle! The wooden job! A frat paddle! Rough!
"Smack! Smack!
"The pretty butt bounced twice!! Madge straightened her legs!
"Now the butt was flat! Too small a target! Too fleshy!
"Crack! I was using the whip again!
"Crack! Crack!! Crack!!! The whip brought the butt back up again!!!
"Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!!!!!
"The paddle banged Madge's butt five times. She kept it sticking up there! It was better than the whip!
"Whaaack!!!!!! A good one! Right across the fat part! Her sexy butt was starting to swell!
"I wound up with the wood! Brought it way back!
Whaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!! It landed. Right where it should!
"A blister. On the right cheek!
Whaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!! Another! Sure-the left cheek this time!
"Smack! Smack! Smack! A different sound! Give Madge a break!
"Smack! Smack! Smack! Just my hand! Plenty of flesh to spank that hadn't been blistered.
"Smack! Hand felt good on Madge's hot flesh!
More paddle later!
"Smack. Later. Right now there were other things...
* * *
Obviously, this is a highly sadistic use of words and punctuation, appealing to certain base elements within some people. Perhaps no less sadistic, but completely different in style and flavor, is the following description of a very similar flagellation scene:
* * *
"Angelica had been extremely naughty. It was imperative that I find some method, some means of correcting this abominable behavior. Surely, I must not permit her to go against my wishes again. I entered into the privacy of her bedroom, finding her seated before her vanity.
"I gazed at Angelica through the mirror on the dressing table. She was stroking the long, black darkness of her beautiful tresses. With each motion, her lovely body rippled. Her eyes studied me thoughtfully-then lowered to return to contemplation of her beauty. I said, 'Angelica, you have again brought me much grief. You have disobeyed the merest of my requests. I shall have to punish you.' "She neither smiled nor did she sigh. No emotion crossed her beautifully proportioned features at all. Perhaps there was a defiant look of innocence-I could not really tell. I tried to engage her stare in a forceful manner-refusing to let my eyes descend to the fullness of her bosom, to the way that her negligee hung lazily across her lap.
"A girl in full bloom-just nineteen. And the power to inflict pain on this beautiful creature was within my grasp. My thoughts reeled. I gripped myself, controlling the rising urges within me, and said, "Tie your hair back, Angelica. I am going to punish you in the manner that I think you most deserve!' "Angelica moved slowly, but positively, to reach for her hairpins. This motion of compliance, this symbol of resignation was almost too much for my reeling senses. For a moment, I felt that I would not have the necessary will power to wait-and I most certainly had to wait in order to fully enjoy the scene that was to follow.
" 'Walk over to your bed, Angelica. And kneel across it as you have done before.' "I felt that I must hasten to my task. Angelica's fluid movements as she took her position were almost too much for my surging emotions. I had expected her to take a position with her torso across the bed-knees remaining on the floor. Instead, she mounted the softness of the bed and rested her beautiful body on her knees and hands. This was infinitely more devastating to the eye than her previous postures had been. I closed my eyes, valiantly trying to subdue the mixed responses.
"When I could look again, I saw that Angelica had pulled the filmy gown up around her shoulders. The lacy, ruffled panties encased her beautiful buttocks-which were pointed straight at me. The material of the garment was stretched tightly across the fullness of the two fleshy globes -tight as skin across a drumhead. Then, as if to mock the harshness of the punishment that she knew was sure to come, Angelica began to move the two magnificent buttocks back and forth slowly-almost casually.
"I stood up! And I moved with a speed that I hadn't realized was within me. I took the bamboo cane and brought it down across the fattest part of the curved derriere. A soft sob was wrung from Angelica as the cane made contact. She dropped the weight of her head down to the bed, spreading the jet-black hair across the bedspread. Another cut from my cane! Angelica turned her head slightly and I could see the tears begin to well up. A third blow and the redness began to show through the panties.
"My intentions were to place fifteen cuts upon the soft and silky flesh. I had determined that this was a sufficient number to fit her 'crime.' But I suddenly had a feeling that I wasn't going to be able to complete the task. I could contain my emotions no longer.
"Grabbing for the elastic waistband of her undergarment, I ripped the wispy panties off. The rose-tinged buttocks with the three distinct stripes came into view-displaying her beautiful female-ness lurking beneath the swelling buttocks. Too much-far too much for me!
"In a sexual frenzy, I managed to place two additional, swift cuts before being completely overcome. I fell to the floor in a spasmodic convulsion that was intensely sexual-held by a grip which I well understood but could not comprehend why it should come from this act of punishment with Angelica.
"For a moment all my thoughts completely ceased before I returned to reality. As I became again aware of my surroundings I could hear Angelica on the bed above me. She was crying unashamedly."
* * *
Psychologists do, incidentally, use writings of this type not only to attempt to discover a patient's particular perversion but, through comparative descriptions of the same aberration such as the two which we have just presented, to determine the extent and slant of the perverted inclination.
The reading materials which we have discussed in this chapter thus far have concerned that literature which is sold mostly in urban book shops, and usually displayed in a somewhat surreptitious manner. The booklets concerning spanking are hastily written, privately published, and sold in cellophane wrapping to discourage pre-purchase thumbing.
Rarely are these publications priced less than three dollars per item-certain better-known publishing houses sell them for a dollar or two higher. The other outlet for these materials is by special order through the mails-always sent at first-class rates to prevent examination by postal authorities.
Some mention should be made of the periodicals sold openly on the newsstands; these include, more or less intentionally, items for the sexual spanker and the paddle fetishist. These magazines are the "pulp's" as represented by the "stags" and the "confession" publications aimed at the female teen-ager-and also the "slick's" which include pinup pictures that interest the playboy type. These and other sexually-oriented reading materials recognize and occasionally cater to the adult spanker.
A smattering of domestic violence is accepted in the teen-age confessions, and the most violent that these soap-operatic revelations go is a parent-teen-ager or a marital spanking-usually applied by hand but sustained on bared buttocks. This regular inclusion of marital spanking develops a readership consisting of flagellation enthusiasts who are outside of the regular teen-age following.
The men's slicks have discovered the recent increase in adult spanking taking place in this country, and have begun to play upon this theme quite often-either in expounding unabashedly upon the joys of spanking a young wife or, more usually, in introducing the youthful male readers to the possibilities of pre-marital spanking relationships.
One such slick magazine, which involves itself in sexual surveys and discussions of marital customs such as wife-swapping, had based a good deal of its popularity on the Letters to the Editor column which contains two or three lengthy letters per issue describing detailed spankings which the writer had either given or experienced.
This particular publication also includes in each issue a picture-story "interview" with a busty model who reveals that she was "fanny-whacked" as a young girl up to her early or middle teens-although none of these sex symbols ever admits to currently indulging in any form of sexual spanking.
This magazine, and similar ones which include the spanking element, editorially state that they are not presenting such information to provide "sick," vicarious thrills, but are interested only in factual enlightenment of readers in reporting the spanking incidents. Whether this is true or simply a type of hypocrisy is a question that does not need to be taken too seriously.
To be technical, psychologists recognize that the sexual response to erotic literature is a form of flagellation-conditioned auto-eroticism - meaning simply that an individual can masturbate to an orgasm by reading about spanking incidents if he or she understands and is attracted to adult sexual spanking.
The erotic response of this type of reader is much the same as that which takes place in a spectator at a whipping-as we described it in the opening chapter of this study. The sexual respondent projects himself, through the use of imagination, into the role of one of the spanking participants; which participant he prefers to sympathize with, depends on whether his sexual makeup is sadistically or masochistically oriented.
As the inclusion of sexual spanking in the marital sex-play repertoire becomes increasingly common and acceptable, and as more becomes known about The Flagellation Phenomenon-so also does spanking literature of the conservative type become more readily available, lower-priced, and less subject to censure.
And as more is known about adult spanking, the sharper becomes the separation between middle-of-the-road reading matter involving spanking, and the exotic literature featuring the whip. The sexual spankers who limit themselves purely to contact with the buttocks are quite happy about this gap that is appearing between the two flagellation factions, and the expressing of their viewpoints in print.
Before closing this chapter, reference should be made to the favorite argument of the smut-conscious censors that adult spanking literature can be harmful if it falls into too-youthful hands. However, as with the plain old sex manual, this type of writing is pretty much unavailable to persons who have not at least reached their late teens-librarians won't check it out to them, booksellers won't sell it to them, and this age group is usually too busy to bother to order it by mail.
Then, too, the insufficient vocabulary of the early and middle teen-ager is not conducive to reading wordy descriptions about sexual behavior of the type represented by discussions of adult spanking; this inadequate understanding leads to boredom before any so-called "harm" can be done.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - SPANKING-THE ENGLISH VICE
We took a short trip to Europe last summer, primarily to facilitate my research on the sexual fetish as it occurs in France and Germany. Finding time to fly to England, a few days were spent in the gathering of some materials for this study. Several spanking-oriented incidents were noted and jotted down. In deference to my penchant for first-hand observations and unembellished facts, some excerpts from my travel diary are here included with very few changes:
* * *
Friday, July 16: First night in London. Went down to Piccadilly and Soho. The girls all colorfully dressed in vinyl and plastic fetish-type clothes, all very tight-fitting. Lots of mini-skirts around-these come to mid-thigh and are worn, for some reason, with hose and garters.
Shortness of the skirts allows glimpse of panties and garter-belt every so often. American blue jeans worn by many girls-show up crotch and buttocks most clearly. English seem to be terribly aware of the buttocks-this part of the anatomy draws the most attention and head-turning on the part of the long-haired English boys.
Whole atmosphere exudes a lusty type of sex-even the perversions appear to be approached from a healthy point of view. No effect of shame or dirtiness. Am trying to observe scene through their own eyes- not from the viewpoint of a cold and dispassionate tourist.
* * *
Saturday, July 17: Night-club acts are most unique. Many feature players who indulge in sexual spanking -at least the effect on the audience is intended to be sexual. If one stays until final show-about 4 a.m.- completely nude spankings may be observed. No matter what the time is, though, all acts including spanking on bared buttocks. G-string exposes bottom.
One act uses a schoolroom setting on a small stage- a few desks with some provocative female "students" seated at them. A small blackboard to which a "teacher" is pointing with an English spanking-cane. The teacher-older female with a mannish look-pretends to instruct. Interrupted by horseplay between two students in the form of a little fanny-pinching.
Both students are summoned to front of room-and told to remove their tight mini-skirts. This removal of clothing is teasingly carried out. Takes a little time. Band accompaniment, of course, punctuates almost all of the action throughout. Drummer raps in time to swats and spanks whenever these take place.
One skirtless student is bent over a desk-panty-covered bottom pointing at the audience-and whacked with the pointer. She hollers and dances around-a fellow student waves a big Japanese fan near her bottom to cool the burning. Much laughter from audience.
The other errant girl gets the paddle-a little rounder-shaped than most American initiation models. The wood covers her two buttocks completely. She is wearing "breakaway" panties-they disintegrate under the force of the smacks. Bright red buttocks come slowly into view as the torn panties fall free.
Other female students begin laughing and shouting -wind up bent over their respective desks, too. One girl's panties are lowered before the paddling begins- buttocks are white before whacks are administered and red upon completion of punishment. May be to prove to audience that spankings are for real and no makeup is used to simulate spankings on the girls' bottoms.
So far the teacher has applied all spankings. Now two students begin to maul each other a little. Teacher brings them to front of the stage-and takes a short leather belt out of her desk. Audience gasps-but she doesn't flagellate with it. She stands the two girls side by side-one facing front and one facing back.
Teacher buckles belt around the two girls' thighs- their left legs are fastened tightly together. Each girl is handed a small ping-pong paddle-both immediately lean over and rhythmically begin to whack each other's buttocks. Audience reaction is loud and hilarious.
One more scene. The students rebel. They rush the "masculine" teacher and pull her to the floor. Amid screams, her shapeless dress is torn from her-revealing a body that is fully as curvy as the other girls' anatomies. But the skin texture of bare legs betray her age-as does the fatty flesh.
One girl students get down on hands and knees to form a makeshift hassock-other students bend the teacher over this hassock. Great ceremony is made of rolling down an old-fashioned girdle. Teacher's hands attempt to cover bottom being exposed-students' hands restrain her.
Out comes the cane. A student winds up-teacher receives it square upon her flabby and bouncing buttocks. About twelve cuts-all leave their mark. Then cane "slips" on one of its downward arcs-smacks the buttocks of the girl playing the hassock-instead of landing on teacher's bottom.
The hassock girl screams and collapses-bringing teacher down with her. Somehow, the teacher's abdomen and hips land right on top of the buttocks of the girl underneath. Student begins to jerk and bump- bouncing the teacher up and down on top of her. Curtain goes down just as teacher begins to wrap her arms passionately around the student.
* * *
Monday, July 19: "Another night-club act. Features a "chorus" line that dances on-all to undergo a paddle initiation. Initiates dressed in frilly white school clothes and extremely short dresses with a multitude of petticoats. The initiators are girls, too, but are wearing tight "mod" clothes, boyishly cut pants and white shirts. The spankers' hair is done up real short.
Instructions are given to the initiates to bend over. All turn their fannies toward audience. Starched and stiffened skirt hemlines stick up in the air-revealing white bloomers and knee-socks under the petticoats. Buttocks are partially hidden. The initiators shout, 'Where do we spank?' or 'There must be fannies in there some place!' Cane and paddle both applied to girls' buttocks. Then comes a unique finish. Two similarly-sized girls take a position in which their panty-covered bottoms are placed side by side. Then the spanker moves to the two girls and pulls down just half of each girl's black panties-exposing the left buttock of the girl on the right and the right buttock of her very close partner.
Derrieres are pressed together in such a way that the two exposed buttocks-one belonging to each girl- look as if they are one person's bottom.
Paddle is applied in such a way as to redden the two buttocks simultaneously. Lights dim to darkness-the fiery-red buttocks of the two girls are all that can be seen on stage. Cane is substituted for paddle-the two girls move their fannies in unison, to give the effect of the one bottom attempting to dodge the blows.
A shocker for a finish! The cane is brought back- then turned. One end is pointed and quickly shoved- for a length of two or three feet-up between the reddened buttocks, giving a very obscene effect. The two buttocks part wide-as the two women part their bottoms from each other. Lights come on and the audience and actresses on stage are all laughing. This final gimmick happens too quickly to really be considered distasteful.
* * *
Tuesday, July 20: Tape record interview with Rose. I had seen the following advertisement on a type of bulletin board, located near Kingston Street, that informed as to the availability of certain types of sexual pastimes. I picked a simply-written one that had caught my eye...:
* * *
Rosie, under 30, likes men-likes being disciplined with hand or cane. Some paddling-absolutely no whip. Two pounds per treatment. 29 Henderson Place, 3rd floor.
* * *
I went to the listed address with my ever-present but hidden tape record one afternoon, posing as a potential customer but really desiring information. My ticket to enter Rose's apartment was the two pounds mentioned in the ad.
Rose Manning-Burke, age 31 (she insisted the ad card was an old one), unmarried but with one child: Miss Manning-Burke was most delightful to speak with. She said her style of dress was that of a "rocker" -in any case, she was very attractive. Rose was small and slim, but her hips were wide and full as revealed by the pants she was wearing. It's a shame that her colorful cockney accent can't be entirely caught on paper: "You say you picked my card out of all the others because I take as well as give. Well, you should 've read more careful, ducky! I don't give canings at all. It's strictly against my religion-I'm a pacifist. I don't bring pain to others. But to receive a jolly whipping-now that's a different matter. Cleans the sin out of you, it does!
"Me, I've 'ad sin within me for years. My Mums tried to beat it out of me, but she wasn't much good at it. I never knew my father. Mums spanked me good and hard from the time that I was a little girl-till I came home 'bout four months gone and no chap to point to as the father. She whipped me good 'at night, too. Here, Mister, you can still see some of the scars from her cane...
"Well, I jolly well wasn't going to sit around and let old Mums support me and my young babe. So I bought this place. And I've got a talent direct from God-being able to take the whippings as I can. Our men over 'ere, they go for the cane.
"You might think they like only to get the canings- from all the carryings-on out there in the Square. They're not the real Englishmen, though, not those long-haired chaps. All they like to do is bend over and uncover it for some dizzy-headed bitch. The real men -they bloody well like to whack a nicely-curved bottom. Like mine, of course.
"I make over fifty pounds a week, and that's not bad considering I ain't had too much of an education. My biggest work hour comes real late at night-real early in the morning'd be more like it, I guess. I rented this flat that was near to the spank clubs for a purposeful reason-the chaps see the spanking going on in the clubs and they want to do a little, too.
"After the spank clubs close, they 'ave to come by 'ere to get the bus, so I stand in my doorway with a little cane, twirling it and winkin' just a mite. They know what I'm marketing, all right, and it's not the usual sex. I don't go in for that at all. I used to, but it plain wore me out. 'Course, now I don't have to use the doorway as much-I've come by a bit of a reputation. I've bloody well almost got more chaps than I can 'andle!
"How do I get it? You mean what postures do I take when getting caned or paddled? Any posture at all, ducky, just so's there's no nonsense going on-just good smacking. Mercy, man, 'course some of my customers spank me when I'm completely undressed. Why should I be ashamed of my body-it's been well put together, don't you think?
"But my chaps 'ave seen enough flesh to last a lifetime-they want something a little out of the ordinary. See that closet? It's full of corsets and leather pants and rubber blouses and plastic raincoats and shoes with 'eels that go sky 'igh! The corsets are the favorite-I'm forever sticking my body into a corset.
"The canings usually start with my big rear covered -but down comes the protection before they make their big moment. Lucky I am that Mums had such a bad aim-all my scars are just below my buttocks, as you Americans always like to call them. My rolled-down bloomers always cover up the scars nice-like- pure white that skin of mine is, and smooth, when the caning starts. But never does it stay white for long- unfortunately for Rosie.
"I recover fast, though, Doctor. Oh, sure, I can tell you're a doctor of some kind. I've been examined by enough different ones when I worked the streets with the other whores. The law don't like no diseases being spread around-all that, you know. You look at my scars just like those doctors did, and you touch 'em the exact same way.
"Oh, I don't need to be uppity with you. I once thought I'd do a little caning myself. But I really never knew what to charge. Two pounds I charge when I get spanked-but if s different when you're giving it. Sure, I remember in the tabs and on the telly when it came out about Christine Keeler and how she charged a pound a cut. Her customers, that Profumo and other blokes like him, they had the coin for it. Not the chaps I work!
"Englishmen are brought up different, I'm sure of that. You Americans don't think about spanking the way we do. I've read a few of the pornies that are sent over from your country, the little whip-and-paddle books. Always talking about your spankings along with punishment, like the little tots do. As if you always needed some excuse for spanking, I guess.
"We quit punishing when a child gets to be about fourteen years old over 'ere. But we don't never quit the spanking and the caning. It just has a different meaning after a certain age. My chaps don't ever need to justify giving me the cane. None of that 'you've been such a bad girl', and all that. They just enjoy the pure pleasure of smarting a pair of big buttocks. It's got a special meaning-it's just a fact of life, 'at's all!
"Well, I don't s'pose you're interested in spanking me, Doc? Do I still get to keep my two pounds, anyway?"
* * *
Strangely enough, the term "English vice" comes from across the channel-le vice anglais is what the French pornographers termed the British obsession with flagellation and spanking in their 19th Century erotic publications. Much of the spanking literature currently sold in large American cities is printed in England-many of the reprints dating a good number of years back, some into the Victorian era.
As such, the current English writings express the conservative point of view that we mentioned in the previous chapter. The literature is full of references to canings, which are considered comparatively mild, as opposed to the dreaded floggings which are on the same level as sadistic whippings. The really out-and-out hard-core sadistic matter sold in England is imported from the United States.
Allusions to spanking in this English reading matter always seem to start with the young boy being disciplined by his governess or an older sister-or they involve the headmaster-administered canings which are still quite common in the English school system. Much of this material is slanted to sexually arouse the younger male seeking discipline from an older female. This is the epitome of flagellation eroticism to many British men.
Marital or bedroom spanking is fairly new in England, but is fast being absorbed as a custom. However, when the bedroom spanking is transferred to an English environment by the writers of such literature, the element of punishment is quickly cast aside in favor of pure sexuality. It is these publications to which Rose referred.
Such booklets frankly discussing the sexuality of adult and marital spanking have not yet been placed on sale over here. This is because the erotic aspect of the frankly sexual material is still considered a bit too "raw" for American tastes-or perhaps for American censors. This material dwells on the orgasm that can result during spanking; for some reason, this remains a taboo suggestion in American spanking fiction.
What it boils down to, in this country, is that if pure pain is portrayed as a result of the flagellant activity, then it is acceptable to readers and censors. But if sexual emotions are shown to be aroused instead of pain, then the viewpoint is condemned as perverted. There is, of course, a certain hypocrisy here, similar to that which a TV critic noted when he mentioned that television dramas are not free to show much skin-but what skin they are free to show may be shown being violently struck, as in fist-fights and face-slappings.
The English appear to be going about their current sexual spanking activities with much the same "we'll be moderate but devil-may-care" attitude with which they do many things-and usually wind up doing them tastefully.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN - THE COMPULSIVE SPANKER
Two case histories have been chosen from my files for this chapter-representative of each sex. To portray the typical compulsive spanker-the person whose sexual life revolves around adult spanking-we have picked two older individuals.
A compulsive spanker need not necessarily be of a certain age-I have noted a few cases of teen-agers for whom sexual spanking was the only source of erotic stimulation. But an older person is more likely to have had opportunities to indulge in all phases of sexual spanking activities including marital spanking, initiation paddling, party-game spanking clubs and the spanking of teen-age post-puberty children.
The last category, that of parental spanking with sexual overtones, is limited to the middle-aged adult, of course. Additionally, the older male or female will be more likely to supplement their spanking activities with reading matter on the subject.
Without further introduction, we'll let Don have his say:
* * *
Donald G., age 40, married, four children: "I married young-and I suppose you might say that Polly and I got married as a direct result of spanking. We'd both taken part in a number of initiations during our high school days. The first time I really met Polly, in fact, was when I saw her cute little bottom down between my wide-spread legs-waiting for my paddle!
"Polly was a sophomore-I was a junior, then-and some of us boys had been asked to help initiate the chicks in the Girls' Athletic Association. We were more than willing-especially myself, who got more kicks out of this sort of thing than most of the guys I hung around with did. Anyway, I got a little extra jolt out of the way Polly took her paddlings from us guys. After the initiation, I asked her if she'd like a ride home.
"She accepted gratefully and we went to get a malt first. All this time Polly was rubbing her tightly-packed blue jeans, rubbing them in back, and 'ohing' and 'ahing" at the sting. A lot of girls would have kept that up, that sexy rubbing, but would have preferred to talk about something else. Polly seemed to want to speak about the paddling we'd just given her, and the way her rear end was hurting and swollen. But she wasn't crying, it obviously wasn't that kind of pain. She seemed flushed with a certain type of excitement -almost as if she'd been making love very passionately.
"I dug this feeling immediately-I'd had about the same reaction when a bunch of long-haired senior girls had made us freshman boys bend over in the hall and take a few hard paddle-swats. I'd gotten so excited that I'd had to head for the rest-room, and quick, to cover up my sexual reaction. So Polly and I seemed to understand each other's peculiar desires right away, and we began to date pretty regularly from that moment on.
"We went steady for over a year before we had to get married. During this time, naturally, we did a lot of spanking with each other. It was 'over the lap' many times in the car, panties down and Polly's buttocks bouncing under the smacks. Then it would be my turn, and Polly could give as well as she could get. I can honestly say we both enjoyed the experience either way.
"And we didn't need it both ways each night, to be fulfilling. Like at certain times of Polly's 'month' we'd skip her getting spanked. She'd just be content to lay it on me. Or sometimes I'd be so dog-tired from basketball practice that I was too weary to even lift the little paddle that we'd bought. At times like this I'd just lean back, Polly would ease herself across my lap and slip the panties down herself, then I'd just softly tap the creamy-white buttocks. These 'soff spankings could be just as exciting as the occasions when we'd beat each other's fannies until we couldn't touch them to the car seat. It took longer when it was softer-but who was in a hurry?
"Well, the reason I say we got married as a direct result of sexual spanking was that the inevitable happened. One night, we spanked each other to a certain peak of excitement and, instead of fulfilling ourselves with the smacks as we had always done previously, we finished off by using the traditional method of sex. This was something we'd held off from, mainly because our sexual habits were already so satisfactory.
"But we slipped that first night. As luck would have it, our first time was the jackpot. We got married just as soon as Polly was positive she was pregnant. This was the summer before I was planning to go to college -Polly still had one year of high school left. We had not been going to be separated, since I was going to attend college in my home town. And we had both looked forward to college, if only because we were thinking of joining a frat and sorority for extra paddle experience.
"Well, that's one experience we missed, because neither of us got to college, although Polly did manage to complete high school at home. Now this all might have been a social tragedy today-but this happened twenty years ago. A boy could make a choice between working and more schooling, then. Now, of course, he'd better get as much education as he can. Anyway, I got this pretty good job with a wholesale outlet, and I've moved slowly but steadily up the ladder to where I'm vice-president now.
* * *
"After marriage, a good portion of our sex life continued to revolve around spanking. In fact, our warmed fannies added a spice to our life that I could see was lacking in some of the marriages of my coworkers. It also added three more kids in quick succession, all girls. Four girls-the one unhappy thing about our home life is that we've never had a boy.
"Maybe that's why I've been so quick to punish .all the girls-wishing, deep down somewhere, that one of them had been a boy. Now, don't get the idea I've ever been brutal with the kids. In fact, Polly did all the spanking while the girls were growing up. I took over when, and only when, they got to be thirteen or fourteen and too big for Polly to handle.
"Now I know you're going to say there's something sexual about my spanking all those girls. They're seventeen, sixteen, fourteen, and twelve right now, and they all get the paddle or my hand regularly-and on their bare fannies, too. Well, I'll be the first to admit that I do have some sexual feelings while I'm whacking the girls.
"But there's the thing. They don't have any sexual response to the punishment-at least, I'm pretty sure they don't. They're just getting pure punishment, and they're real nice girls as a result. So as long as they don't know what's happening to me when I spank them, I don't see anything wrong with the way I feel.
"Oh, I'll admit Polly has been wondering about my spanking Patty-she's the 17-year-old-so often. Not that Polly cares about what I'm feeling, as she's well aware that I'm getting some kicks out of the punishment sessions with my daughters. But Patty told Polly that her steady boy friend spanked her one night, and I guess Polly noted the same flush of excitement she knew so well. If Patty has discovered some sexuality in spanking, I guess I'd better quit punishing her in this manner, or she'll get to be pretty confused.
"One reason Polly doesn't object to my whacking the girls so intimately is that at least three, and usually all four, are in the room witnessing the session. And Polly is usually there, too, unless it's not a scheduled spanking-something maybe has bugged me about one of the girls' behavior and I've flipped her over quickly for a fast disciplining.
"But Polly is usually there, and we keep a demerit list. Each demerit is worth five swats with the ping-pong paddle. On Saturday afternoon, right after lunch, we'll all gather in the living room. They'll all be wearing pants and jeans, of course, but they'll all be prettied up to go downtown after the session is over.
"One thing about my girls-they may cry a little under the paddle but they recover pretty quickly. And they don't stay moping around the house caressing their spanked rear ends, either. I'm glad of that. Polly and I usually like to slip quietly up to our bedroom after completing the paddle session.
"After we've gathered, Polly reads the demerits off, as each girl removes her slacks and takes her place over my right knee. I cross the other leg over the daughter's back to hold her down and keep her from popping off my lap-a natural reaction when the paddle hits its target right on the button. Polly, incidentally, reserves the privilege of lowering each girl's panties preparatory to my applying the paddle-this is her way of participating in and condoning the session.
"I deliver the smacks slowly and steadily, making each one count Tears and screams don't stop me at all -in fact they add to my excitement. Since I'm being completely honest, Doctor, I'll admit that sometimes these paddlings cause a sexual climax. After all, this usually brings back memories of Polly's youthful fanny bounding up and down under the sting of my hand.
"Polly notices, from all her past experiences, whenever a really big sexual moment occurs-and she nicely stalls around before reading the demerits on the next daughter. This gives me a chance to recover, of course. Sometimes if I'm especially excited on a certain day, this reaction occurs twice-but rarely three times, during a paddle session.
"You may be wondering why Polly takes my sexual reaction so lightly. Perhaps she might not, if we hadn't had all our paddle-club experiences. But there's this group of eight couples that Polly and I joined about three years ago. We're from all walks of life and from all financial backgrounds. But we do have one thing in common besides being, we hope, pretty decent people. We all love spanking and the paddle.
"We're all about the same age-late thirties and early forties. And we're all pretty athletic-we've kept our figures, and our wives look good in Size 10 pants. That's important to us. It's just no fun to whack a bulging, fleshy pair of buttocks.
"In fact, we have a little punishment in the club that keeps everyone slim and trim. We measure and weigh each other quite regularly, and we keep a log on each measurement. If any one of us, male or female, begins to push the scale pointer up, then their paddling privileges are taken away for the time they're over the mark. Oh, they still can come to the meetings. But they just get whacked-they can't give any spankings.
"Well, our group doesn't consist of any 'one-way' people. None of us prefers giving to getting. So this is a real situation to avoid. All of us bear down, too, on the rear end of someone we know isn't going to get to give it right back to us. The fatties feel it-but good, And because the suspended paddler can't take his usual place in some of the games as the spanker, he makes up for it by getting spanked more often.
"Like when we play a game in which all the men are competing against all the women. When the game's over, the winners grab the paddles-the losers get down on hands and knees and start crawling. Well, suppose the women lose-they have to make several trips through the spanking mill. And suppose one of the fellows has had his paddle privileges lifted because he's tipping the scale a little too high.
"If the men win, this poor fellow has to go through with the girls. And his wife gets to trade and take his place in the line of swatters. I should know about this. Polly's fanny is as slim as the first time she made the trip between my legs at the high school initiation. Me -I just keep getting heavier!
"My whole point is that Polly had seen me react to spanking the other seven women in the paddle-club group, and I've seen her get a little red-both in the face and on other parts of her anatomy-when some guy is paddling her lustily. Over-the-lap spanking, on bare buttocks, is a definite practice of our group, especially later on in the evening. So we can actually observe some of the sexual reactions taking place with various members.
"But that's as far as it goes-no swapping or heading to a strange bed for any of us. So Polly knows I can control my reaction-as long as the sexual climax stays connected with the spanking, then everything's just fine. Since it's the spanking itself that's causing the excitement-and not the person who's getting spanked-Polly doesn't much care whether it's a female club member or one of my own daughters who's under my paddle at the moment I get overly excited sexually.
"All of us, all the club members, subscribe to a couple of spanking publications, and we discuss the new techniques and positions described by other readers around the country. Several times a year, too, we have joint meetings with other spanking clubs in the area.
"On these occasions, one of the couples with a big house will arrange for their children-spankers always have children, you know-to stay with grandparents for the weekend. Then they open their house for our group and the visiting one. The paddle swings most of the night at these times, and there are an awful lot of red buttocks around. But it's a lot of fun.
"It usually works out that we spank and paddle ourselves into exhaustion throughout Saturday night, then we lie around and try to recover on Sunday so we'll be in good shape for work on Monday. Sometimes there are as many as sixteen couples around, all chatting and laughing and administering to spanked bottoms. And there are lots of couples sleeping in each room.
"But, like I said, there's simply no trading as far as pure sex is concerned. However, most of the married couples get so excited from the spanking activities that they do what's natural with each other. And it doesn't matter who's watching. Sure, this adds a little element of excitement, seeing other couples doing it.
"And if everyone gets too stimulated from all this visual excitement-well, we can always get the paddle out again on Sunday. After all, you can always stand up at work on Monday-and maybe even Tuesday, too.
"Now then, Doctor, what about my weight problem?"
* * *
Donald had consulted me about his weight problem after trying a number of diets. It appeared that he was not only a compulsive spanker but a compulsive eater as well. As Don explained it, he had always been on a borderline between being acceptable as a spanking club member and being refused because of the rigid rules. And he added that it was probably because of Polly's slimness and spanking desirability that he had gotten by with being a trifle flabby.
But his craving for beer and other fattening food substances had pushed his weight up to where he was, medically speaking, about fifteen pounds heavier than the recommended figure for his height. And he had been finally blackballed from the group-the club had taken this harsh step in order to shock him into the realization that he must stick to one of his diets.
A good deal of continuing emotional turmoil had resulted from this ostracism by the paddle club. For one thing, Donald's wife was unhappy about the removal of her only social contact with the other club members. And Donald had begun to spank his daughters much more frequently-in the absence of his usual spanking outlets-and in a harsher manner than their misbehavior warranted. The tension and unhappiness was driving Donald to consume food in even greater quantities-as is usually the case with obese people.
My own problem was to reconcile my treatment of Donald with his own objectives-his own reasons for wanting to lose weight. I had to convince myself that the situation warranted gratifying Donald's desire to return to the club that practiced flagellation. Upon further study of Donald and more information from him, I realized that his presentation was factual outlining of the situation, and that the group activities were not wholly unhealthy sexually, nor were there any serious psychological repercussions resulting from the spanking that went on at the meetings.
So Donald went through a six-month period of psychotherapy in which not only his sexual but his personal objectives were pointed up more clearly and put in the right perspective. Luckily, Donald's weight problem was not organic in nature, and it was simply a matter of fortifying him with sufficient willpower to adhere to his diet.
Through our joint efforts, Donald lost the desired amount of weight and rejoined the group about halfway through the therapy period. Regaining his sexual happiness made the insight into his personal self that much easier, and Donald learned much about his psyche in the process.
Not only did the experience benefit him, but he began to concentrate more on marital and paddle-club spanking and less on his somewhat incestuous reactions to the spanking of his daughters. This pleased me, as I had not been worried about Donald's sexual response and attitude during the parental spankings- but I had been concerned about the daughters' early participation in sexual spankings and the effect that might be felt by a young girl.
* * *
Pearl has the typical hardworking husband that most younger families must have in order to keep up the struggle for a standard of living that is just a little out of reach. Pearl is a well-educated woman, having graduated from a prestigious Ivy League women's college-and she mixes the current "hip" phrases with her knowledgeable vocabulary in spite of the fact that it has been some fifteen years since she graduated from school.
Pearl comes from a Jewish background and has all the emotional articulateness of that nationality. This makes her case history that much more interesting, and her expression of the sexuality of spanking is most convincing. Pearl does not, incidentally, live in a Jewish neighborhood nor did she marry a Jewish husband. She came to see me only once, a little less than a year ago.
* * *
Pearl S., age 35, two children: "My day is rush, rush, rush-like any suburban mother with three children. If s filled with little tensions, the kind that can really get to you. I don't know what I'd do without my particular habit. Before Sam and I got started spanking-and especially before us girls got to doing it-it was real rough on me. Just hard to get through the day.
"What I mean is that Sam would get home from work all pooped out-he works real hard. Me, I'd be tired, but a kind of tense tiredness, you know what I mean? Before we were married, when we were dating every night, then Sam had time to take care of that feeling in me. We'd go to it, and by the time Sam left to go home-you see, I had this little apartment and was working-then I'd be ready to drop off to sleep.
"You get used to that kind of sexually-satisfied life, and it kept on that way after we were married-until the first baby came. It was right about then that Sam and I began spanking, too. Now I'll have to admit that I was spanked very often throughout high school by my very strict parents. Both of them whacked me good, but Dad was the one who really took over the punishment duties when I got to be around fifteen years old.
"I know now that my reaction to these spankings was sexual, although I wouldn't have known how to describe it as such when I was still at home. You see, I didn't have much contact with the opposite sex, and I really didn't realize the kind of emotions I was going through during these times over Dad's lap.
"I mean, it was a mixture of pain and pleasure. Dad would spank my developing fanny until the sting was terrible-but along with that burning, my emotions would build up and I'd feel this tension pulling inside me. Suddenly, it would be wildly and forcefully released. I'd flop around and scream and pretend it was the spanking that was killing me. But it was really sheer pleasure that was dictating the way I moved.
"When I'd collapse from the intensity of it, then Dad would always stop the smacks. Now I just don't know if he ever suspected what I was going through or not. I will say this, though-he never once spanked me past the point when the climax occurred. And, after the spankings became a regular experience, he never quit spanking until I'd gone through all my bodily contortions. It's just the sort of thing you never discuss with your father, so I guess I'll never know just what he was thinking.
"But Sam and I didn't spank, like I say, until after we were married. We discovered spanking one evening when Sam had just helped me to a good one in the usual way. We were relaxing, smoking a cigarette before going to sleep, when Sam asked me casually if I'd ever made it with the one or two guys with whom I had petted before Sam met me.
"It hadn't happened with any of those boys-mainly because they were in way too much of a hurry. And I told Sam so. Well, he seemed to be in the mood for personal questions, because he asked me if I'd ever helped myself to a good climax. Well, I never had-I hadn't needed to because of Dad's spankings. So Sam said, 'You mean you never made it before you met me?' "I told him I hadn't said that, and I went on to tell him all about Dad's spanking of me. So Sam says, 'No kidding, Pearl? I've heard that a good ass-warming can turn a girl on. It really happened to you that way?' I reassured him it had-and then I noticed a glint forming in Sam's eye.
"I said, 'Now wait a minute, Sam! For one thing, Dad really used to heat it up back there -and it's been a few years. Maybe I can't take it any more. For another, this happened only about once a week, the spankings and everything. And I hadn't just made it like I've just made it now. I doubt I could make it happen to me twice in a row. And there's no point in spanking me unless I can make it. Is there?' "Well, there wasn't any stopping Sam that evening. He was determined. He pulled my face down over the bed, lifted up my nightgown, and really began to lay his hand on my rump. Well, the first stings were so terrible that I screamed loudly-and I just knew it wasn't going to work. But, pretty soon the old feeling began to come back-maybe because of the very intense way that Sam was going about the spanking.
"I closed my eyes and the old familiar feeling began to creep over me as my fanny started to warm up. I stopped crying and began to help the emotion along. Pretty soon, just like old times, it came-real suddenly and real violently. I let it come, hollering to Sam that it was happening. He knew, without my having to tell him, when my big moment was over. And he gathered me into his arms as we both fell soundly asleep.
"With that kind of a beginning, you can imagine that spanking soon became a regular part of our sex life. And the tension that used to start only when the spankings began, would build up in me all day long- until a before-dinner spanking took place as soon as Sam got home from work each day. The kids were too young to take much notice of what was going on.
"We kept up both the spanking and the regular sex bit. But as Sam began working later and later in the evening there had to be a choice made-we just didn't have the couple of hours needed to go through the whole bit twice. When faced with this choice, we nearly always decided to spank. And we began to trade off playing the part of spanker and spanked, too.
"I hadn't done much fanny-whacking of my own- just a little fun paddling in this junior high school sorority I belonged to. But I sure took to it fast! The only difference was that Sam found he couldn't get much of a charge out of my small hand smacking his big buttocks. So we bought this frat paddle in a college supply shop. He really came across when he was spanked with that paddle-and we began to do it to each other pretty often.
"But Sam got busier and busier, and more often than not I'd build myself up, during the day, to a tense feeling that should have been released by our sexual activities. Then I'd just sit there and simmer when Sam didn't get home. By the time he did, he was hungry and wanted to eat first. Then he might fall asleep right after dinner. There I'd be-all sexed up, and nothing to take it out on and nobody to take it out of me!
* * *
"All this takes just a moment to tell-but it took a period of years to arrive at last year's situation, with virtually no sex life. Oh, we'd have a session once a month or so, for old time's sake. But Sam just didn't seem to have the interest in sex that he once did. He was far more interested in his work and making money.
"The kids were growing up and I began to punish them quite a bit with the paddle. At first it was because they needed the swats, then it was because swatting them alleviated some of my tension, and finally I found out that I got a definite enjoyment out of whacking the kids with the paddle.
"I have a boy and two girls-Betty's fourteen and Susie's eleven, with the boy right between them. I began to make a ritual out of the spanking-making them slip down their panties and shorts to receive their paddle-swats on the bare. I won't say that the pleasure I got-and still get-from this type of paddling is sexual, but it does help me over certain periods of tension and depression. And I found, if I'd swatted the kids a little, I'd be more patient with Sam when he got home so late.
"I did find that the more I spanked the kids, particularly Joey, the less interested I was in spanking Sam. In other words, when Sam and I did indulge in one of our rare spankings, it was strictly me getting it from him. Actually, I've always preferred this method-I'm more inclined to react when I'm getting the fanny warming.
"But I began to get the idea that if my spanking the kids helped to subdue that feeling, then maybe my getting spanked during the day would perhaps ease some of the anticipatory tension that I built up thinking about the bedroom spanking that might-or maybe might not-take place that evening.
"Well, getting spanked by one of the kids was out of the question, they never would have understood nor wanted to hurt their Mom. And getting into a relationship with another man was out of the question too. So, I had to figure out some way I could get a girl friend to lay the paddle across my buttocks-and convince her that it was a good thing to continue.
"This neighbor of mine, her name is Kerry, is about my age. Like me, she's got children and a devoted husband. We get together quite often for coffee and chatter, and we've been doing this bit for a couple of years. Well, I thought up this plan and I thought Kerry just might go for it-because she's full of life and she likes surprises and new experiences and she'll try anything once. That type, you know.
"And she's given to making a lot of 'factual' statements-some are true and some aren't. Most of the time, I'd just listened to her wild exaggerations, nodding my head. But I decided to employ a new technique. The conversation went something like this: "Kerry said, 'You know that Lisa that's on the soap opera. You know her father is a minister?' "I knew this was true. But I said, 'Oh, Kerry, you're out of your head!' " 'No, it's true, Pearl. Her father-the actress's father is a minister. The one that plays Lisa.' " 'Kerry! You're always so full of misinformation.' "Kerry was beginning to bite. 'Okay, I'll just bet you!' " 'It's a deal-but how can you prove it, Kerry?' " 'I've got the information at home. I'll go get it.' "'Wait a minute, Kerry. We haven't made a bet. What do you want to bet on whether you're right or not?' " 'You name it, Pearl.' " 'Okay, Kerry. I'll call your bluff. If you're right, you can give me ten good swats with this breadboard. If I'm right, I get to swat your rear end ten times.' "This was the touchy moment. Would Kerry go for it or not? 'You're on, Pearl,' she shouted. 'But you're sure not going to be able to sit down for the rest of the day!' "My heart jumped as Kerry bounced out the door to get her TV magazine with the information about Lisa in it. Knowing I was about to get spanked, I tried to work myself into as sexual a frame of mind as I could -and considering there were no men around, I did a pretty good job. When Kerry came back I was sexually tense, and I made her promise, no matter who was the loser, the swats would be delivered with a good deal of force.
"Kerry said, 'With pleasure, Pearl! Because look right here!' And she pointed to the trivial information column that indeed said the actress's father was a minister. I was pleased to see Kerry's eyes glistening with excitement.
"Without a word I handed the breadboard with the curved handle on it to Kerry, and bent over the kitchen table. She paddled me-and she didn't spare the horses.
"To my delight, the first swat came with a satisfying smack-finding the mark right across my buttocks which were well-delineated in the tight jeans I was wearing. Kerry was chortling with pleasure as she drew the board back for the second whack. Each whack increased my excitement that much more.
"No, I can't say I was completely fulfilled by that first spanking from Kerry. But it gave great promise of things to come. And I was pleased to see that Kerry looked as if she could deliver about ten more, when the agreed-upon number of smacks had been placed upon my swelling fanny.
* * *
"It went like that nearly every day from that time on. And it wasn't always me who got the breadboard. Sometimes, I'd catch Kerry saying something I knew wasn't true-sometimes I really didn't know myself, and there was always that element of excitement as we looked up the answer. But, more often than not, I'd challenge a statement that I knew was true, and get my desired smacks that way.
"We began to raise the odds, too-mostly through my suggestions. No longer did we bet only ten swats- we worked up to as many as fifty or sixty. One day, too, when Kerry had 'won' and was ready to smack my waiting buttocks, I handed her a regular spanking paddle. Not the one I used on Sam-that one was too heavy. This was a special sorority paddle for girls. I told Kerry that if we were going to exchange all these betting swats, we should have an implement for that special purpose.
"Kerry hefted the slim but well-balanced paddle and smiled in anticipation. I got over her lap-we'd changed to this posture for the paddlings soon after beginning our betting activities-and the first smack resounded through the room. On tight jeans, still? No, not at all. The jeans had been discarded along with the bent-over position. These were strictly bare-bottom spankings that Kerry and I were giving each other now. And a definite sexual response was beginning to come from Kerry, too, that was much like mine. At first we didn't talk much about this aspect.
"It wasn't long before I was having a pretty full spanking life! Sam and I were using the paddle occasionally, I was smacking the children pretty often, and Kerry and I were spanking each other a whole lot. And the sexual reactions were becoming less inhibited with Kerry and me-until we were unashamedly whacking each other to a climax nearly every day.
"Now, right now, my sexual life is very satisfactory
but my main source of satisfaction comes from Kerry and not from Sam. And it seems that more and more of the time Kerry and I are involved with some form of spanking. What's more, we've gradually interested a few other bored housewives in the same type of sexual pastime-women whose husbands are hardworking and devote less time to them as they get older.
"One of our new recruits has quite a background of sorority spanking, and keeps us entertained for hours telling about how she paddled and got paddled. Another of the girls is quite an artist, and she's done some studies of us in various spanking position. We get a kick out of seeing how we look in various poses while awaiting or giving the paddling. And the portraits are done in color, too. You have no idea how exciting it can be to see your flaming derriere pictured as the focal point of a painting!
"But we're intelligent and serious girls, too, and we naturally worry a little about the type of sexual stimulation we're getting from each other and from our paddles. And we wonder if it's wrong and, if so, just how wrong it really is.
"All of us have become dependent upon our spanking-we're far more relaxed and cheerful than we used to be. And I'm not saying we'd give up our erotic activities and the sexual fulfillment it affords us, even if you advised that we should.
"However, we would like to have your opinion about what I've told you. Who else but a psychiatrist would you approach with a problem such as this? The girls are most interested in whatever you say to me about spanking and the manner in which we indulge in it."
* * *
I was pretty well convinced, from Pearl's description of the girls' activities, that there were no additional sex techniques being employed other than the described spankings. In other words, the girls weren't involving themselves in any deep Lesbian emotional complications. They were simply providing each other with desired sexual stimulation in the absence of their husbands' lagging interest and willingness.
With that information in hand, I did not suggest that the girls abandon the paddle. But I did feel that they were carelessly neglecting their husbands and that they could be more aggressive-I suggested that they match their own sexual pleasure with their husbands'. They should, I believed, see that they provided their husbands with a sexual climax for every one that they received through their homosexually provided spankings.
Furthermore, I outlined a long and gradual plan for attempting to interest the various husbands in the girls' sexual activities-to be blunt, interesting them in sexual spanking on a group basis. While this idea might surprise some puritans, I felt that a little sexual activity taking place as a result of group paddling might be better than none at all-and it might renew interest, on the part of the husbands, in their wives.
I did caution Pearl-and asked her to relay the information to the rest of the girls against doing anything sexual beyond the group spanking. I felt extra-marital and orgiastic coitus would breed far more trouble than it would prevent. That is why the plan to introduce group spanking to the husbands, winch was agreed upon by Pearl and me, was a slow and casual one. Pearl phoned me a few months later and reported the plan had worked well.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - SPANKING CLUBS
The adult party-game club, which involves simple flagellation in the form of recreational spanking and uses the paddle for pure sexual enjoyment, has been referred to so often throughout the pages of this study that little additional explanation of its workings is necessary.
As mentioned in the Foreword, the organized clubs devoted to this form of sex-play are almost the fastest-growing manifestation of sexual spanking-second only to the recent and swift increase in marital bedroom spanking. While containing many of the elements of bedroom spanking, the paddle club adds the aspect of exhibitionism and the "social security" that inevitably comes from taking part in a particular pastime which pleases others.
A number of studies have been done on these groups -usually called "party-game" clubs because the use of the paddle on each other's buttocks is justified as a result of participation in certain competitive games. This research has been done through personal interviews with spanking-club members or by the use of questionnaires sent to known groups whose activities revolve around the paddle.
From the reports of these studies, a typical or "average" club may be easily described in outline:
A. A club's membership is made up of between eight and twelve couples, all married. Unmarried couples rarely form or join such groups as they are not yet sexually adjusted to each other to permit extra-marital experimentation.
B. The ages of the members range from the late twenties to the early forties within a particular group. The younger men derive a good deal of pleasure from spanking the buttocks of a woman some years older, and the reverse is true of older women and younger men. All couples have been married at least five years.
C. Rules are somewhat rigid regarding member- ship, and complete approval of all members is usually necessary for a new couple to be accepted. There is little turnover in membership, but a couple who move away or leave the membership for some reason are usually immediately replaced. The replacement couple is always sought with discretion.
D. The party-game participants come either from the same geographical locale or from the same social background. (Clubs such as Donald de- scribed in the last chapter, where a mixture of social levels was observed, are rare). The environment is usually a suburban neighborhood.
E. The economic and educational level of attainment is usually slightly above middle-class, the level of intelligence being more prominent than the material possessions of the members. This is because the participants tend to be younger and not yet financially well-established, yet a pattern of previous sexual experimentation has been formed in college.
F. The members are neither as wealthy, as sexually promiscuous, nor as generally "free-swinging" as members of the infamous wife-swapping clubs -provided, of course, that little or no wife-swapping takes place within a particular group.
G. The typical paddle club, incidentally, rarely involves itself with wife-swapping. Usually, such a group has fairly high sexual morals and is making use of sexual spanking to substitute for extra- marital coitus while still providing an element of sexual variety to the members.
H. All members, both male and female, are very aware of their appearances and are sexually conscious of their bodies; there is a direct connection between their spanking interests and the inevitable fetishes for the buttocks and other parts of the non-sexual anatomy that accompany such inclinations. As such, each member strives to keep their bodies physically toned-up and their but- tocks in shape for the semi-strenuous activities and the receiving of the paddle.
I. All members play the roles of both spanker and spankee at various times throughout each meeting -and gain equal pleasure from each part. While there are occasions when men spank men, and women spank each other, most of the paddling is heterosexual, directed at the buttocks of the opposite sex.
J. Few clubs limit themselves to spanking protected buttocks-although meetings may begin with covered bottoms, and clothing is removed as the activities progress.
K. The activities of such clubs are rarely discussed with strangers unless a sincere and valid interest in the group is verified. Most of the participating members spend a good deal of time in contact with the rest of the group-the typical party-game spanking club is not a "sometime" thing.
No attempt has been made here to either justify or condemn the existence of these groups. However, it should be pointed out that the so-called typical group outlined above bears little resemblance to the "whipping cults" which supposedly abound and which attract a good share of expose-type publicity. The admitted purpose of the whipping clubs is masochistic pain, which puts them at definite odds with the pleasure-seeking groups making use of adult spanking. Our first case history in the next and final chapter refers to a spanking club.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - ADDITIONAL CASE HISTORIES
The following account of a paddle-club game needs little additional comment.
* * *
Kelly D., age 33, married: "My wife and I belong to this spanking club-ten or eleven of us couples get together every Saturday night and have a pretty good time playing games and looking for excuses to whack each other. It's all in good fun and it relieves a great deal of the sexual tensions that build up in our lives, just as they do in almost every couple's sexual relationship.
"This one game usually gets the evening off to a pretty fast start. All the women-bless the chicks!- are pretty much the same size and have fannies that measure out similarly. This physical fact makes our "Buttocks Guess" game possible. Here, we make use of a prop-a large cubicle about the size of a phone booth, that one of the fellows built.
"An opening is cut in one side of the booth, just about waist-high. One by one, each of the ten women in the group slips inside the booth and sticks her bare fanny though the specially cut hole. When one of the girls is situated like this, then one of the husbands is brought in from the next room.
"Naturally, we all know the names and the anatomies of all the wives in the club-we've been going at it like this for a couple of years. The guy has to guess which girl's buttocks are poking through the hole-and he's got just ten seconds to do this. He can name one name. If he's correct, then he gets to deliver five swats to the fanny that's sticking through the opening.
"If he guesses wrong, however, then the girl whose name he did call comes out from another room where all the wives are hidden, and delivers five swats to his bare rump-we're all bare while this game is being played. Incidentally, if the girl in the hole is the fellow's wife, and he guesses correctly, he's allowed five extra swats-and how those guys enjoy it when that happens! But if he misses his wife, then he gets ten smart ones.
"The game continues until each woman has been correctly guessed and has received her swats. This sometimes takes quite a while, because if all the guys have missed a guess, and received their 'loser's' swats, then we run through the men again. It just means that they have a slightly better chance since their previous guess was wrong.
"Occasionally, if the game has moved pretty fast, we run through the girls again-the main difference being that each fanny stuck through the hole will be red, since she's received one set of smacks already. We tried the game, once, with the men sticking their rears through the opening and the wives doing the guessing. It didn't work. Somehow, the women were all too familiar with the bare bottoms of all the other husbands!
"But with the women's buttocks sticking through, you'd be surprised how hard it is to tell who's who. Female fannies all tend to look pretty much the same, as long as the general size is similar. And the girls do some pretty tricky things, too. They apply makeup to each other's fannies to cover telltale blemishes that might look familiar to a husband.
"A little powder and some light makeup on the buttocks-and the skin all looks the same. A G-string is worn by each wife, incidentally, which comes up between her fanny cheeks-this adds a little modesty to the protruding posture that the girl must take when inserting her buttocks through the low-slung opening."
* * *
At the end of Chapter Ten, we mentioned an additional case history concerning a girl who allowed herself to be spanked for payment. This was Molly.
Molly had been referred to me by a plastic surgeon who is a good friend of mine. She had consulted him about doing a relatively simple operation. Before proceeding with the surgery, however, my medical colleague had suggested that Molly discuss her emotional problems with me.
My secretary buzzed me at the appointed hour-and I must admit to some surprise at seeing Molly for the first time. The girl appeared in the doorway with golden-blonde hair, beautifully done but somewhat out-of-style in that it flowed almost all the way down her back. But her mode of dress was what created an aura about her that was decidedly unusual, and is principally observed only in certain sexually-oriented publications.
She was wearing a tight black leather coat similar to men's motorcycle jackets, but with no zippers and cut along female lines-and very tight black leather pants. These pants were designed after those types of men's jeans as worn by women-extremely snug around her hips, crotch, and legs.
There were, however, no pockets nor zipper fly-the pants were fastened by a black leather thong that laced up one side of the hips. This evidently allowed a small slit to be loosened enough in order to remove the leather garment. Molly's blouse was of a conventional white fabric, very feminine and in startling contrast to the black leather.
As Molly removed her jacket, she turned her back to me in order to reach for a coat-hanger. As she reached up, I was immediately aware of her buttocks-not only because of the way they were prominently displayed in the snug clothing, but as a result of her habit of slowly and somewhat sensuously arching her back whenever she moved.
This gave her a slightly sway-backed effect that emphasized the protruding bottom. The waistline of the pants lay just an inch or so above the indentation between her buttocks, and her tiny waistline flared up to a gently curving back. The blouse had been so designed that it was buttoned to the leather pants on the inside. This kept the blouse from billowing and spoiling the delineation of her low waist-an effect that Molly later admitted she worked hard to keep.
The pants themselves were molded to her wide and full hips. Each crease of her body, from the cleft between the buttocks to the slight wrinkle where each buttock joined the leg, was clearly defined. With her back still toward me, Molly ran her hands swiftly but carefully over the curves of her buttocks.
Evidently feeling a certain slackness, which wasn't apparent to me at all, Molly spread her legs a little and arched her back that much more. Then she dug both thumbs into the waistband of the pants, in front, and tugged them up a half-inch or so. The resulting effect was to pull the tightly-covered flesh between her legs forward a little. Her buttocks rolled slowly, the pants moving with them, as she shifted her weight from side to side as if to test the tightness.
Then she turned, and smiled sort of lazily at me. I noted that her stomach muscles were very taut, with no trace of a bulge showing anywhere. Her breasts, as is more the style nowadays, curved only slightly rather than bulging prominently outward.
Molly sat down, extremely slowly but gracefully, and I could actually hear the leather creaking as it stretched over the expanding curves of her body. Instead of assuming a somewhat flat posture, which might have been easier on her because of the vise-like grip of the pants, Molly drew both legs up underneath her to sit on her heels. She lit a cigarette and started to talk in a low and well-controlled voice-sustaining a type of emotion and tone that are usually associated with a pre-coital session:
* * *
"Dr. Kinder asked me to see you-I guess I know why. He was a little surprised at the way I make my living. But then he's a surgeon and you're a psychiatrist, and I'm sure nothing shocks you anymore. I'm not a prostitute, but I do make my living off a form of sex. I get spanked.
"And I don't mind getting spanked at all! I grew up with the paddle bouncing off my backside, and it didn't stop when I got to be a big girl either. Well, I found that so many older boys and young men enjoyed spanking a nicely-curved butt, that I began to charge for the privilege of letting them whack mine.
"I don't mean I made big money right at first. But a dollar for ten swats is better work than slinging hash in some two-bit cafe. The boys really enjoyed the whackings they gave me-including the way I reacted. Like maybe five guys from the slummy neighborhood I grew up in would scrape up a dollar between them. Two smacks from each guy, on my jeans-covered bottom!
"I'd lean over and grab my ankles. It was a source of pride that I could take as hard as they could dish out. And the smacks from the paddle would roll me head-over-heels. They'd laugh wildly at that, even make bets as to who could roll me farthest with a paddle-swat.
"Hurt? Sure, a little. But it's not as bad as it sounds. Because believe me, the boys weren't the ones that were making me roll. It was all my own doing. I practiced. I'd bend over on a mat at gym classes-or maybe in an alley where the dirt was a little softer. Just as if I was about to take a good smack.
"I'd rest my weight on the balls of my feet-then suddenly, I'd unwind my leg muscles and go springing head-over-heels. Well, I simply learned how to judge the exact moment of impact, the time when the paddle would make its contact with my humped-out bottom. And I'd roll with the swat, you might say. It hurt a lot less than if I'd stood there rock-solid while receiving the ass-whacks.
"I got to know my paddle pretty well, too. That was one rule about my dime-a-swat deal. The guys-or the girls if they had the urge-had to use my own paddle. It was a regular model made just for spanking, but not as heavy as the ones some of the boys would probably have preferred using.
"I cut a few small holes in it-the guys liked that a lot. These holes maybe made the smacks smart a little more, but they were mostly to my advantage. I could hear the paddle whistle, and that helped me to gauge just when the smack was coming to my fanny-'cause I could see out of the corner of my eye just how far the spanker had brought the paddle back for momentum.
"That was a few years ago-I started this when I was about fourteen years old. I'm nineteen now. And my price has gone up a little. I work the street a little, and bring the guys up to my room. I've got a good collection of paddles and I'm familiar with each one of them. A man can swat me twenty-five times for ten dollars. A lot of guys will pay that much.
"I still do the head-over-heels bit, too-but not in my room. There's this certain bar downtown. I work in a special back room, along with some regular whores. There's a little gambling and a roulette wheel. The men who are interested in what I offer gather around and lay their money down. Then they take turns swinging the paddle. I wear these leather pants that I've got on now-they're my trade-mark and I'm known up and down the street for them. They offer more protection than jeans-that denim used to wear out too quickly. Besides, leather's sexier, don't you think?
"My special room has a mat-same as we had in the school gym. And the guys swat me round and round like before. That's the only contact I allow them to make, though. Except for one thing-I let them feel around my buttocks to make sure I'm not wearing any special padding back there. The guys are fussy about this, they want to know I'm really feeling the swats.
"But so far, that's the only sex that I've ever gotten paid for. If they want the regular, there's plenty of other girls around. Most of them say they prefer me and my rear end. They say it's fun, and the result is the same as if one of the other girls gave them a treatment.
"Well, in all this time, these five years, I've only been spanked with pants on-never have I had a bare-bottom spanking that I've been paid for. But Dad used to whip me terribly on my bare fanny-he'd practically rip my panties off when he got good and mad.
"But, you see, now I want to quit this bit with the paddle and begin to work with straight hand-spanking on my bare ass. It's not that my fanny can't take the punishment-but my bones just ache from rolling head-over-heels so much, and my hipbones hurt from the jarring I get from the paddle. The skin is tough-it takes anything. And I know that there'd be more money in over-the-lap bare-ass spankings.
"I've let two or three guys spank me on the bare flesh, just to see how it worked. But they started to whack and then quit. It's because I've got this big scar on my left buttock-a souvenir of one time when Dad whipped me with a tree-branch. It bled quite a bit and I even had to have it sewed up, twenty-four stitches. The sew-up job wasn't real good. It never has hurt a bit from getting paddled, but it's a pretty ugly scar.
"Well, the guys just don't like the idea of spanking a scarred bottom-it goes against their grain, if you know what I mean. I'd about given up on the idea, when one of the boys that hangs around the bar had some surgery done on a badly scarred face. This guy's trying to start a singing career, doing rock-'n'-roll, and his manager told him to pretty-up his face. You can hardly tell he ever had a scar there. "I got the name of his plastic surgeon from him-it was this Dr. Kinder that sent me to see you, and I made an appointment. Dr. Kinder told me the scar could be removed easily enough, but he didn't see the point in doing the operation, since the scar would never be seen. When I tried to explain the circumstances under which I'd be showing the scar, he immediately suggested that I come and talk with you. He said he'd do the skin surgery only after hearing from you as to what you thought about me.
"What are you going to tell him, Doctor?"
Here is a copy of my letter to Dr. Kinder:
* * *
May 11, 1966
Dear Dick:
There's some doubt as to whether Molly K. will ever be completely normal, sexually. Nevertheless, I am going into psychotherapy with her and she has agreed to weekly consultations.
I've found the girl to be, on the whole, pretty intelligent in spite of her lack of education. Her specific sexual inclination has simply provided her a source of income that she couldn't have found elsewhere.
To ease the situation, I think it would be best for you to do the surgery on Molly as soon as possible, before we enter into the therapy. You might think this a strange request, in view of the fact that I'm going to try to help Molly lead a more normal life.
But in order to help her, she'll have to help herself. And she can best help herself if there is no physical barrier, such as her scar, prohibiting her from taking part in the sexual activities she desires. Only after she is confronted with a choice, will it be possible for a proper choice to be made.
Ifs one thing to cure an alcoholic by sending him to a place where no liquor exists-and ifs another to help him adjust to a society where alcohol is plentiful. I feel the same way about Molly's situation.
Please advise me as to how soon she may be ready {or post-operative psychotherapy.
Sincerely, Harvey T. Leathern, M.D.
* * *
Molly's operation has been completed recently and is a success-according to her viewpoint, of course. The indicated psychotherapy has just begun, and I am pleased at Molly's promptness in keeping her appointments. But it would be only fair to note that Molly has been engaging in bare-bottom spankings for a week or two, administered by male customers, and she is most pleased with the results.
