The Library of Spanking Fiction: Wellred Weekly
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Articles
Items of interest regarding all things spanking
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Plausibility in Spanking Fiction   It has been said that the skill of the successful fiction writer lies in enabling the reader to suspend his or her disbelief. This is rarely more self-evidently true than in the genre of spanking fiction. After all, in contemporary culture (in The West at least) corporal punishment under just about any circumstance one may care to cite would constitute common assault at the very least and be condemned as both mental and physical abuse. And right from the outset - since we are all agreed we are dealing with FICTION here - 'abuse' is a term I feel should never be visited (despite its justifiably outraged utterance, when confronted by some 'real world' case presented in the press).For some reason a term such as 'exploitation' or similar seems ok - as in 'the exploitation of vulnerable and perhaps naive young women' (a phrase used more than once, in one form or another, in the 'Reader's Letter's' pages of Janus Magazine in the past) - but never, ever 'abuse'. In that way, when it comes to spanking and corporal punishment-based literature the author is often asking his or her readership not just to suspend disbelief but also to temporarily suspend ethical and moral judgement, not to mention their sense of 'fair play'. But then, for many it is that upturning of what constitutes 'fair play' and the countering of any moral justification behind the punishment metered out to the hapless heroine (or hero, if one is that way inclined) that is at the root of much of the excitement; hence the undeniable frisson when some blameless young thing is bent over to receive the rod across her tender behind purely for the delight of her guardian or perhaps to extract a signature from her on an open cheque or documentation selling off her inheritance from under her. And the more credible a tale becomes, the more one has to be careful - speaking as an author - to leave clear some sort of self-justifiable (perhaps some would say, self-deluding) leeway for the reader to be able to put aside for the moment any notion of real-world moralistic judgement; or at least temper that judgement with the knowledge that in fiction it is ok to be horrified just for the thrill of it. And make no mistake, even in the absence of gratuitously vivid descriptions of heartlessly vicious and sadistic beatings (and this author for one cannot abide such things - even in the cause of realism!) there is often an aspect of the horror novel present in well-written corporal punishment-orientated literature, albeit even if only present as a sort of psychological undercurrent of dread. Perhaps this feeling or sense of dread may be of the form: 'What if it were me?' or it might manifest as 'What must it be like for her?' or even 'How terrible the long-term consequences', but I would argue it is present in one form or another nonetheless. I would also argue that many - if not all - the above considerations are present (as an unacknowledged, unpleasant and hurriedly circumnavigated or bridged-over shadowy undertow) even in a consensual spanking context or relationship. After all, ask yourself this question: what is it that lurks behind the chosen roles of the protagonists? The debatable purely physiological stimulating effect of a light spanking on the area surrounding the genitalia aside, what is it that provides the driving force? In one way or another, isn't the answer to that question simply this: control? What is going through the mind of the erstwhile 'school master', what is it that is being acted out in private fantasy? Something well-removed from the stage setting of the loving, caring relationship it purports to be being acted out upon, one might conjecture. Externally, in the 'real world' the act might well be consensual - but internally, in that all-important 'mind-space', it is easy to envisage the exact opposite being true, at least in the case of the 'disciplinarian'. What is at issue here is not so much the events leading up to the subject receiving a spanking or other form of corporal punishment - in terms of what the subject has done to deserve (or indeed, not deserve) the correction metered out - as under what set of circumstances would a régime based around corporal punishment be likely to be encountered in the real world. In answering the latter part of that conundrum we must first decide whether we are considering a consensual or non-consensual context for our tale (we have already determined that we are talking about a fictional situation in either case). If the former - corporal punishment given and received between mutually agreeable consenting adults - the problem of plausibility largely evaporates, other than as pertains to excessive severity or perhaps blatant public exposure and humiliation. But even then, in the real world the authorities might have something to say. Witness the so-called 'Spanner Case' in which the trial judge ruled that consent was not a valid defence to actual bodily harm (Regina v. Brown et al. 1993 Appeal Judgement). On the other hand if we are considering the non-consensual context, in which corporal punishment is applied as a genuine form of behavioural correction, then the legitimate settings available for story development within the present timeframe with its judgmental atmosphere of supervisory oversight, scrutiny - both public and otherwise - and judicial control, become vanishingly sparse. Within the above arguments we also have to consider whether the imposition of corporal punishment really is a genuine means to an end - some form of behavioural modification targeted at reinforcing a regime of strict discipline - or an end in itself. After all, there are other far subtler methods of bringing about behavioural change, which may in itself include the eventual acceptance of corporal punishment. We also have to decide whether the setting would best fit the domestic or institutional environment. From everything said above alluding to accountability and public and government-appointed-body scrutiny, the latter would seem even more barren in terms of nurturing a tale of reddened late-teen bottoms if set in modern times. But as we shall see later, if we are prepared to stretch our timeframe a little the institutional setting can actually provide some of the most plausibly fertile ground within which to nurture a climate of strict discipline and petty rules, all backed up by good, solid over-the-knee spanking and ankle-gripping caning. Now speaking personally, and with my reader's hat on, I prefer not to have to suspend my disbelief too far - my gullibility is not a never-ending unbreakable strand of elastic. I know it is just fantasy - and we should never lose sight of that fact, nor fail to reiterate it often enough - but I for one would like to think that the situation I am reading about really could come about. With my writer's headgear well and truly wedged in place, I am not at all sure I could persuade my readership to accept a modern girl or young woman in her teens or early twenties in the hands of some harsh cane-wielding step-parent not rushing for the door and running to the relevant authorities. Yes I know the wicked stepmother is about as tired an old cliché or stereotype as it is possible to evoke, but - with my reader's cap back on again - it is just that little bit more believable than if a blood relative were to be involved (and far less 'uncomfortable' in my view). If we were to delve back far enough in to the past then the above step-parent (or read 'legal guardian' into that if too uncomfortable with it) scenario - especially where some sort of inheritance is at stake - becomes far more plausible. Less plausible, I think - whatever the timeframe - are situations in which the party under the rod begins to enjoy it in some manner or 'the tables are turned'. To make such a scenario plausible in the contemporary setting requires, in the first instance (assuming we decide to ignore the illegality aspect), that the disciplinarian is able to exert some form of pressure or has a hold over our subject that is sufficient to coerce her to accept corporal punishment while simultaneously either rendering her unable to go to the authorities or likely to be disbelieved - or even made to suffer further in some manner - if she does. The pressure or 'hold' the authoritarian figure might exert in such a scenario I would envisage as psychological as much - or more so - than physical. There is no need for handcuffs nor bars on the windows in such a scenario, and such accoutrements might even undermine the believability of the tale. Rather the authority figure relies on the power of his or her personality and sheer charisma to overpower the other's will, subtly wearing down and undermining her self-confidence to the point at which she becomes increasingly psychologically dependent on her guardian or whoever. Little requests couched in language suggesting an order gradually make way for actual orders that become more and more authoritative in tone: "I really much prefer you in that skirt you had on the other day rather than jeans, Andrea - so much more attractive!" gradually becomes "Please put on your grey skirt today, Andrea" then "I want you in that new dress I bought you yesterday" to "I only want you in that gingham school dress I bought you from now on" and "I don't want you wandering around the grounds without either myself or the housekeeper to accompany you - you know how you can get if you have one of your panic attacks outdoors" and finally "You know you're not allowed out of your room unsupervised - get over my knee at once, girl!". In the above you can see the little seeds of doubt being planted "those panic attacks you keep having" or "you know how jittery you can get outdoors on your own". You see the bars are there, but they are psychological bars and chains, not physical. And these fetters extend far outside the home. Imagine if you will, the collusion of a psychologist, a diagnosis written to order and the patient manipulated to fit the mould: "...And just who is going to take any notice of anything you say? Why, I've a good mind to take you to the authorities myself. You know of course they'd have you committed virtually immediately, no questions asked? And you know what goes on in those places! ... What's that you say? You're normal? Well, that's debatable." She laughs. "I know you're normal, you know you're normal - but that's not what it says on your doctor's report... Yes, who do you think they're going to believe?... That's better! Now, pass me the cane, knickers down, skirt up - grasp your ankles like a good girl!" continued... |
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