Bondage and Discipline and The Making of New Markets for Commercial Consumer Fetishism in the Era of e-Stimulation
For Krafft-Ebing, women are indirectly to blame for male sadism. He blamed women’s modest reserve, shyness, and timidity which he believed provokes male aggression. He believed this fact was due to the inherent “natural ordering of gender” and the “natural ordering” found within its sex roles, that is, the natural differences found between the male and female subjects. The natural design of these two human creatures created women as “modestly, coy, and subservient”, while men would enjoy “boastful, extroverted, dominant victories”. Here I question if this is not due to the fact that man, like an animal, can sniff out “weakness” and “opportunity” in another, thereby identifying avenues to exert his dominant male prowess both in the bedroom and in the board room? Could this be a form of an evolutionary clairsentience that promotes man’s long-term survival as a “pack animal” in matters pertaining to his rule?
“The task for medical sexology was to police a double boundary: between the “normal” culture of male aggression and the “abnormal” culture of sadomasochism and between “normal” female masochism and “abnormal” male masochism. The first contradiction between “natural” heterosexuality and the “unnatural perversions” was primarily managed by projecting the “perversions” onto the invented zone of race. Sexologists like Krafft-Ebing demonized sadomasochism as the psychopathology of the atavistic individual, as blood-flaw and stigma of the flesh. Sadomasochism, like other fetishisms, was figured as a regression backward in time to the “prehistory” of racial “degeneration,” existing ominously in the heart of the imperial metropolis — the degeneration of the race writ as an individual pathology of the soul.
Thus, for Krafft-Ebing, decent doses of male aggression are a fait accompli of nature. Genuine sadism, however, exists in “civilized man” only to a “weak and a rather rudimentary degree.” While sadism is a natural trait of “primitive” peoples, atavistic traces of sadism in “civilized man” stem, not from the environment or social accident, but are awakened from a primordial past: “Sadism must . . . be counted among the primitive anomalies of the sexual life. It is a disturbance (a deviation) in the evolution of psychosexual processes sprouting from the soil of psychical degeneration (McClintock, 1993).”
Unbridled sadism in contrast with consensual and commercial sadomasochism reveals a difference in nature. Commercial sadomasochism is therefore considered less biologically flawed or viewed as less externalizing or internalizing the psycho-pathologies of human nature. In its presentation, it is viewed as a historical subculture that emerged in Europe alongside the imperial Enlightenment. Far from being a primordial manifestation of racial “degeneracy,” sadomasochism is a subculture organized primarily around the symbolic exercise of social risk. Indeed, the outrage of sadomasochism is precisely its hostility toward ideas involving “nature being the custodian of social power.” Sadomasochism refuses to read power as fate or destiny, and since sadomasochism is the theatrical exercise of social contradiction, it is self-consciously against nature, not in the sense that it violates natural law, but in the sense that it denies the existence of natural law in the first place. Sadomasochism performs social power as both contingent and constitutive, as sanctioned neither by fate nor by God, but by the social convention and invention, that can change and re-order relationships much as the Marquis de Sade had done in his theatrical writings and to whom we have to thank for categorizing sadism as an order of behavior.
Commercial sadomasochism insists on exhibiting the “primitive” (slave, baby, woman) as submissive characters in a theatrical stage production. On the sadomasochism theatre stage, we observe the “primitive irrational” as a dramatic script, in a “communion of performances” that is at the heart of Western reasoning sexual deviance. The paraphernalia of sadomasochism has traditionally been boots, whips, chains, uniforms, etc. which are the paraphernalia of state power and public punishment converted into private pleasures. Sadomasochism visibly stages irrational ecstasy and the alienation of the body at the center of the theatre stage against the backdrop of a theme of hierarchy and power and the differences found in the various positions of that hierarchical power. Thus, its Western reason reveals sadomasochism’s imperial logic and domina by refusing its fate as “without power.” Sadomasochism manipulates the signs of power in order to refuse nature’s legitimate rule over the form of traditional male biological power; the phallus.
Feminists demonize heterosexual sadomasochism as the sanctioned exercise of male tyranny. The historical line of patriarchy parades a long history of abuses attempting to freeze power and to always make one side passive and the other side dominant. Patriarchy is, therefore, the originator of masochistic and sadistic positions. Even lesbian sadomasochism is considered by feminists a form of “self-abasement on all levels that renders wimmin unable to execute truly feminist goals.” In the theories of Louise Kaplan describing lesbian homosexuality in her book “Female Perversions”, she uses the term “Pinocchios” to suggest the lesbian women have not been taught in the right way of their true feminine nature and so, “are not real women.” That is to say, in the true and natural sense of her feminine role as a heterosexual counterpart to man. The term suggests “these women are fake.” Instead, they carry out their staged performance as “props” like the marionette puppet who was in search of becoming a “real boy” in the toy workshop of his owner Geppetto. While I understand this perception, I do not believe that all lesbians “were not real girls” or “are not real women” for that matter. I have found many gay women contribute a lot to our world, some holding advanced degrees and professional titles may be more real than some heterosexual women who “know” their positions in the hierarchy of male patriarchy. I once revealed my experiences regarding homosexuality and homosexual fantasy to a psychiatrist, a woman, who, possessing an advanced degree in medicine, shared Louise Kaplan’s belief. Because I did not understand why I was having these homosexual fantasies, I asked her why was I having these homosexual fantasies and feelings and she replied, “I believe what you are asking me has something to do with being a ‘Pinocchio’” (e.g., I was not a real girl/real woman). She went no further than that one sentence and then left the room. I didn’t understand her response at first, and it was only later that I came to a conclusion regarding its interpretation after reading Louise Kaplan’s “Female Perversions.” However, there is a psychoanalytic theory that suggests all girls are born bisexual and that most choose a heterosexual path (Holmes, 2008).
Of course, analyzing the practice of sadomasochism as a form of sexual slavery in lesbian relationships one can see its disguise as “sexually forcing a woman against her will.” Likewise, men who pay women money to engage in sexual play of sadomasochism and take the dominant position are paying to indulge their sadistic fantasies of sexual abuse towards women. Yet the testimony of dominatrixes reveals precisely the opposite. By far the most common service paid for by men in heterosexual sexual sadomasochism in bondage and discipline is in the position of the submissive. In fact, in most bondage and discipline in heterosexual sadomasochism, the men pay to be the “slaves”, not the women. For me, this reveals subtle, unaddressed issue regarding female sadism and female aggression because it is the women who want dominant sexual power and perhaps may reveal a Truth when it comes to the electronic tethering of targeted individual, which has been interpreted as a “passive form of aggression”, and its connection to the statistics and trends in patterns of gendered aggression. It is women who have to navigate the “lost phallus” in their “denial of power” and it is the women who seek out positions as dominatrixes wielding their sexual power subjugating their male submissives.
With regard to the electronic tethering of the human body and the human mind, I have come to a conclusion that while these electronic devices were most likely designed by men, they will undoubtedly serve women who seek avenues to play out, on a theatrical stage, the unconscious, unanalyzed fantasies of mastery and control over others, playing into the lost territory of the primal scene and recovering her lost phallus. Although, this play may be indulged by both genders; male and female alike. In the words of one dominatrix, heterosexual bondage and discipline in sexual sadomasochism are far from being the vicious unleashing of male dominance, sadomasochism is typically the other way around. There exists only a “few” dominant men who want to indulge their sadistic fantasies of “beating” women during sex play. That in fact, it is women who want to indulge their fantasies of recovering their lost phallus by indulging their aggression against the objects that have stolen it away. Of course, we could come to a conclusion that most men are probably “proper gentlemen who know how to behave and treat women” but the fact of the matter is there may be far more men willing to “pay” to beat women during sex play than the evidence suggests. They just may be stuck in lower-income brackets and lack the financial backing to pay for their entertainment pleasure. It shouldn’t be surprising that it has been reported that top-level business executives and churchmen are the main solicitors for the position of “slave” in bondage and discipline in sadomasochistic sex play. They come to be punished, humiliated, frightened, and tormented to the limits of their endurance.
Sex and Electricity, Yep, it’s a thing!
In the practice of extreme pornography, the use of bondage and discipline in sexual acts of sadomasochism is a common theme. In some extreme pornography female actors as well as male actors may consent to be mildly electrocuted through the use of electric stimulation through the use of “e-stim sex toys.” Where once we witnessed the paraphernalia of sadomasochism in bondage and discipline as being traditionally boots, whips, chains, uniforms, etc., the traditional paraphernalia of state power and public punishments and the Nazis, these objects create the conversion of power into private sexual pleasures. We are now witnessing in the era of 21st-century technology a combining of the commercial consumer fetish of BDSM with the latest in e-technology (electronics, wireless devices, and e-Stim for pleasure) in forms of bondage and discipline and sexual sadomasochism and I have personally witnessed its conversion onto a theatrical stage, albeit confined to the deranged mind, a hidden and clandestine use of power and dominance hidden behind a theatrical curtain. The use of electronic devices that deliver e-stim in the subjugation of powerless victims by powerful dominant.
Electroejaculation! Are you interested in knowing what it is?
Electroejaculation is a procedure used to obtain semen samples from sexually mature male mammals. The procedure is used for breeding programs and research purposes in various species, as well as in the treatment of ejaculatory dysfunction in human males. This procedure is used frequently with large mammals, particularly bulls and some domestic animals, as well as humans who have certain types of anejaculation. This is the pathological inability of a male to ejaculate despite obtaining an erection. Electroejaculation has also been used for cryo conservation of animal genetic resources where one would collect semen and keep it stored in low temperatures with the intent of conserving genetic material for future revival.
In humans, electroejaculation is usually carried out under a general anesthetic. An electric probe is inserted into the rectum adjacent to the prostate gland. The probe delivers an AC voltage, usually 12–24 volts sine wave at a frequency of 60 Hz, with a current limited to usually 500 mA, although some devices can generate currents of up to 1 A. The probe is activated for 1–2 seconds, referred to as a stimulus cycle. Ejaculation usually occurs after 2–3 stimulus cycles. Care must be taken when using currents greater than 500 mA, as tissue burns may result due to the heating of the probe. The stimulus voltage stimulates nearby nerves, resulting in contraction of the pelvic muscles and ejaculation.
In the movie “The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo”, a young woman who was sodomized anally by her rapist returns to the scene of the crime and uses an electrified cattle prod to sadistically sodomize the man as a form of “payback” for the wrongs committed by him. In ancient Sumerian style, “An eye for an eye.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iddBzE3syI4&list=PLZbXA4lyCtqoSXP1gPdxLbAwdFPxizvqf
Now, introducing new electrified sex toys and e-stim. Yes, this is just what it sounds like, sex toys that shock the skin and genitals on actual people’s bodies. Electrostimulation or e-stim via sex toys are having somewhat of a moment today. Adding an e-stim toy to certain erogenous zones can heighten sensitivity and deepen pleasurable feelings. “It gets right into those deep nerves and muscles.”
E-stim toys are toys that deliver controlled electric shock acutely, slightly sharp sparks to wherever the toy is placed on the body. They are not supposed to hurt, but rather stimulate. In the area of wireless hand-held devices and biological implants both as sensors and wireless devices that deliver an electric stimulus, I wonder “can these e-toys be biologically implanted and controlled through remote, wireless devices? Perhaps even by a “rogue” operator? Is this what the phenomenon known as the electronically targeted individual is all about? Control of the human body, and the human mind, via remote wireless signals to stimulate/sedate (e.g., torture) a human victim? In the field of experimental psychiatry and experimental medicine with paraplegics and quadriplegics, the use of e-Stim to damaged nerve tissue is helping to regenerate it to help people gain back their mobility.
Some men enjoy having their testicles tantalized with simulation (e.g., licking, tickling, sucking) and now the latest trend in sex toys are electronic devices that deliver, to the gonads, nipples, inner thigh, anal regions, a mild form of electrocution in the form of electronic stimulation (e-stim). Much like the cattle prods, farmers use to shock the backside of their heifers in attempt to direct and movement. For beginners, one source recommends the “Doc Johnson Stinger Wand.” It is also called the “Stinger Electro-Play Wand” and it retails for about $39.99 at www.lovehoney.com/bondage/electro-medical-fetish/ if you’re interested in providing your “love honey” some extra stimulation. This product is recommended for beginners because it is user friendly and provides a starting point for people interested in e-stim toys. It resembles a cattle prod used by farmers except it is made of red and black plastic instead of metal. There are other advanced e-Stim toys that come with wires and electrodes and a handheld device that can increase or decrease the level of stimulation.
E-stim toys aren’t just limited to external play either. There are some toys on the market that are meant to be inserted or worn and can cause muscle contractions to those specific areas (think nipples, vagina, anus).
I have been studying psychology and psychoanalysis, in particular, the internalizing and externalizing of psychopathologies. Externalizing pathologies that give rise to deviant desires, in particular bondage and discipline and sexual sadomasochism. Most recently we have witnessed the development of phenomenon called the Targeted Individual (TIs) and the electronically Targeted Individual (eTIs). Reviewing the psychoanalytic literature of primal scene fantasies based on Freudian theory, theories in matricide, and the development of commercial consumer BDSM fetish, it shouldn’t be that difficult to see how the phenomenon of the TI and the eTI are connected to primal scene fantasy formation and how this phenomenon may be a by-product of hi-tech commercial consumer fetishism in combination with the commercial consumer BDSM fetish.
Source References:
Richard von Krafft-Ebing. Psychopathia Sexualis, trans. Franklin S. Klaf. New York. Stein & Day, 1965. For analyses on the discourse of perversion and sexual deviance.
Jeffrey Weeks. Against Nature: Essays on History, Sexuality, and Identity. London. Rivers Oram, 1991. For analyses on the discourse of perversion and sexual deviance.
Jonathan Dollimore. Sexual Dissidence: Augustine to Wilde, Freud to Foucault. Oxford. Clarendon, 1991. For analyses of the discourses on perversion and sexual deviance.
Mcclintock, A. (1993). Maid to Order: Commercial Fetishism and Gender Power. Social Text, p. 87–116. Published by Duke University Press.
Kaplan, Louise J. (1987). Female Perversions: The Temptations of Emma Bovary. New York. Doubleday. Translation Copy 1991 by Louise J. Kaplan.
Holmes, Lucy. (2008). The Internal Triangle: New Theories of Female Development. New York. Jason Aronson.
Engle, Gigi. (2019). These E-Stim Sex Toys Zap You With Electricity — and You Might Actually Like It.” www.menshealth.com. Published online January 8, 2019. Accessed online February 12, 2021. https://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/a25799460/e-stim-sex-toys/
Electroejaculation. Wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroejaculation. Accessed online February 12, 2021.
LoveHoney.com “The Sexual Happiness People” Online Retailer of Sex Toys, Clothing, and Supplies. Of particular interest is their “bondage” section the “electro-medical-fetish.” Accessed February 12, 2021.
Friedersdorf, Connor. (2013). “The Ethics of Extreme Porn: Is Some Sex Wrong Even Among Consenting Adults?” The Atlantic. May 16, 2013. Accessed February 21, 2021. https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/05/the-ethics-of-extreme-porn-is-some-sex-wrong-even-among-consenting-adults/275898/
Other sources to consider not cited in the paper:
Butler, Judith. (1997). The Psychic Life of Power: Theories in Subjection. Stanford, California. Stanford University Press.
Knafo, Danielle and Feiner, Kenneth. (2006) Unconscious Fantasies and the Relational World. Hillside, NJ. The Analytic Press, Inc. Part of the “Relational Perspective Book Series” Volume 31.
Freud, Sigmund. (1924). The dissolution of the Oedipus Complex. Standard Edition. Volume 19. London: Hogarth Press.
Wieland, C. (1996). Matricide and Destructiveness: Infantile Anxieties and Technological Culture. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 12(3),
Douglas, H., Harris, B.A., & Dragiewicz, .M. (2019). Technology-facilitated Domestic and Family Violence: Women’s Experiences. The British Journal of Criminology, 59(3),
Dickes, R. (1963). Fetishistic Behavior: A Contribution to Its Complex Development and Significance. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 11(2), 303–330.
Niedecken, D. (2016). The primal scene and symbol formation. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 97(3), 665–683.
Gibson, M. (2020). Deceptive Sexual Relations: A Theory of Criminal Liability. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Advance Article,
Conaghan, .J. (2019). The Essence of Rape. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 39(1),
Sanders, Laura. (2021). Can privacy coexist with technology that reads and changes brain activity? Sciencenews.org. Published online February 11, 2021. Accessed February 11, 2021. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/technology-brain-activity-read-change-thoughts-privacy-ethics?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=latest-newsletter-v2&utm_source=Latest_Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest_Headlines
Gilbert, Ben. (2021). Elon Musk says Neuralink implanted a chip in a monkey’s brain, and now he can play video games using his mind. Business Insider. MSN.com. Published online February 1, 2021. Accessed February 11, 2021. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/elon-musk-s-neuralink-implanted-a-chip-into-a-monkey-s-brain-and-now-he-can-play-video-games-using-his-mind/ar-BB1di71k
Elizalde, Elizabeth. (2021). Elon Musk says Neuralink could start implanting chips in human brains ‘later this year’. NYPost.com. Published online February 3, 2021. Accessed February 12, 2021. https://nypost.com/2021/02/03/elon-musk-neuralink-could-start-implanting-brain-chips-later-this-year/
Perper, Joshua A., and Cina, Stephen J. (2010) When Doctors Kill: Who, Why, and How. New York. Copernicus Books.
