Tag Archives: spanking

Spanking Article in New Scientist

30th March 2009, article by Linda Geddes for

New Scientist magazine.

“SPANKING is stressful at first, but it could bring consenting couples closer together. That’s the implication of two studies of hormonal changes associated with sadomasochistic (S&M) activities including spanking, bondage and flogging.

Brad Sagarin at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and colleagues measured levels of the stress hormone cortisol in 13 men and women at an S&M party in Arizona, before, during and after participating in activities. During S&M scenes, cortisol rose significantly in those receiving stimulation, but dropped back to normal within 40 minutes if the scene went well. There was no change in those inflicting the activity.

At an S&M event in Colorado, testosterone was measured in 45 men and women. It increased significantly in receiving women only. Donatella Marazziti of the University of Pisa, Italy, says the boost may help women cope with the aggressive nature of S&M activities, or that it could be another sign of stress. In both studies, couples who said the party went well also reported increases in relationship closeness (Archives of Sexual Behavior, DOI: 10.1007/s10508-008-9374-5).

It’s important to note that levels of both hormones dropped back down in couples who enjoyed the experience, Marazziti says. “When sexual intercourse is consensual it is not stressful – even if it is extreme sex.”

Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, UK, adds that almost any shared activity is likely to promote interpersonal closeness. “It doesn’t have to be tying up your partner or placing clamps on their nipples, it could be something as simple as cooking a meal together or even doing the housework as a duo,” he says.

Nick Neave, a psychologist at the University of Northumbria, UK, says the results are interesting, but future studies should control for whether participants experienced orgasm, which is associated with reduced stress and an increase in hormones associated with partner-bonding and affection.”

Image

Empathophilia

Sometimes, there is a momentary loss of humanity. It’s the sadistic mindset of Dommespace, and it both repels and fascinates me. I briefly become the sociopath, and the sociopath is commonly thought to be devoid of empathy. Yet it’s the empathy I get off on. In those moments when she is bent over the banister – folded in half, bound, trussed, face contorted, rump held high, relishing the cool smack of my palm across her buttocks – my humanity is lost, yet does not cease to exist. It merely travels. Consciousness turns to thick, sticky liquid, seeps out, moves. The body I inhabit becomes empty. It thrashes mindlessly, laughing, relishing her pain. And my spirit is elsewhere. For a moment, just a moment, it lives within her. I wear her skin. I see through her eyes. Her cries are mine. When the first tear is squeezed out from between her tightly-closed eyelids, I can only equate the sensation to that feeling during the crescendo of a favourite song, the tingle and rush at its familiar melody, the transcendent beauty that makes one’s knees quiver involuntarily. When I give her pain, I inhabit her entirely. I feel it all, and I love it. That, to me, is Dommespace.

Image