I was reading up on the history of gold mining in Siberia the other day, for reasons that are too off-topic to go into here (let's just call it a combination of leisurely and professional interests). The following anecdote grabbed my attention: in 1813, a young woman named Katerina Bogdanova found a gold nugget in the basin of the Neyva river in the Urals (one translation refers to her as a "little girl", but because of what happened to her and also because of some other tidbits of the story, I am inclined to believe that she was actually a young, unmarried woman). She immediately brought her find to the local authorities. Instead of a reward, however, she received a whipping and was ordered to not tell anyone about her discovery. Apparently, the authorities feared the disturbances that would be brought on by a gold rush to the region. They were unsuccessful in the end, because other people also found gold in the vicinity and the news eventually got out.
But think about poor Katerina. This has to be the most unfair, most scandalous punishment I have ever heard of. She finds a gold nugget, and instead of keeping it for herself or exploiting the site only for her own benefit and that of her family, she dutifully reports what she found. Alright, maybe she was hoping for a reward as well - which would have been well-justified in my view. And what does she get? A whipping! Life just isn't fair, is it?
There are quite a few people in our spanko community who have a passion for unfair punishments. Our friend and partner in crime Pandora Blake is one of them, for instance, as evidenced by this interesting older post of hers. For Kaelah, unfair punishments are generally a turn-off. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle: I can potentially find such a scenario hot, but preferably if the spankee suffering the unfair punishment finds justice in the end or at least emerges as the moral victor. Lupus Pictures gave some of their classic storylines a twist like that, and I could imagine a number of such possible twists to avenge our gold-finding heroine. Where the official responsible for her treatment ends up getting it worse than she did. Admittedly, it's a kind of straight-forward morality play and rather old-fashioned, but it works well in the spanking genre...
But think about poor Katerina. This has to be the most unfair, most scandalous punishment I have ever heard of. She finds a gold nugget, and instead of keeping it for herself or exploiting the site only for her own benefit and that of her family, she dutifully reports what she found. Alright, maybe she was hoping for a reward as well - which would have been well-justified in my view. And what does she get? A whipping! Life just isn't fair, is it?
There are quite a few people in our spanko community who have a passion for unfair punishments. Our friend and partner in crime Pandora Blake is one of them, for instance, as evidenced by this interesting older post of hers. For Kaelah, unfair punishments are generally a turn-off. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle: I can potentially find such a scenario hot, but preferably if the spankee suffering the unfair punishment finds justice in the end or at least emerges as the moral victor. Lupus Pictures gave some of their classic storylines a twist like that, and I could imagine a number of such possible twists to avenge our gold-finding heroine. Where the official responsible for her treatment ends up getting it worse than she did. Admittedly, it's a kind of straight-forward morality play and rather old-fashioned, but it works well in the spanking genre...
Let me use the topic to pose the question to you: how do you feel about unfair punishments as a kinky scenario? Do you like them or hate them, do you find the idea hot or a total turn-off? Or are you, like me, somewhere in the middle, where a scenario with an unfair punishment might have appeal to you, but only under certain circumstances? Write down your thoughts in a comment if you like.
7 comments:
I always love to read about which scenarios work for the individual spanko as inspirations for a scene, which don't and for what reasons.
Pandora's post you link to is pretty much spot on for what works for me. Taking the punishment for someone else, being punished together with a friend, being punished while morally right or at least having broken a rule with good intentions, being punished by someone who is sympathetic towards one but who is forced to carry the punishment out nonetheless: Bring it on!
No wonder Pandora's site features quite a lot of scenes which cater to this particular flavour of the kink, like "Non-violent Resistance" where she has to punish two schoolboys she is actually fond of for sabotaging the CCTV network in the school.
Another favorite of mine is a clip by Northern Spanking starring Zoe Montana as a maid in a Victorian setting (always a winner), in which she gets punished for stealing from her employer because she needs money for her sick little brother. During the beating, the employer tells her that she should have just asked him for the money.
On the other hand, revenge scenarios and the whole "he/she gets what he/she deserves" with someone punished for deeds I despise until they are contrite are, in most cases, a turn-off for me, not only in spanking clips but movies and books as well, as paradox this may sound. Schadenfreude is not my thing, even in fantasy. Maybe things would be different in a role-play context when I actually like the play partners and know that everybody is having fun. I could imagine that it also depends on the overall mood of the scene, for example a relatively light-hearted school scene compared to a harsh judicial scene.
I wonder whether it depends on your orientation as top, bottom or switch, or, when it comes to clips, from which perspective you tend to watch the action that makes an unfair punishment work for you, or not.
As a fantasy I find the idea of unfair punishments exciting and unlike you I don't need there to be a moral comeuppance at the end. For me the idea of a completely innocent person suffering an unfair punishment perhaps as a result of mistaken identity or as the result of a grudge is interesting and I enjoy such scenes immensely. In real life this would of course horrify me. It's just another example of how my fantasies depart from my actual attitudes.
There was a Lupus movie years ago about a student who gets thrashed when the Headmaster misunderstands her request to borrow the school's globe (The Globus http://goo.gl/25T1V). It worked really well. The viewer recognises the injustice but we still revel in the injustice.
If you are writing spanking stories, one of the problems is not to trample gras that has been flattened by hundreds of feet even flatter. In other words, new ideas are at a premium.
Therefore, I love injustice, illogical plots and ingenious twists to a story.
So, the story of this unfortunate girl is sad, but it makes for good writing! :-).
Mm, as far as fantasy goes (not in real life, for sure!) I admit it has an appeal. But my fantasies generally include non-con, so an unfair punishment is (by definition) non-con and fits the bill. I think even within a real-life disciplinary relationship, focusing too much on fair/unfair can be detrimental. What matters more is the overall tone and attitude. So what would be a turnoff for me, rather than the unfairness of a punishment (fantasy or r/l) would be one delivered with disrespect, belittling the receiver, or using shaming words.
@ Fenris: I like the scenarios you mention as well. Being punished while being morally right, breaking a rule with good intentions, taking a punishment for someone else... These kinds of "unfair" punishments all work for me. I am not beyond feeling a bit of schadenfreude when it is really deserved, but then, the punishment would not be unfair, so that is a different thing.
Your raising the question of whether one's orientation and perspective as a top, bottom or switch influences which scenarios one likes and dislikes is an interesting one, and I have incorporated it into a post about a related subject I have been meaning to write about.
@ Simon: I think that as kinksters, we all distinguish very clearly between what we can find hot as an erotic fantasy or play scenario and what we condone in real life. I assume that most of us do not condone corporal punishment in schools or the torture of prisoners (I certainly don't), but these practices can nonetheless serve as inspiration for some darn hot BDSM stuff.
I find it difficult to eroticise unfair scenarios, though, unless the unfairness is corrected or at least recognised at the end. I suppose I have such a strong emotional aversion to injustice (indeed, it is one of my pet peeves) that I find it hard to eroticise it even as a fiction.
@ Spearthrower: Yes, that was a good movie, like most of the others from the Headmaster's Study series.
@ Donpascual: To get away from the stereotypical schoolgirls / secretaries / disobedient wives fare, it is always a good idea to delve deeper into history. One might discover an interesting tidbit like the story above.
@ Anastasia: That is a very interesting observation on real-life disciplinary relationships. Kaelah and I don't practice that, but it is interesting nonetheless. I agree that disrespect and belittling is often worse than unfairness, and it is a turn-off for me in any scenario (again, unless it is avenged later).
Hmm that's an interesting question. In fantasy I can see certain "unfair" scenarios appealing to me. In reality, I think I would be too angry at it not being right and fight the whole way. I wouldn't enjoy it.
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