Do Spankable Offenses Have a Shelf Life? (Club Meeting - 550)

“Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.” - Mason Cooley

Hello all. Welcome back to The Disciplinary Wives Club - Tribute.  Our weekly on-line gathering of women and men who are in, or would like to be in, a Domestic Discipline relationship.

 

I hope you all had a good week.  Mine was pretty uneventful, in part because I’m still having some trouble shaking the post-Covid symptoms.  It’s getting kind of old.  I also feel like I’m stuck between seasons, getting enthused for a spring that first we seemed to run right over, before returning to something more winter-like.  One day it’s pushing 90 degrees, and the next I’m shivering at the dog park in my down puffer jacket.  It’s like the universe dangling motorcycle season right in front of me but just beyond my grasp.

 

 

Thank you to those who participated in talking about last week’s topic on the feelings we experience when our wives show they are in charge or when they embrace their authority.  I always worry a topic is going to flop when I link it too closely to our mostly male membership’s “feelings” about something, even though it’s the emotions surrounding DD that I most like exploring here. 

 

This week’s topic is a little more concrete, and it’s based on this comment by Jackson (edited lightly for length) from a few weeks ago:

 

“My wife Lauren and I have been in FLR with DD F/m for a little more than 3 years now. My behavior has vastly improved and while far from perfect there are weeks where there really isn’t much to discuss in our weekly Sunday check in that is then followed by a spanking for the discussed infractions. Only recently, on weeks that have been really good or near perfect, She talks to me about past transgressions that have really hurt her. Before FLR I could be brash, arrogant, rude, and even mean or bullying. I used to call names during arguments. 

 

FLR has completely fixed that. Lauren is a very attractive woman and does not and never has had a weight problem, but for some reason years ago I had made comments about Her weight and basically engaged in “body shaming”. This caused Her a lot of pain. I also called Her out on numerous occasions for being too lenient in Her parenting of our sons. Our sons turned into successful, caring, compassionate men, and we are both very happy with and proud of them. They are that way largely because of Her parenting style. This criticism also causes Lauren pain even still. 

 

So, on “perfect” weeks She has started talking to me and scolding me during the spanking for these past misdeeds. I have to state during the punishment that “I will not body shame, that body shaming another person is always wrong”, and also “Your parenting skills are why we have such wonderful sons.” I find that this is intensely moving for me, and She has said that during the spanking She actually enjoys it and feels a sense of satisfaction and power that is healing. 

 

I have educated myself on somatic therapy (addressing past trauma through the body using sensual touch and pain), and I think that we are in a way practicing this technique through spanking and scolding and reciting the statements that resonate for me during the act.

 

I agree that the spanking has to have meaning and otherwise is just a beating, at least for me. Addressing past issues is healing for both of us and provides a sense of closure, healing and catharsis. I think we will continue to explore this on those weeks where otherwise a spanking would not be necessary. 

 

Intimacy and sex almost always follow a spanking. For us it is a time to be close, completely open with each other and it allows for an opportunity to take all defenses down and reclaim our true selves and to express the true, real love we feel for each other. For me especially it is a time and space to escape the Patriarchy that is so engrained and embraced by not only men but especially women in our culture and really throughout the world. I am so grateful that we found this lifestyle. I wish we had found it much earlier, but better late than never!”

 

There is a lot to unpack in Jackson’s comment, and it would probably be good for multiple topics, including DD and parenting styles and whether post-spanking intimacy helps or hurts the DD dynamic.

 

But, the part I really wanted to focus on is the bit about using DD to go back and address old—in Jackson’s account, sometimes very old—misbehavior. 

 

I would sum up the resulting topic as, “In your Domestic Discipline dynamic, does accountability (or penance, or clearing the slate) have a shelf life?”

 

 

I gave my own answer to that question in a reply to Jackson’s comment:

 

“There are a lot of interesting points here. I find that my need for accountability on particular issues usually has a pretty short shelf life. If something isn't dealt with in about a week, I'm over it.

 

But, I'm not sure that would be the case where hurting other people is concerned. I think I'm generally a nice person, and while I can ‘out asshole’ anyone if they start it, I try very hard to never "punch down", i.e. to attack people who aren't peers or above and able to fight back and then some, and I generally try not to hurt anyone without cause. But, we all make mistakes, and I do have a temper. On those occasions where I have said or done something that I know was hurtful and uncalled for, those things do tend to stick with me for a much longer time.

 

So, I can see how going back and addressing old behavior that fits in that category could give sufficient meaning to a spanking that it would still satisfy my need for accountability. And, while I don't really carry grudges myself, my wife certainly does, and I can see how dealing with some past hurtful conduct would be meaningful for her.”

 

So, for me, the need for accountability does have a shelf life.  And, for minor or more pedestrian matters, it tends to be pretty short.  Though, I don’t know whether the ranking is intuitive, and the ranking itself seems to have a shelf life.

 

The best example is probably drinking to excess.  The day after, I often feel disappointed in myself, though I also often feel like I need at least a day to recover in order to focus on the spanking as opposed to the hangover.  Yet, if there is a delay of even three or four days, I’ve fully moved on.

 

Conversely, things that might seem minor to her can leave me feeling angry or frustrated with myself for at least several days and often longer.  An example would be certain acts of carelessness, especially if they resulted in substantial loss of time or money and could have been easily avoided.

 

A recent example touched on both those scenarios. I went out with a friend for lunch and “a couple of beers”, but it turned into most of an afternoon and several beers.  A day or so before, I couldn’t find one of my favorite jackets.  Luckily, it turned out I had left it in a locker at the gym and someone turned it into Lost & Found.  Anne didn’t end up spanking me for the excessive alcohol, but her questioning seemed to indicate she saw it as spankable.  I was far more focused, however, on the carelessness that caused me to almost lose my favorite jacket.  I didn’t ask for a spanking for it (or for the drinking), but that was largely because I was feeling so lousy from the long-Covid stuff.  I definitely was angry with myself for it.

 

Another good example is from three or four years ago.  I was going on a group motorcycle tour, and I neglected to inspect my tires before the trip.  One turned out to be way too worn for the conditions, and it put me in some precarious positions over the course of the trip and also caused problems for the group in helping me get up a particularly gnarly trip.  I was angry at myself about that one not just for days but for several weeks.  I didn’t ask for a spanking for that one either, but I’ve made progress on that front in recent years and, if it happened today, I think I would ask for it.

 

Jackson’s primary examples were about incidents in which he said rude or hurtful things to his wife.  I don’t know what my shelf life for those kinds of incidents might be, but I do note that the degree of my disappointment or anger at myself for things like carelessness ramps up if it caused harm or extra work for someone else.

 

 

However, the length of our need for accountability as husbands wasn’t what Jackson’s examples were really getting at. His focus was not on his need for accountability but, rather, on his wife’s need/desire to mete it out. It seems that some of his comments were hurtful enough to her that holding him accountable even years later helped her get the lingering anger or hurt off her chest.

 

Jackson doesn’t seem to take issue with that.  We haven’t explored using DD to address anything so long term and, therefore, I’m not sure how I would react.  Because I do tend to hold on to feelings of guilt when I’ve harmed or hurt others, I suspect I would be fine with it and might even get some emotional benefit from it myself, though it might depend on the extent to which I agreed that whatever I said or did was wrong and fairly substantial. And, while I don't tend to hold grudges, Anne does, so I wouldn't be surprised if she found exploring spanking for long-past behavior just as gratifying as Jackson's Lauren apparently does.

 

 

Though, if I were convinced that something I did had left genuine bad feelings, I think I probably could get my mind around being spanked for it even if it had been unintentional or if I didn’t necessarily agree that it was a serious matter. And, being spanked under such circumstances might at least have a prophylactic effect, teaching me to think more before I speak.

 

  

What about you?  Does your need for accountability or consequences have a shelf life?  If so, how does that work?  Does it vary by the kind of offense?  By whether others suffered bad consequences or hurt feelings because of your behavior or harsh/thoughtless words?   

 

What about alleviating hour own long-term guilt? Are there any things from even the distant past that you might want to be spanked for, to relieve yourself of guilt or make amends?

 

 

Just as importantly, how does your wife approach the passing of time after an offense has occurred?  Does she tend to forget about it quickly if punishment doesn’t quickly follow the crime?  Or, will she circle back and address things several days (or longer), after the offense?   

 

 

What is her statute of limitations on your bad conduct, if any?  Are any of the other wives like Jackson’s Lauren, spanking for hurtful behavior that happened months or years before? Do you think spankings for long-past behavior would be helpful, or counterproductive, in your DD relationship?

 

Have a great week.

 

 

What Feelings are Evoked When a Disciplinary/Spanking Wife Embraces Her Authority? (The Club - Meeting 549)

“Power is not a means; it is an end.”  - George Orwell

Hello all. Welcome back to The Disciplinary Wives Club - Tribute.  Our weekly on-line gathering of women and men who are in, or would like to be in, a Domestic Discipline relationship.

 

I hope you all had a good week.  Mine was fairly good, though there were a couple of instances of carelessness that left me frustrated with myself.  And, the week ended with a very long lunch with a friend at which “a few beers” arguably became a few too many, though my own view is it was kind of borderline. And, it didn’t morph into other bad conduct, like staying up late.  So, I’m probably owed a spanking, though it’s one of those situations in which what Anne thinks she’s spanking for her different from what I think I am being spanked for.

 

 

Thanks to those of you who talked about the role of embarrassment in your Domestic Discipline relationship, including the embarrassment associated with crying.  Given my morbid fascination with crying from a spanking and my inability to experience it after 20+ years, I got some hope from comment from Edward, who said:

 

“I had a breakthrough about two years ago, and broke down into tears, with all out bawling, and sobbing. This was after years of D.D. with never crying once. Since then, it's happened many times, and it comes much easier.”

 

Another interesting comment came from Jake, who opined about the relationship between crying and authority:

 

My own view is that much of what drives all this emotionally is differences in status and times where those differences are not just exposed but emphasized. So, what I see bringing on a feeling of vulnerability is simply her being in a position of authority, which she feels is appropriate to the relationship and an eager, smirking willingness not just to exercise it, but to have occasions where her subordinate affirms it in a manner at odds with his own dignity.

 

It makes sense that those who have cried hard while being spanked point to the importance of scolding. Being held accountable by a romantic partner who considers you in need of discipline is humbling.

 

I tend to see hard crying as an expression of acknowledging authority. An unstated but heartfelt and deeply embarrassing declaration that "You're in charge here. This is the right way to handle my misbehavior. Spanking works!", validates the disciplinarian's beliefs about their relative status and her role.

 

So much of spanking in general is about a demonstration and reestablishment of authority. Some of the language of spanking is about this, e.g. being put in one's place, or receiving a reality check, as is the emphasis on the spankee being humbled in multiple ways (e.g. listening instead of talking, having to justify one's behavior to someone else, state of dress, physical position) instead of it being strictly about pain.

 

Jake's comments suggest something that I think is implicit in DD but that we don't talk about a lot, namely that it is, at the end of the day, an arrangement that is purpose-built for shifting the power dynamic. In our egalitarian society, it cuts against the grain in intentionally giving one partner unequal power.  It's why I've always liked this cartoon by KDPierre (sorry, I'm not aware of  place he currently is posting his art):

 

 

Jake’s emphasis on authority, and how authority affects important aspects of the DD relationship and the emotions involved, was a good lead-in for this topic suggestion from Norton:

 

I would be curious to hear more about how many of you feel about your wife being in charge and embracing her role. Some of the comments almost sound like complaining about being in this subordinate position, when the usual reason it is happening is because we almost always have asked for it. As mentioned before, I am grateful to have found a woman who is willing and able to discipline me, and seems to enjoy doing it. It may be painful and embarrassing, but my life and our relationship is better because of DD.

 

Now, I don’t personally detect “complaining” about being in a subordinate position and am not sure which comments Norton is referencing.  However, I also think that to the extent a wife really is “in charge” and really does have the authority to make independent decisions where discipline and rules are concerned, complaining or resentment seems kind of inevitable.   

 

 

If the husband always and without exception agrees with his wife’s disciplinary decisions, is she really “in charge” or is she, rather, just doing what he wants by delivering spankings for things he already thinks he should be spanked for.  To me, a wife “embracing” her role of being in charge (of disciplinary decisions at least) means getting comfortable with making and enforcing decisions that he does not agree with.   

 

Part of really embracing authority includes rejecting any attempts to limit it.  In the DWC’s “Tips & Methods” section, Aunt Kay advised wives to push back adamantly on any attempt to undermine their disciplinary authority:

 

“The first thing you must do is to explain the golden rule of your proposed (or existing) disciplinary relationship. He must render complete obedience to you with regard to disciplinary issues at all times and must be willing to carry out any and all orders you give him without question or hesitation.

 

The first time he refuses to obey an order you need to stop and have a serious talk with him right then and there. If the husband is allowed to dictate when he will or will not obey an order, then that leaves some question as to who is really in charge, doesn't it? Once he has agreed to these terms and understands that the whole scene will end permanently if he is not cooperative, you are ready to begin.”

 

Note that this entails the wife establishing her authority at the beginning of the DD relationship.  I do wonder how realistic that is, as I think women often get hit cold with their husbands’ requests for a disciplinary relationship, and unless the woman is naturally dominant, it takes time for confidence to grow into comfort in exercising authority. For most people, leadership is a learned skill not an innate attribute.

 

Norton’s question focused not on to what extent a wife should be in charge but, rather, on how we husbands feel when she does take charge, to whatever extent that may be.

 

When I think back over our 20+ years in this lifestyle, the times that really stand out have little to do with the spanking itself.  Instead, my strongest feelings tend to involve times when she exercised her authority in some way that exemplified her taking more control, becoming more comfortable giving direction, or making her own determinations about what should be punished and how. Sometimes it was more subtle; just something she did or said that indicated she had made the leap from accommodating my requests for discipline to really seeing herself as in charge.

 

There was the time in the very early days, when we tallied up a minimum number of swats for identified offenses, and I had a "bad week," resulting in a seriously intimidating number of swats with the heavy fraternity-style paddle. expressed concern that I couldn’t take it, having never taken anything close to that many before. To this day, I vividly remember Anne showing no mercy, telling me, “Well, that’s too bad because you earned it. You are going to take every swat you have coming.”

 

There was the first time she gave me a surprisingly hard spanking for repeatedly failing to do a minor household chore correctly.

 

Or, the time when we were hosting Christmas brunch and, after a couple of glasses of champagne, I made some cocky retort when she asked me to do something in the kitchen. She replied, “Well, you can do it, or I can just take you upstairs and spank you.” I don’t think anyone heard it, but others were within earshot.

 

Or, the first time she really lit into me with a lecture that was cutting and really hurt my pride. After sulking about it for a couple of weeks, I accepted that it had been deserved. I also accepted that maybe it didn't really matter whether I accepted.

 

Today, even with the benefit of 20+ years of increasing self-awareness about why I want and need this lifestyle, my strong desire for imposed authority leads to a very complicated mix of feelings. In virtually every other aspect of my life, I won't tolerate being subject to someone else's dictates.  Yet, in my marriage, I crave it. And, I crave her sense of her authority becoming so solid that she pays little or no attention to my misgivings or excuses.

 

 

I think I did recognize early on that my attraction to DD included a perverse need to have my emotional boundaries pushed, but not with the clarity I have today.  And, back then I didn't get that my DD fascination was related more to being subject to my wife's authority than to her spankings per se.

 

I’m not sure why it took me so long to really understand that aspect of my attraction, since broad female authority was replete in the DWC website content and handbooks that kicked off my interest in DD. Aunt Kay emphasized repeatedly what she saw as the very broad authority bestowed on disciplinary wives:

 

“A relationship where the woman of the house applies discipline to the men in her life, whenever and however she sees fit, is a happier, healthier and better world.”

   

“The definition of a DWC relationship is that the woman’s role involves providing moral and behavioral guidance to the man and invests in her the absolute authority to decide upon and wield punishments accordingly. The man’s role is to accept this authority and strive to gain benefit from it.”

 

“Receiving benefit from discipline begins well before you ever reach the point of actually experiencing an old-fashioned spanking.  It begins with your awareness of your wife’s personal power and your belief that she is indeed the right woman to handle you.  Expect to be obedient!”

 

“Remember where it all began.  You asked your wife to please take over your discipline.  You have empowered her to assume the maternal role and have agreed to take the child role with respect to discipline. You want, more than anything else, for her to be powerful, assertive and in control.  It is a beautiful thing, really. Your obedience and compliance will greatly assist her in reaching her full potential.”

 

 

I generally agree with Aunt Kay that most of who are attracted to a DD relationship desire a partner who is powerful, assertive, and in control, though we have different visions for how broad that control and authority should be.  The only thing I quibble with is the idea that wives can go from a fairly traditional, equitable role to “in charge” by simply deciding it will be so.  Gaining authority is usually a process, not an event.

 

As for how I feel about my wife being in charge and embracing her role, it’s very dependent on timing.  When we’re going through day-to-day life and there aren’t many demonstrations of authority, I’m exactly like the husbands who Aunt Kay identified as craving a strong authority figure.  In those moments, I want someone who is firmly in charge and projects a confidence in giving direction that shows she embraces her role.

 

When it’s actually happening, however, it’s more of a mixed bag.  When it has happened in connection with a spanking, honestly, what I’ve felt is disquieted or disturbed.  When I recall incidents like insisting I would take every swat under our tally system or giving me a very hard spanking for what I saw as minor forgetfulness on a household chore, it was like there was a sudden and unexpected realization that the world and my perception of my place in it had changed.  I’d gotten what I thought I wanted, but it was disturbing. 

 

I equate some of this to feelings I had when encountering authority as a child. I can recall a few instances at home or at school when I got in trouble—including one time that I got spanked by a parent and another when an uncle threatened a spanking—and it felt like this flash of realization that someone actually had authority over me and really might make me accept their rules whether I agreed with them or not.

 

I recall one story here on the blog that I thought really conveyed that sense of discovering one’s wife had really embraced her authority. It came from KOJ, who related an incident in which he ignored his wife’s instruction to limit himself to one drink at a party.  She asked the hostess to let her use one of the bedrooms, then took him upstairs and gave him a sound spanking.  Although the party was loud, he thought it likely that some guests heard him getting spanked.  He described the feelings it evoked:

 

“I also totally agree that escalating the punishment to semi-public had a profound effect on me and our relationship. It planted a healthy fear in my heart and made it clear how much authority she really wielded!”

 

In my case, after the feeling of being shaken up by the change in our power structure passed, I would usually feel turned on, coupled with an increased sense of respect for my wife.

 

As we’ve focused on “smaller” things, like carelessness, I also sometimes feel a mild sense of anxiety, like I’m walking on eggshells. But, I feel like “anxious” is too negative. It’s more like, I feel a heightened awareness of my actions and of possible unpleasant consequences.  Which is kind of what most of us want when we ask for a DD relationship, right?

 

Some of these deeper feelings can be triggered by very subtle shows of authority.  Like that time at the Christmas brunch when she threatened a spanking.  Probably no one overheard it, but they could have.  What I recall feeling was that I was being put in my place firmly and instantaneously.  It was humbling but also a turn-on. More recently, in fact just a few days ago, there was something even more subtle. We were in bed, engaging in some foreplay discussion before the main event.  She brought up the prospect of getting DD back on track after our recent bouts of Covid. 

 

We do talk about DD quite a bit during those foreplay conversations, but it used to be me bringing it up.  Now, it’s more often her, which itself is a sign that she’s becoming more and more comfortable with her role.  But, it was more than that.  She told me that she had just finished a book about women “reclaiming their power”, and the juxtaposition to her reference to getting our DD back on track felt like a subtle yet unmistakable indication that she was really internally exploring her own desire to be more in charge. It was a very brief statement – just a reference to a book she’d read.  Yet, there was such a deeper meaning, and what I felt about it was, honestly, totally turned on by the prospect of her “claiming her female power” over me.

 

It seems like when we talk about these authority issues here in the group, it often degenerates into an argument over semantics, including whether each of us perceives ourselves to be in an FLR or FLR-like relationship. Let’s try to avoid that this time. Instead, whatever each wife’s level of authority may be, what are your feelings about it, especially in those moments were she pushes it to—or over—what was formerly what you thought was a limit? 

 

What about when she says or does something that indicates she embracing being in charge?  Is it a turn on? Or, is there something kind of disturbing or disquieting about it?

 

What about when she pushes that authority in ways you find difficult, or embarrassing, or limiting? Have there been times that she’s exercised her authority in a way you didn’t agree with, like maybe putting her foot down on something or limiting your autonomy in some way you didn’t anticipate?  How did that make you feel?   

 

I hope you all have a great week.

 

FYI, I’ve added a link in the comments to a spanking video that someone sent me recently.  The situation is contrived, and the husband’s acting is pretty bad, but it is one hell of a spanking for some simple carelessness. Enjoy!

Crying and the Role of Embarrassment in Disciplinary Spanking

 “One person's embarrassment is another person's accountability.” - Tom Price

 Hello all. Welcome back to The Disciplinary Wives Club - Tribute.  Our weekly on-line gathering of women and men who are in, or would like to be in, a Domestic Discipline relationship.

 

I hope you all had a good week.  Mine was still not great, thanks to lingering Covid symptoms.  My body has some weird thing for that little bug.  My immune system lets it sneak into my body at every opportunity, then takes forever to toss it out.  I’m still dealing with the brain fog and exhaustion, and even a couple of days ago I thought I’d likely be putting off posting again. But, I feel like maybe I’m finally on the mend and can get it together enough to post, though I’ll get to a topic indirectly by going through a few comments from last week. 

 

I’ll kick it off with this comment from Al regarding being brought to real sobbing tears from a spanking:

 

 

Dan, I know you have often written that after years of being very sound spanked on a regular basis that you have never been brought to sobs - as many of us have (myself included).

 

It recently occurred to me - following a spanking in which I was genuinely sobbing - that the spanking certainly wasn't in the "very hard" range of a punishment spanking (in which the whacks are so hard that I sometimes struggle not to stop the spanking). And, in fact, during those very hard spankings, I almost never cry - because the pain is so intense that it has my entire attention with no room for emotional reaction. It is during the "merely" hard spankings (that still leave me with a very sore, and well reddened behind - and is most definitely still a real spanking) that I am most likely to sob. Especially if it is a longer spanking (over 100 whacks) and especially if she is scolding me (and my wife is a master at scolding while spanking). I believe the somewhat less intense pain allows me the head space to connect with the experience of emotional submission inherent in a DWC spanking (since the pain is not completely all mentally consuming). [Emphasis added.]

 

Alan followed up with:

 

Splitting the spanking into two or more parts reduces the numbing . Possibly 15 minutes corner time or longer, then the spanking resumes. But as al writes, length and impact emotionally during the spanking does it for me-especially when she creates a sense of "panic" that it will never stop. that is totally irrational of course but it does it for me. I just let go to any resistance and crying can happen. [emphasis added]

 

 

Note that, while crying and tears were the specific topic raised by Al and Alan, both of their comments also bring up the role of strong emotion--emotional submission, panic, emotional reaction to scolding--during a spanking.

 

That takes me back to a topic suggestion from Norton from a few weeks ago, which addresses one particular emotion - embarrassment: 

 

It's interesting that embarrassment is a desired goal by many, including me. It is central to the fantasy of having others witness a spanking, which many of us have, but few have realized. Another thing that is embarrassing for me is telling my partner I have screwed up, knowing that it will guarantee a spanking. Keeping her informed of my behavior is part of our DD agreement, and I try to honor it by texting her as soon as possible after the offence, before I chicken out. She considers going over my alcohol limit and bad driving to be serious offenses, and spanks accordingly. I ran a light this morning and got a very hard paddling as soon as I returned home. Whatever embarrassment I was feeling quickly disappeared as soon as the spanking began. There is a good reason the artist Barbra O'Toole has a website of her spanking art called "Embarrassing and Fun". Exploring the role embarrassment plays in DD could be a possible future topic.

 

 

Which brings us to a recommendation from Jake:

 

The author I would recommend from LSF is etbyrd. He won't be to everyone's taste as he doesn't really write about adult F/M disciplinary relationships, although I think there might be one that is treated somewhat peripherally.

 

For some of us, a big part of the draw to spanking is the emotional vulnerability and the loss of composure [emphasis added] that can occur when someone is on the receiving end of this kind of physical correction. I'm interested in depictions whether fictional or not that portray emotionally intense situations which result in an enduring feeling of having been humbled. There typically isn't enough time given to scolding to really bring out the sense of someone having gotten a serious reality check. The scolding is typically told rather than shown ("She then gave him a hard scolding enumerating all his shortcomings and making clear exactly what the consequences for failing to meet her expectations would be.") while the spanking is shown rather than told. The stories would be better, that is more involving, if this pattern was reversed. It's in the scolding, and also of course the larger narrative setting, that we get a sense of where the character is and will be emotionally.

 

And with that all having been said, etbyrd writes the best scolding dialogue that I've come across. Most of them feature an exceptionally immature adolescent boy. As is typical of the genre, the situations are pretty contrived, fanciful is probably a better term. But those who are interested in a maternal style dynamic and share my view on the importance of scolding scenes in these sorts of stories, might find them worthwhile.

 

I did read a couple of etbyrd's stories after Jake's recommendation, and the scenarios often involve extreme embarrassment, like a teenager getting spanked int front of a roomful of classmates.  

 

 

And, like Al, Alan and Norton, Jake focuses on emotional vulnerability, including the total loss of composure that is perhaps best exemplified by sobbing during a spanking. 

 

So, let’s talk about the role of emotions in Domestic Discipline, with a particular (but not exclusive) emphasis on embarrassment and emotional vulnerability.  I would also like to talk about embarrassment and vulnerability in the context Al and Alan raised, i.e. crying.

 

As a preliminary matter, is Norton right that embarrassment is a “desired goal” for disciplined males?  Is it why some of us are attracted to things like “witness” scenarios?

 

I used to think I not only was not into embarrassment but actually had a strong aversion to it.  And, on one level, that’s true, to the point that I will sometimes fast-forward past scenes in movies and shows in which someone is being subjected to something severely embarrassing or humiliating.  

Yet, with the benefit of hindsight and reflection, I think it’s simplistic to leave it at I have an aversion to embarrassment. A more nuanced take on it would be that I am averse to seeing others embarrassed.

 

Though, it is still true that I don’t like being embarrassed myself.  I’ve engaged with a few commenters over the years who, or whose partner, got off on humiliation. That’s definitely not me.

 

Yet, there is undeniably something about embarrassing situations, in the DD context at least, that I find intriguing. When I first discovered the Disciplinary Wives Club, the stories that had the most appeal to me were those that involved the husband being taken to the point of real sobbing during a spanking. Especially those stories in which sobbing was the wife's stated goal.

 

 

I've used this meme, and the one at the top of the page, many times over the years, to the point that I've probably over-used both.  Yet, they convey facets of spanking to tears that never fail to hit me emotionally.  It's something about the combination of being spanked to tears, being embarrassed to the core about it, while the wife states her unequivocal intent to bring it about or expresses satisfaction about having brought it about.

 

There is such a . . . loss of power . . . associated with that combination.

 

As I read the DWC stories and imagined myself in those husbands’ positions, the prospect of breaking down in real tears during a spanking was mortifying, yet morbidly attractive.  I am sure it is one of the reason I became so obsessed with the DWC. And, that has never really changed. I’m still morbidly attracted to stories and videos that feature not just tears but real, true sobbing.

 

Jake referenced being drawn to “loss of composure”, and that resonates for me too.  Shedding a few tears doesn’t do much for me. Rather, it’s the total loss of composure that is reflected in real sobbing that hits me like a gut punch.  And, again, it is something about the combination of the wife's total composure and the husband's lack thereof, and that the wife affirmatively wants--or at least sees a benefit in--taking him to that place.

 

 

I suspect that some of the emotional power for me of a situation in which the spankee loses all composure, and the spanker's goal is to bring that about, goes back to childhood spankings. Isn't that the essence of parental spankings, and also some school spankings? And, perhaps nothing evokes the power imbalances inherent in those childhood scenarios, nor is quite so infantalizing, as sobbing over a wife's knee, as she dispassionately seeks to bring that about.

 

Further, I share the interest many here seem to have in “witness” scenarios, and I'm sure Norton is right that the reason it's such a common fantasy has something to do with the desire for embarrassment. Or, maybe a desire for vulnerability, to the extent they are distinguishable.

 

Though, with witnesses, to me the emotional power of the scene is determined by some combination of the severity of the embarrassment and the determination of the spanker and/or the witness to bring it about. Even overheard spankings have that power over me, perhaps more so than witnesses seeing a spanking. I think maybe it's because the loss of power seems even greater in a scenario in which I know others know I got spanked, but I didn't see their reaction in the moment. It's kind of like being sent to the principal's office, getting paddled, then going back to a roomful of students who know you got paddled.  They are all playing it out in their minds, which somehow seems worse than them seeing it happen.  

 

 

I seem to be most attracted to scenarios in which the witness has some personal desire to see the recipient get his comeuppance.  It’s important that they see the spanking as justified or deserved, and I think that’s because I react to the recipient feeling embarrassment not just because the spanking is witnessed but because the witness is aware of the behavior that led to it and condemns or disapproves of it.  

 

 

One thing I like about writing these posts is that sometimes the process helps me reach insights I didn't have when I started. For example, it's only been in the coures of writing this post that I've noticed how much the morbid attraction I feel to being put in embarrassing spanking-related situations depends not so much on the setting (witnesses), or on the outcome (crying, loss of composure), but on the intent or knowledge of the others involved.

 

I also have a strong reaction to stories that include a conscious effort to humble the recipient, i.e. to take away his pride and overcome his emotional resistance.  There is a story by KD Pierre called Pride, available on the Library of Spanking Fiction, that involves a husband with a contentious relationship with one of his wife’s friends. She dictates that her husband needs to apologize to the friend after a fight and, when he refuses, she takes him to get a spanking in front of the friend, and that morphs into a spanking by the friend.   

 

What gets me about the story is the friend makes it clear that she knows she is equally culpable when it comes to the animosity between them, yet she wants to spank him anyway because she likes that he has no real choice but to take her spanking when he really detests her.  She wants to humble him and take away his pride.  In other words, she wants to embarrass him, and her own power is amplified by doing so.

 

 

How about you? Is embarrassment a big part of your DD dynamic or your attraction to disciplinary spankings?  Is being embarrassed something you try to avoid at all costs, or are you like me and have a sort of morbid attraction to it? 

 

How does your wife feel about the role embarrassment plays, if any, in your DD relationship?  Does she try to avoid embarrassing you, or is it something she consciously tries to use when spanking you or in exercising her power in the relationship?

 

Or, is it something she sees as a possible byproduct but not really her concern? Sort of like when Anne decided to start leaving window shades open during a spanking, on the premise that it wasn’t her who would get embarrassed if someone saw, since she wasn’t the one getting the spanking?

 

[While the DWC didn't talk a lot about embarrassment, it does strike me as I write this that what is probably the most popular bit of artwork on the website did involve a spanking observed through a window.]

 

I would also like to zoom in on embarrassment as it relates to crying.  For Alan and Al, and any others who have really let loose and cried hard during a spanking, what were the emotions associated with that when it first happened?  Has that changed as it's happened again over the years?

 

As I said, when I first read the DWC stories in which the husband sobbed, I was drawn to it for sure, but it was a very morbid sort of fascination. I assumed that losing composure like that would be extremely embarrassing and leave me feeling incredibly vulnerable.  Was that the case for those of you who have been there?

 

Or, was the emotion something more positive, like catharsis?

 

 

How about the wives who have delivered a spanking and gotten real sobs as a result?  Was that gratifying, like you were giving a spanking the way it should be given, or like justice was served?  Or, maybe a twinge of feeling sorry for the husband in that state? Or, something more neutral? Does the wife's satisfaction in bringing about real tears depend at all on the nature of the conduct, or perhaps on how much it affected her?

 

I doubt we’ll get much direct response from the wives on this, given their low level of current participation, but maybe Al, Alan and others have some insight into how their wives feel about bringing them to tears?

 

I hope you all have a great week!