Thursday 12 March 2009

Scenes and Settings, part 3


I thought I should continue my blogging about scenes and settings. We tend to be quite similar when it comes to that, don't you think? Often when I write of some setting I find particularly interesting I find that I share it with others. Maybe it all follows a pattern and we all think we are unique while we are just parts of something bigger.


Or maybe there are something general in those scenes that speak to our minds. Like there are historical or at least possible scenes that evoke something within us that is easily transformed into fantasies. The slave market is an obvious choice, it is degrading and speaks to our sense of unfairness. In a world that publicly shuns objectification of women, especially as sexual beings (here is the hypocrisy, though, never before has the world been so full of exposed female bodies, that are there for the pleasure of the viewer), the fantasy about a time and a place when a woman was an object you could buy and sell seems alluring, maybe because it provokes our good taste. Perhaps it is because it is about the public display of bodies, the objectification of women that makes us go there, that makes it forbidden and exciting.


I know that some out there likes to turn it around, to have a man be the focus of attention. I know this. But this is my blog so I simplify it a bit. For me there is always a woman being sold or whipped or whatever she is subjected to.


Another of those scenes that lends itself well to fantasies is the public punishment of criminals. There is a plethora of scenes and settings that fascinates us. Is it because someone is exposed to public shame and agony we like it? A real public punishment was surely a gruesome event but in our mind we take away from it some of the forbidden fascination and transform it into a fantasy.


I bet there were more men who were publicly whipped than women but in fantasy land it is often a woman who is there, tied to some whipping post being treated with a whip. In fantasy land she has no right to retain any decency. No she is brutally stripped naked, so it becomes a scene with one person stripped and exposed in front of the many and subjected to a cruel punishment.


We take something that has some roots in reality and transform it into a scene from fantasy. The shame is accentuated by being naked, the excruciating pain becomes passion and arousal.


A very typical scene, at least in my mind, is the public square, in some medieval town. There is a scaffold with a whipping post. There is a crowd, hungry for the spectacle to come. There is a man, in mask. A strong man, muscles shining in the sun, boots, a broad leather belt and a vicious whip in his hand. He is the Man. He becomes the symbol of male power, the ruthless lover, the one who takes but gives nothing back.


There are also other men, grim and old; the magistrate, the judges, the ones who judge and decide on the punishment. They are not attractive. They are cruel and ugly and cold. They are there to see that the punishment is carried out according to the law. They are the men who have the power.


Then there is the woman, the heroine, the criminal, the one deserving the punishment. She is helpless and vulnerable and have no means of protection, even the law wants to see her suffer. The crowd wants to see her suffer, the judges want to see her suffer.


On my medieval square she is stripped naked, her flimsy dress is ripped from her body and she is tied to the pole. The Man, the masked man with the whip steps forward and the crowd falls silent.


This was not supposed to be about what happens. It was about the setting, the scene. You have to do what you like with this. I am done describing it now. Maybe I return someday to write a story.


What about mutuality, that thing we really need to have for it not to become really cruel. I think this woman, in her heart, really fancies the Man with the whip, and somewhere deep inside she gets a thrill from having her clothes ripped off and whipped senseless. As I said, the pain transforms to passion in fantasy land, passion and arousal, and maybe more.


10 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Janice --

As much as I enjoy your stories, I savor your own voice, and your thought processes (even rants) even more. Truth be told, this entry is, for me, more exciting than a story, however well written, depicting the same events.

That said, the subject matter is compelling, mysteriously so. You are correct: as with much fantasy, the reality would be horrifying. You know how I relish the thought (and the wonderful image -- kudos!) of the hapless lassie facing the brutal whip. I drink in her gasps, her pleas, her shrieks. But in my fantasy the stripes are livid but not bloody, and they leave no scars on body or psyche.

I am also intrigued by your (yes, your) relation to the whipper (whom you did not draw masked). To think that she fancies him -- fancy that! And yes, she embraces the humiliation and the agony. Perhaps she has in some way chosen her fate, or contributed to it.
Perhaps it is her destiny, her purpose, to be hapless, on display, stripped and striped. To be so, forever, at least in the mind's eye.

Regards,

Wystan

george said...

I like your style Janice. Good writing, good manners, interesting thoughts and ideas, not afraid to tell someone to bugger off, very erotic, very stimulating. More strength to your pen. Keep writing, keep thinking feeling exploring analyzing, being pedantic, and very erotic.
I too am surprised by the implication between the whipper and the victim. But I can easily suspend my disbelief. Keep it up.

Janice said...

Dear Wystan, it pleases me immensely that you like my own voice, as you call it. This was never a pure story blog but a blog for thoughts. I had some idea that you might like this theme and I am glad you did. You have written evocatively about it.

Dear George, thank you for the compliment, and about my manners too...smiles. And thank you for your encouragement, I will continue writing and fantasising, that will not stop. Still a little amazed that you both react to the woman's fascination for the man with the whip.

Hugs

Janice

Mina said...

For me the story is always about the relationship, the connection and interaction of the characters.

However, I think you are right about the scenes and setting that so many are the same as others. Perhaps they are the stereotypes that we are brought up with through the fairytales and such that we are told. The handsome prince, the maiden in the tower that has to be rescued. It is all so nice and respectable. As we get older perhaps we just give them all a more sexual flavour and it is why so many are similar.

Hugs
Mina

Lea said...

Just enjoying reading some more of your blogs. Very interesting analyses.

Yes, there clearly is a power relationship/interaction - and that's maybe natural for human beings? Being primates. Yet, to me, the most erotic element is the *trust* relationship/interaction. Additional thought - why is nudity related to power-play? Is this only cultural? Anyway - as I said - there's always a power element - and as you said too - there has to be mutuality for it to be erotic - I think this is the element of trust in D/s and BDSM - and this makes it rather magical, doesn't it.

Then there's the other point you mention - that our current culture, in some ways, rejects objectification of women - so extremely that some elements of our culture end up demonizing sexuality altogether? Yet, in other ways promotes such objectification. And, in my opinion, the worst side-effect of this, that women seem to, in our recent culture, *only* to been seen as, quote, victims, in all sexual interactions? And this is not good, for women, for girls, for anyone, for own our human sexual freedom ...

Anonymous said...

Dear Janice:

As in "Public whipping" that i recently commented, or "Platform" around the same subject, this text it's realy interesting. You write very well, but the main point it's the way how you can express the feelings and the thoughts of the girl that will be whipped, and her relation with all the scenery and caracters. The progressive increasment of the fear, the humilliation, the pain, but also of the arousement and the excitation. That it's very dificult to find in a text, but you have done it. Thank you for sharing it to us.
Regards.

Janice said...

Dear Anonymous, thank you for your words. It means a lot to be told that I have managed to capture something that rings true to you as a reader. Thank you for letting me know.

Hugs

Janice

Sylvan said...

Men can easily fantasize being publicly whipped by women. In the National Geographic of May 1988 is an article on the south Indian State of Kerala, which is known for its matriarchal and matrilineal cultures. The poetess Kamala Das, who was raised in a large household, tells: "I remember my mother-in-law... she used to be like the rising sun, you know? In the courtyard of her home was a balcony, and she used to sit there in the afternoon and settle disputes. Everybody, all the poor people from the locality, would come with their grievances, and it was a court. She would see that the guilty ones were flogged right in front of her. Whipping! You know, tying them up to a jackfruit tree and whipping! Women were that way — so strong!" I could imagine being a recipient, instead of a spectator, of the lash in such a court.

Janice said...

Dear Sylvan, sounds like a powerful image. I can almost see it for my eyes. Have to say, though, that the jury is still out regarding the question whether there really are or were any matriarchal societies. Doesn't rule out strong women, though.

Hugs

Janice