the sunrise and sunset, etc., the
constant work involved exercising us in patience and submission.
The physical pleasure came in in inventing and recounting to each
other our day's work and the penalties and hardships we had been
subjected to. We never told each other that we got any physical
pleasure out of this, and I cannot therefore be sure that my
sister did so; I only imagine she did because she entered so
heartily into the spirit of the game. I could get as much
pleasure by imagining myself the angel and inflicting the pain,
under the conditions mentioned; but my sister did not like this
so much, as she then had no companion in subjection. I could not,
however, thus reverse my feelings in regard to a man, as it would
appear to me unnatural, and, besides, the greater physical
strength is essential in the superior position. I can, however,
by imagining myself a man, sometimes get pleasure in conceiving
myself as educating and disciplining a woman by severe measures.
There is, however, no real cruelty in this idea, as I always
imagine her liking it.
"I only get pleasure in the idea of a woman submitting herself to
pain and harshness from the man she loves when the following
conditions are fulfilled: 1. She must be absolutely sure of the
man's love. 2. She must have perfect confidence in his judgment.
3. The pain must be deliberately inflicted, not accidental. 4. It
must be inflicted in kindness and for her own improvement, not in
anger or with any revengeful feelings, as that would spoil one's
ideal of the man. 5. The pain must not be excessive and must be
what when we were children we used to call a 'tidy' pain; i.e.,
there must be no mutilation, cutting, etc. 6. Last, one would
have to feel very sure of one's own influence over the man. So
much for the idea. As I have never suffered pain under a
combination of all these conditions, I have no right to say that
I should or should not experience pleasure from its infliction in
reality."
Another lady writes: "I quite agree that the idea of pain may be
pleasurable, but must be associated with something to be gained
by it. My experience is that it [coitus] does often hurt for a
few moments, but that passes and the rest is easy; so that the
little hurt is nothing terrible, but all the same annoying if
only for the s
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