“In the aberrant we find delight and pleasure in the most detestable.”
CHARLES BAUDELAIRE
Masochism is sexual arousal as a consequence of one’s own suffering, either by physical pain or by humiliation or mistreatment.
The sexual pleasure obtained by suffering domination and humiliation is very old, as Aristotle begged Philis, a public woman, to use him as a horse and beat his buttocks.
The extreme masochist does not need to have sexual intercourse to obtain sexual satisfaction; the practice has a lot of masturbatory aspects, since intercourse is replaced by the symbolic manifestation of more or less real humiliation.
Sadism is the sexual arousal provoked by the fact or fantasy of subjecting another person or persons to physical or psychological suffering. The sadist, therefore, not only derives arousal from inflicting physical pain but also from humiliating, subduing and degrading the person.
Pleasure in cruelty and sadism differ in the fact that sadism involves sexual arousal, while cruelty is the mere delight that some people might take in the suffering of others.
“We will indiscriminately indulge in whatever our passions suggest and we will always be happy. Conscience is not the voice of nature, but only the voice of prejudice.”
MARQUIS DE SADE
The name sadism derives from the famous French writer Marquis de Sade, contemporary to the French Revolution. The Marquis was the protagonist of several scandals when he was denounced by prostitutes who accused him of drugging and beating them. For this reason he spent 13 years in prison, which he dedicated to writing his fantasies in response to the love letters his wife sent him. Sade’s work was censored for years, among his works “Justine” and “The 120 Days of Sodom” stand out. Within the sadomasochistic culture there is a certain degree of transgression of the norm, of approaching the forbidden.
Other cultures
Also in other cultures very distant from the Western culture we find traces of sadomasochistic practices.
The Chocó Indians, according to Doctor José Manuel Reverte Comas, are sexually aroused in marriage with respective sadomasochistic actions. She digs her husband’s nails into his chin until he bleeds, and he gives her strong and painful pinches on her hips that cause hematomas.
Likewise, the Hindus point out in some of their writings, seven kinds of bites by means of which the giver obtains sadistic pleasure and the receiver masochistic excitement.
It is an ancient custom in the island of Borneo and other Malaysian and Indonesian islands for the male to pierce his glans with a metal rod called “kalang” topped by two metal buttons. In this way, they practice intercourse, which their wives seem to be very grateful for, as they even give them a spare “kalang” from time to time.
In search of references
These sexual behaviors have often been labeled as sexual deviations, aberrations and even framed within pathologies such as “perversion too far from normal”. However, sexual disinhibition has brought to light the fact that this type of sexual behavior is part of the sexual life of many people who do not suffer from any type of pathology.
It is worth mentioning that the normalization of this type of practices has reached the point of holding sadomasochistic meetings, such as the First Sadomasochistic Event held in Buenos Aires, in which besides offering different elements of torture and typical sadomasochistic behaviors, the Dress Code consisting of leather, PVC, latex and dark clothes is specified.
Despite this, the world of sadomasochism is still shrouded in a halo of mystery and depravity and perhaps, the line that separates healthy sexual pleasure from sexual disorder is difficult to perceive if not contemplated from a sexological perspective.
With these premises it is not complicated to understand why the Internet has become a perfect and safe place to satiate the sadomasochistic appetite of many people. There is a proliferation of pages dedicated to photographs, videos and the sale of objects related to sadomasochism.
Some sadomasochistic practices
Flagellation
Flagellation is the act of methodically beating the human body with special implements such as floggers, whips, straps, rods, ropes, etc…
Spanking
Spanking is the action of inflicting pain on the buttocks, with the palms of the hands or some other object such as a whip, paddle or sandal.
Bodange
Consists of immobilizing the person and performing various erotic practices on him/her. It is mainly characterized by the use of ropes, although ropes, straps, chains, leather or metal handcuffs (for the neck, waist, fingers, hands, feet), shackles with extenders to tie on the wall, built-in traps, mobile traps can also be used.
Anal childbirth
It consists of the simulation of a birth through the anus. To perform it, the area must be cleaned with an enema and the dilatation must be stimulated through prostatic massages by introducing a small object and then expelling it from the anus. This type of practice is usually performed on a gynecological table.
Needles
It consists of the application of needles in various parts of the body.
Electrostimulation
Consists of sexual stimulation by means of small electric shocks in the genital, anal or other non-erogenous areas of the body.
Slavery
In addition to the domination involved in this sexual practice, the masochist is sometimes caged naked while the sadistic partner masturbates in the presence of the captivity of the other.
Humiliation
For example being forced to crawl and bark like a dog or being subjected to verbal insults or defecating on oneself.
Fist
The action of inserting the fist of the hand into the vagina or anal region.
Golden shower
Consists of urinating on the other person.
Face Sitting
It consists of sitting on the other person’s face, obstructing the airway and thus causing asphyxiation.
Trampling
It is the action of stepping, walking on the body of the other person, it can be done with the bare foot or with footwear, exerting pressure with heels or the soles of the feet.
Velomancy
It is the application of hot wax from a candle on the skin of the other person.
Transformism
Dressing in clothes of the other sex. It can also be used as a form of humiliation.
Hypoxyphilia or erotic asphyxiation
It consists of being deprived of oxygen by means of chest compression, knots, ligatures, plastic bags, masks or chemical products capable of causing a decrease in cerebral oxygenation. But beware, this practice is certainly dangerous, in fact every year several people die in the world due to accidents while performing it.
Ugulation
Deep scratching of the partner’s skin during sexual intercourse.
Girdling
It consists of tying a person with ties and ropes and leaving him/her in a dark room that simulates a prison.
Picacism or pica
It is suffering by means of “taste” to try to ingest repugnant or simply non-food substances. Included in this behavior is the ingestion of feces and urine.
Cold
Exposure to cold is used to provoke sexual arousal, because of the suffering to the masochist due to the torture it entails.
Is it possible to scientifically delimit what is and what is not a perversion?
For many people these sexual practices may seem pathological, shameful and those who practice them depraved or mentally ill, however the number of perfectly healthy people who practice this type of behavior is very considerable.
There is no problem as long as it is clear that they are only roles, sexual games and both characters assume the erotic role they play, without doing anything that the other does not really want. In a sadomasochistic forum, one of the cybernauts said: “Through sadomasochistic practices we do not seek so much the pleasure of punishing and being punished but rather, the lucid awareness of that source of pleasure and its origin: dominance/obedience/submission”.
A few years ago, the APA (American Psychiatric Association) proposed a change to the term paraphilia because “perversion” had become excessively derogatory. Since then, sexologists and other health professionals have been using paraphilia to refer to the classic concept of perversion.
Inevitably we all have paraphilic elements in our sexuality, sexual pleasure is essentially obtained through play in which, as if it were a salad, multiple paraphilic aspects are combined: voyeur, exhibitionist, sadist, masochist, etc.
As in a salad, different elements can be enjoyed on different occasions, although it is frequent that each person has a greater preference for some of these paraphilic elements.
The essential key to the clinical diagnosis of paraphilia is the criterion of exclusivity in the peculiar way of obtaining sexual arousal. And by the way, they are more frequent among males than among females…
Contrary to what may be believed, the paraphilia disorder implies a tremendous limitation of the possibilities of enjoyment for the affected person.
The spectrum of possibilities for sexual arousal is reduced, and as the severity of the disorder progresses, the options for sexual arousal become increasingly restricted, as they are limited to the particular paraphilia.
They are often multiparaphiliacs, associating several paraphilic behaviors, for example: exhibitionist, voyeur and frotteur; or transvestite and fetishist, etc…
