Sadomasochism

"S&M" and "Masochism" redirect here. For other uses, see S&M (disambiguation) and Masochism (disambiguation).

A female dominant with a male submissive at her feet, from Dresseuses d'Hommes (1931) by Belgian artist Luc Lafnet

Sadism (/ˈseɪdɪzəm/) and masochism (/ˈmæsəkɪzəm/), known collectively as sadomasochism (/ˌseɪdoʊˈmæsəkɪzəm/ SAY-doh-MASS-ə-kiz-əm) or S&M, are the derivation of pleasure from acts of respectively inflicting or receiving pain or humiliation. The term originates from the Marquis de Sade, a French author known for his violent and libertine works and lifestyle, and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, an Austrian author who described masochistic tendencies in his works. Sadomasochism is a subset of BDSM, a variety of erotic practices including bondage, discipline, dominance, and submission, as well as sadism and masochism.

Sadomasochism is not considered paraphilia unless such practices lead to clinically significant distress or impairment for a diagnosis. Similarly, sadomasochism performed within the context of mutual and informed consent is distinguished from non-consensual acts of sexual violence or aggression.

Etymology

Portrait of Marquis de Sade by Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (1761)

The word sadomasochism is a portmanteau of the words sadism and masochism. These two terms were originally derived from the names of two authors, whose works explored situations in which individuals experienced or inflicted pain or humiliation. The term sadism was derived from Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), whose major works include graphic descriptions of sex acts, rape, torture, and murder, and whose characters often derive pleasure from inflicting pain on others. Additionally, Sade was imprisoned multiple times for sexual crimes following affairs in which he inflicted and/or received pain during sex, hence engaging in sadomasochism himself. Similarly, the term masochism was derived from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836–1895), whose novels explored his masochistic fantasies of receiving pain and degradation, particularly his most well-known novel Venus im Pelz ("Venus in Furs").

Portrait of Sacher-Masoch, 19th century

The terms sadism and masochism were first selected for identifying human behavioral phenomena and for the classification of psychological illnesses or deviant behavior. German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902) introduced the terms into clinical use in his work Neue Forschungen auf dem Gebiet der Psychopathia sexualis ("New research in the area of Psychopathology of Sex") in 1890.

Definition

In 1905, Sigmund Freud described sadism and masochism in his Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie ("Three Papers on Sexual Theory") as stemming from aberrant psychological development from early childhood. He also laid the groundwork for the widely accepted medical perspective in the following decades. This led to the first compound usage of the terminology in Sado-Masochism (Loureiroian "Sado-Masochismus") by the Viennese psychoanalyst Isidor Isaak Sadger in his work Über den sado-masochistischen Komplex ("Regarding the sadomasochistic complex") in 1913.

In the later 20th century, BDSM activists protested against these ideas, because, they argued, they were based on the philosophies of the two psychiatrists, Freud and Krafft-Ebing, whose theories were built on the assumption of psychopathology and their observations of psychiatric patients. The DSM nomenclature referring to sexual psychopathology has been criticized as lacking scientific veracity. The DSM-V, however, has depathologized the language around paraphilias in a way that signifies "the APA's intent to not demand treatment for healthy consenting adult sexual expression".

Autosadism is inflicting pain or humiliation on oneself. The photo shows pornographic actress Felicia Fox pouring hot wax over herself in front of an audience (U.S. 2005). Her nipples and genitals are also clamped.

In contrast to frameworks seeking to explain sadomasochism through psychological, psychoanalytic, medical, or forensic approaches, which seek to categorize behavior and desires, and find a root cause, Romana Byrne suggests that such practices can be seen as examples of "aesthetic sexuality", in which a founding physiological or psychological impulse is irrelevant. Rather, according to Byrne, sadism and masochism may be practiced through choice and deliberation, driven by certain aesthetic goals tied to style, pleasure, and identity, which in certain circumstances, she claims can be compared with the creation of art.

Psychological perspectives

Historical perspective

Sadomasochism, or the use of pain as a sexual stimulant, has been practiced since ancient times with some scholars suggesting that it is an integral part of human culture. There are even those who propose that it is already present among nonhuman primate and primitive human communities before emerging in ancient cultures. One of the oldest surviving narratives that cited its practice was an Egyptian love song, sung by a man expressing a desire to be subjugated by a woman so he could experience pleasure as she treats him like a slave. The Roman historian Juvenal also described a case of a woman who submitted herself to the whipping and beating of the followers of Pan. Other early libertine writers like John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester espoused ideals that in modern times are associated with sadomasochism.

The modern conceptualization of sadomasochism stemmed from the terms sadism and masochism introduced to the medical field by German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his 1886 compilation of case studies Psychopathia Sexualis. Pain and physical violence are not essential in Krafft-Ebing's conception, and he defined "masochism" (German Masochismus) entirely in terms of control. Sigmund Freud, a psychoanalyst and a contemporary of Krafft-Ebing, noted that both were often found in the same individuals, and combined the two into a single dichotomous entity known as "sadomasochism" (German Sadomasochismus, often abbreviated as S&M or S/M). This observation is commonly verified in both literature and practice; many practitioners, both sadists and masochists, define themselves as switches and "switchable" — capable of taking and deriving pleasure in either role. However, French philosopher Gilles Deleuze argued that the concurrence of sadism and masochism proposed in Freud's model is the result of "careless reasoning," and should not be taken for granted.

Freud introduced the terms "primary" and "secondary" masochism. Though this idea has come under a number of interpretations, in a primary masochism the masochist undergoes a complete, rather than partial, rejection by the model or courted object (or sadist), possibly involving the model taking a rival as a preferred mate. This complete rejection is related to the death drive (Todestrieb) in Freud's psychoanalysis. In a secondary masochism, by contrast, the masochist experiences a less serious, more feigned rejection and punishment by the model.

Rejection is not desired by a primary masochist in quite the same sense as the feigned rejection occurring within a mutually consensual relationship—or even where the masochist happens to be the one having actual initiative power. In Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, René Girard attempts to resuscitate and reinterpret Freud's distinction of primary and secondary masochism, in connection with his own philosophy.

Both Krafft-Ebing and Freud assumed that sadism in men resulted from the distortion of the aggressive component of the male sexual instinct. Masochism in men, however, was seen as a more significant aberration, contrary to the nature of male sexuality. Freud doubted that masochism in men was ever a primary tendency, and speculated that it may exist only as a transformation of sadism. Sadomasochism in women received comparatively little discussion, as it was believed that it occurred primarily in men. Both also assumed that masochism was so inherent to female sexuality that it would be difficult to distinguish as a separate inclination.

A submissive woman bound to a Saint Andrew's Cross being whipped at the Folsom Street Fair. The red marks on her body are from the whipping.

Havelock Ellis, in Studies in the Psychology of Sex, argued that there is no clear distinction between the aspects of sadism and masochism, and that they may be regarded as complementary emotional states. He also made the important point that sadomasochism is concerned only with pain in regard to sexual pleasure, and not in regard to cruelty, as Freud had suggested. In other words, the sadomasochist generally desires that the pain be inflicted or received in love, not in abuse, for the pleasure of either one or both participants. This mutual pleasure may even be essential for the satisfaction of those involved.

Here, Ellis touches upon the often paradoxical nature of widely reported consensual S&M practices. It is described as not simply pain to initiate pleasure, but violence—"or the simulation of involuntary violent acts"—said to express love. This irony is highly evident in the observation by many, that not only are popularly practiced sadomasochistic activities usually performed at the express request of the masochist, but that it is often the designated masochist who may direct such activities, through subtle emotional cues perceived or mutually understood and consensually recognized by the designated sadist

In his essay Coldness and Cruelty, (originally Présentation de Sacher-Masoch, 1967) Gilles Deleuze rejects the term "sadomasochism" as artificial, especially in the context of the quintessentially modern masochistic work, Sacher-Masoch's Venus In Furs. Deleuze's counterargument is that the tendency toward masochism is based on intensified desire brought on or enhanced by the acting out of frustration at the delay of gratification. Taken to its extreme, an intolerably indefinite delay is 'rewarded' by punitive perpetual delay, manifested as unwavering coldness. The masochist derives pleasure from, as Deleuze puts it, the "Contract": the process by which he can control another individual and turn the individual into someone cold and callous. The sadist, in contrast, derives pleasure from the "Law": the unavoidable power that places one person below another. The sadist attempts to destroy the ego in an effort to unify the id and super-ego, in effect gratifying the most base desires the sadist can express while ignoring or completely suppressing the will of the ego, or of the conscience. Thus, Deleuze attempts to argue that masochism and sadism arise from such different impulses that the combination of the two terms is meaningless and misleading. A masochist's perception of their own self-subjugating sadistic desires and capacities are treated by Deleuze as reactions to prior experience of sadistic objectification. (For example, in terms of psychology, compulsively defensive appeasement of pathological guilt feelings as opposed to the volition of a strong free will.) The epilogue of Venus In Furs shows the character of Severin has become embittered by his experiment in the alleged control of masochism, and advocates instead the domination of women.

Before Deleuze, however, Sartre had presented his own theory of sadism and masochism, at which Deleuze's deconstructive argument, which took away the symmetry of the two roles, was probably directed. Because the pleasure or power in looking at the victim figures prominently in sadism and masochism, Sartre was able to link these phenomena to his famous philosophy of the "Look of the Other". Sartre argued that masochism is an attempt by the "For-itself" (consciousness) to reduce itself to nothing, becoming an object that is drowned out by the "abyss of the Other's subjectivity". By this Sartre means that, given that the "For-itself" desires to attain a point of view in which it is both subject and object, one possible strategy is to gather and intensify every feeling and posture in which the self appears as an object to be rejected, tested, and humiliated; and in this way, the For-itself strives toward a point of view in which there is only one subjectivity in the relationship, which would be both that of the abuser and the abused. Conversely, Sartre held sadism to be the effort to annihilate the subjectivity of the victim. That means that the sadist is exhilarated by the emotional distress of the victim because they seek a subjectivity that views the victim as both subject and object.

This argument may appear stronger if it is understood that this "Look of the Other" theory is either only an aspect of the faculties of desire, or somehow its primary faculty. This does not account for the turn that Deleuze took for his own theory of these matters, but the premise of "desire as 'Look'" is associated with theoretical distinctions always detracted by Deleuze, in what he regarded as its essential error to recognize "desire as lack"—which he identified in the philosophical temperament of Plato, Socrates, and Lacan. For Deleuze, insofar as desire is a lack it is reducible to the "Look".

After Deleuze, René Girard included his account of sadomasochism in Things Hidden Since the Foundation of The World (1978), making the chapter on masochism a coherent part of his theory of mimetic desire. In this view of sadomasochism, the violence of the practices is an expression of a peripheral rivalry that has developed around the actual love-object. There is clearly a similarity to Deleuze, both in the violence surrounding the memory of mimetic crisis and its avoidance, and in the resistance to affection that is focused on by Deleuze, there is an understanding of the value of the love object in terms of the processes of its valuation, acquisition and the test it imposes on the suitor.

S&M may involve painful acts such as cock and ball torture. The image shows a dominant woman holding a bound man's penis, applying electricity to his testicles at the Folsom Street Fair.

Modern understanding

There are a number of reasons commonly given for why a sadomasochist finds the practice of S&M enjoyable, and the answer is largely dependent on the individual. For some, taking on a role of compliance or helplessness offers a form of therapeutic escape; from the stresses of life, from responsibility, or from guilt. For others, being under the power of a strong, controlling presence may evoke the feelings of safety and protection associated with childhood. They likewise may derive satisfaction from earning the approval of that figure (see: Servitude (BDSM)). A sadist, on the other hand, may enjoy the feeling of power and authority that comes from playing the dominant role, or receive pleasure vicariously through the suffering of the masochist. Dr. Joseph Merlino, author and psychiatry adviser to the New York Daily News, said in an interview that a sadomasochistic relationship, as long as it is consensual, is not a psychological problem:

It's a problem only if it is getting that individual into difficulties, if he or she is not happy with it, or it's causing problems in their personal or professional lives. If it's not, I'm not seeing that as a problem. But assuming that it did, what I would wonder about is what is his or her biology that would cause a tendency toward a problem, and dynamically, what were the experiences this individual had that led him or her toward one of the ends of the spectrum.

— Joseph Merlino

It is usually agreed upon by most psychologists that experiences during early sexual development can have a profound effect on the character of sexuality later in life. Sadomasochistic desires, however, seem to form at a variety of ages. Some individuals report having had them before puberty, while others do not discover them until well into adulthood. According to one study, the majority of male sadomasochists (53%) developed their interest before the age of 15, while the majority of females (78%) developed their interest afterwards (Breslow, Evans, and Langley 1985). The prevalence of sadomasochism within the general population is unknown. Despite female sadists being less visible than males, some surveys have resulted in comparable amounts of sadistic fantasies between females and males. The results of such studies indicate that one's sex may not be the determining factor for a preference towards sadism.

Recent surveys on the spread of sadomasochistic fantasies and practices show strong variations in the range of their results. Nonetheless, researchers assume that 5 to 25 percent of the population practices sexual behavior related to pain or dominance and submission. The population with related fantasies is believed to be even larger.

Medical and forensic classification

See also: Sexual masochism disorder

In 1995, Denmark became the first European Union country to have completely removed sadomasochism from its national classification of diseases. This was followed by Sweden in 2009, Norway in 2010, Finland in 2011 and Iceland in 2015.

DSM

Medical opinion of sadomasochistic activities has changed over time. The classification of sadism and masochism in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has always been separate; sadism was included in the DSM-I in 1952, while masochism was added in the DSM-II in 1968. Contemporary psychology continues to identify sadism and masochism separately, and categorizes them as either practised as a lifestyle, or as a medical condition.

The current version of the American Psychiatric Association's manual, DSM-5, excludes consensual BDSM from diagnosis as a disorder when the sexual interests cause no harm or distress.

Sexual sadism disorder however, listed within the DSM-5, is where arousal patterns involving consenting and non‐consenting others are not distinguished.

ICD

On 18 June 2018, the WHO (World Health Organization) published ICD-11, in which sadomasochism, together with fetishism and fetishistic transvestism (cross-dressing for sexual pleasure) are now removed as psychiatric diagnoses. Moreover, discrimination against fetish-having and BDSM individuals is considered inconsistent with human rights principles endorsed by the United Nations and The World Health Organization.

The classifications of sexual disorders reflect contemporary sexual norms and have moved from a model of pathologization or criminalization of non-reproductive sexual behaviors to a model that reflects sexual well-being and pathologizes the absence or limitation of consent in sexual relations.

The ICD-11 classification, contrary to ICD-10 and DSM-5, clearly distinguishes consensual sadomasochistic behaviours (BDSM) that do not involve inherent harm to self or others, from harmful violence on non‐consenting persons (Coercive sexual sadism disorder).

In this regard, "ICD-11 go[es] further than the changes made for DSM-5 … in the removal of disorders diagnosed based on consenting behaviors that are not in and of themselves associated with distress or functional impairment."

In Europe, an organization called ReviseF65 worked to remove sadomasochism from the ICD. On commission from the WHO ICD-11 Working Group on Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health, ReviseF65 in 2009 and 2011 delivered reports documenting that sadomasochism and sexual violence are two different phenomena. The report concluded that the sadomasochism diagnosis was outdated, non-scientific, and stigmatizing.

Based on advances in research and clinical practice, and major shifts in social attitudes and in relevant policies, laws, and human rights standards", the World Health Organization (18 June 2018) removed Fetishism, Transvestic Fetishism and Sadomasochism as psychiatric diagnoses.

The ICD-11 classification considers Sadomasochism as a variant in sexual arousal and private behavior without appreciable public health impact and for which treatment is neither indicated nor sought."

Further the ICD-11 guidelines "respect the rights of individuals whose atypical sexual behavior is consensual and not harmful."

WHO's ICD-11 Working Group admitted that psychiatric diagnoses have been used to harass, silence, or imprison sadomasochists. Labeling as such may create harm, convey social judgment, and exacerbate existing stigma and violence to individuals so labeled.

According to ICD-11, psychiatric diagnoses can no longer be used to discriminate against BDSM people and fetishists.

Forensic classification

According to Anil Aggrawal, in forensic science, levels of sexual sadism and masochism are classified as follows:

Sexual masochists:

• Class I: Bothered by, but not seeking out, fantasies. May be preponderantly sadists with minimal masochistic tendencies or non-sadomasochistic with minimal masochistic tendencies
• Class II: Equal mix of sadistic and masochistic tendencies. Like to receive pain but also like to be dominant partner (in this case, sadists). Sexual orgasm is achieved without pain or humiliation.
• Class III: Masochists with minimal to no sadistic tendencies. Preference for pain or humiliation (which facilitates orgasm), but not necessary to orgasm. Capable of romantic attachment.
• Class IV: Exclusive masochists (i.e. cannot form typical romantic relationships, cannot achieve orgasm without pain or humiliation).

Sexual sadists:

• Class I: Bothered by sexual fantasies but do not act on them.
• Class II: Act on sadistic urges with consenting sexual partners (masochists or otherwise). Categorization as leptosadism is outdated.
• Class III: Act on sadistic urges with non-consenting victims, but do not seriously injure or kill. May coincide with sadistic rapists.
• Class IV: Only act with non-consenting victims and will seriously injure or kill them.

The difference between I–II and III–IV is consent.

BDSM

Main article: BDSM

It has been argued that in many countries, the law disregards the sexual nature of sadomasochism - or the fact that participants enter these relationships voluntarily because they enjoy the experience. Instead, the criminal justice system focuses on what it views as dangerous or violent behavior. What this essentially means is that instead of attempting to understand and accommodate for voluntary sadomasochism, the law typically views these incidences as cases of assault. This can be seen with the well-known case in Great Britain, where 15 men were tried for a range of offences relating to sadomasochism.

Harsh acts of S&M may include consensual torture of the sensitive parts of body, such as "cock and ball torture" for males, and breast torture and "pussy torture" for females. Acts common for both genders may include "ass torture" (ex. using speculum), "face torture" (ex. nose torture), etc. In extreme cases, sadism and masochism can include fantasies, sexual urges or behavior which cause observably significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning, to the point that they can be considered part of a mental disorder. Ernulf and Innala (1995) observed discussions among individuals with such interests, one of whom described the goal of hyperdominance.

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  Woman's buttocks turned red as a result of a paddling
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  Play piercing on a woman's back using multiple needles
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  Pussy torture: wax play done on a bound nude woman's genitals at Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival, Germany, 2014.
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  A submissive man is consoled by his dominant after she has made his back bloody by beating.

Other

A table in Larry Townsend's The Leatherman's Handbook II (the 1983 second edition; the 1972 first edition did not include this list) states that a black handkerchief is a symbol for sadomasochism in the handkerchief code, which is a code employed usually among gay male casual-sex seekers or BDSM practitioners in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. Wearing the handkerchief on the left indicates the top, dominant, or active partner; right indicates the bottom, submissive, or passive partner. However, negotiation with a prospective partner remains important because, as Townsend noted, people may wear hankies of any color "only because the idea of the hankie turns them on" or they "may not even know what it means".

See also

• Paraphilia, the experiencing of sexual arousal from atypical origins, similar to a kink or fetish
• Algolagnia (previously known as algophilia), the paraphilia for pain
• Schadenfreude
• Edgeplay
• Erotic humiliation
• Master/slave (BDSM)
• Sexual sadism disorder and Sexual masochism disorder, the medical conditions where unconsenting parties are involved
• Consent in BDSM
• Safeword
• Play (BDSM)
• Glossary of BDSM

References

Bibliography

• Aggrawal, Anil (2009). Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices. Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 410. ISBN 978-1-4200-4308-2.
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (PDF) (4 ed.). Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Association. 1994. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
• Sartorius, Norman (1992). The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders. Geneva: World Health Organization.
• Krueger, Richard B.; Kaplan, Meg S. (2001). "The Paraphilic and Hypersexual Disorders:An Overview". Journal of Psychiatric Practice. 7 (6): 391–403. doi:10.1097/00131746-200111000-00005. PMID 15990552. S2CID 17478379.
• Fedoroff, Paul J. (2008). "Sadism, Sadomasochism, Sex, and Violence". Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 53 (10): 637–646. doi:10.1177/070674370805301003. PMID 18940032. S2CID 19577135.
• Gordon, Harvey (2008). "The treatment of paraphilias: An historical perspective". Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health. 18 (2): 79–87. doi:10.1002/cbm.687. PMID 18383202.
• Byrne, Romana (2013). Aesthetic Sexuality: A Literary History of Sadomasochism. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4411-8358-3. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2023.

Further reading

• Falaky, Faycal (2014). Social Contract, Masochist Contract: Aesthetics of Freedom and Submission in Rousseau. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-4989-0
• Newmahr, Staci (2011). Playing on the Edge: Sadomasochism, Risk and Intimacy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-22285-0.
• Phillips, Anita (1998). A Defense of Masochism. ISBN 0-312-19258-4.
• Odd Reiersol, Svein Skeid:The ICD Diagnoses of Fetishism and Sadomasochism, in Journal of Homosexuality, Harrigton Park Press, Vol.50, No.2/3, 2006, pp. 243–262
• Saez, Fernando y Olga Viñuales, Armarios de Cuero, Editorial Bellaterra, 2007. ISBN 978-84-7290-345-6
• Spengler, Andreas (1977). "Manifest sadomasochism of males: results of an empirical study". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 6 (6): 441–56. doi:10.1007/BF01541150. PMID 931623. S2CID 35038106.
• Tupper, Peter. A Lover's Pinch: A Cultural History of Sadomasochism. United States: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. ISBN 978-1538111178.
• Weinberg, Thomas S., "Sadomasochism in the United States: A Review of Recent Sociological Literature", The Journal of Sex Research 23 (Feb. 1987) 50–69
• Nicolini, Andrea, Masochism. A Challenge for Ethics, Mimesis International, 2022. ISBN 978-88-69774-14-0

External links

• "Pain and the erotic" by Lesley Hall

Videos

• "Ms. Servalan Cane Class @ DomConLA taken by Mistress Ellen"
• "50 Shades of Fringe. Blade & whip demo."
• "Piercing and Fire Show @ Tattoo Messe Frankfurt 20 03 2015"
• "BDSM Board Game"