CLP-188 The Headmaster by William St. Cyr


Foreword


The connection between sex and spanking has long been understood by
sexual sophisticates, and one of the by-products of the Sexual
Revolution has been a growing interest in erotic spanking. To understand
why this should be so, we must examine the underlying psychological
factors involved in sadism and masochism. The tendency to cause pain to
the sexual object was designated in its two forms by German neurologist
Baron Richard von Krafft-Ebing as sadism for the active form, and
masochism for the passive form. Other authors prefer the narrower term,
algolagnia, which emphasizes the pleasure in pain and cruelty.

In 'Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex', Sigmund Freud describes
the universality of algolagnia:

The roots of active algolagnia, sadism, can be readily demonstrated in
the normal individual. The sexuality of most men shows an admixture of
aggression, of a desire to subdue, the biological significance of which
ties in the necessity for overcoming the resistance of the sexual object
by actions other than mere courting. Sadism would then correspond to the
aggressive component of the sexual instinct, which has become
independent and exaggerated and has been brought to the foreground by
displacement. The concept of sadism fluctuates in everyday speech from a
mere active or imperious attitude toward the sexual object to an
absolute attachment of the gratification to the subjection and
maltreatment of the object.

Put in everyday words, Freud is saying that aggressive behavior is a
natural component of sexual courtship. The desire to subdue, to conquer,
to possess are normal features of sexual attraction, and it is only
through the vagaries of the human mind that certain forms of aggression
become exaggerated and have distinct erotic connotations. One might then
ask why spanking is one of the most popular forms of sexual aggression
involving distinctly sadomasochistic overtones?

The answer seems to be that spanking has an appeal to the unconscious
regions of the mind, because the act of spanking is itself a symbolic
form of sexual intercourse. The instrument of punishment is in effect a
phallic symbol which, like the penis in ordinary intercourse, plays the
aggressive role. The punishment is generally inflicted on the buttocks,
which is the area closest to the genitals. Moreover, the most popular
spanking position, the over-the-knee position, places the genitals of
both parties in the closest possible contact short of intercourse. In
addition, the redness achieved by the victim's buttocks during the
punishment resembles the color of the sexual organs, while the victim's
squirming and twisting movements are highly suggestive of coitus.

Thus, we see that spanking is in itself a form of substitute
intercourse. Moreover, the various stages of a spanking--the undressing,
the initial spanks, the reddening buttocks, the progressively faster
squirms, and the victim's breathless howls that become more and more
intense--are in effect reenactments of the various stages of sexual
intercourse. Thus, it is not difficult to see why spanking is usually
preferred to other forms of sexual aggression.


End of Page 1. See clp-188.txt for full story.