Where Your Gag Comes From.

Where your gag comes from.

(TW: sexualized racism + misogyny, slavery) Discretion is highly advised.

Apparently, for some people (usually white in my experience), it’s difficult for them to comprehend the perspective that BDSM kink culture is neck-deep in racism and misogyny, particularly in the sexualization of racist-misogynistic historical practices. It’s become quite clear to me over months of pointing out the eerie similarities between the master/slave dynamic that’s common place in bondage subculture and the master/slave dynamic that was quite vividly practiced through patriarchal gender roles between men and women, as well as slavery…that many people struggle with being able to draw parallels between the techniques of torture slaves were subjected to and the methods of punishment “subs” are subjected to in kink culture. From the whipping to the gags.

It’s been communicated to me, based on the hesitant and confused reception of this argument, that I’m going to need to get visual. This post will include illustrations and imagery that may be potentially disturbing to some viewers, as well as triggering to people who feel mentally disarmed by images of black slavery and female oppression. This will not be my final post on the topic, but it will be an introduction to much larger, much more elaborate posts addressing the racist-patriarchal narratives usually replicated in kink culture (this does not exclude femdom kink practices, which I’ll be writing about in future posts).

I’ll first like to point out the gag. A torture device used to stop, “Negro Heads, with punishments for Intoxication and dirt-eating.”

[Slave Mask: Image Reference, NW0191. Source:Jacques Arago, Souvenirs d’un aveugle. Voyage autour du monde par M. J. Arago … (Paris, 1839-40), vol. 1, facing p. 119]

While the tin collar…

[Slave Mask Image Reference, NW0192. Source: Thomas Branagan, The Penitential Tyrant; or, slave trader reformed (New York, 1807), p. 271. (Copy in Library Company of Philadelphia; also Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-31864)]

…was used to punish “drunkenness in females,” and the mask on it functions as a “punishment and preventative of….dirt eating.”

In some cases, along with the gags, “…a flat iron goes into the mouth, and so effectually keeps down the tongue, that nothing can be swallowed, not even the saliva, a passage for which is made through holes in the mouth-plate…when long worn, [it] becomes so heated as frequently to bring off the skin along with it.” - US Slave: Slave Tortures: The Mask, Scold’s Bridle or Brank.

Here’s another illustration of a tin mask sometimes used by Brazilian slave masters for reasons documented as to stop, “…[slaves] who were prone to eat earth or dirt to wear…”

[A water color by Jean Baptiste Debret (held by a museum in Rio de Janeiro); published in Ana Maria de Moraes, O Brasil dos viajantes (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, 1994), image 469, p. 93. Also published in Jean Baptiste Debret, Viagem Pitoresca e Historica ao Brasil (Editora Itatiaia Limitada, Editora da Universidade de Sao Paulo, 1989), p.128, a reprint of the 1954 Paris edition, edited by R. De Castro Maya). (source: University of Virginia)]

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Torture Devices With A Misogynistic History

A scold was defined as: “A troublesome and angry woman who by brawling and wrangling amongst her neighbours breaks the public peace, increases discord and becomes a public nuisance to the neighbourhood.” The device was a locking iron muzzle, metal mask or cage which encased the head. There was an iron curb projecting into the mouth which rested on the top of the tongue. This device prevented the shrew from speaking. In some instances the iron curb was studded with spikes which inflicted pain if the victim spoke. Some branks had a bell built in which drew attention to the scold as she walked through the streets. The woman would be humiliated by the jeering and comments from other people.

THE SCOLD’S BRIDLE

[Scold’s Bridle: This was a metal frame place over a woman’s head. It had a bit that stuck in her mouth to prevent her talking. The scold’s bridle or branks was used in Scotland by the 16th century and was used in England from the 17th century. It was last used in Britain in 1824].

Made by blacksmiths, the bridle was a cage-like device, made from iron. It was approximately nine inches high and seven inches wide, and was fitted to the woman’s head. The most basic type was made of a band of iron, which was hinged at the side and had a protruding part, or tongue piece, that could be flat or with a spike, which went into the woman’s mouth, to hold her tongue down. Another band of iron went over her head, the front of which was shaped for her nose to go through. Depending on the design, the bridle could be uncomfortable, painful or torturous, and scarring of the tongue was not uncommon. Some had a bell secured to a spring, which was attached to the bridle, so the wearer could be heard as she approached.

Some houses had a hook in the wall at the side of the fireplace where the wife would be chained, until she promised to behave herself and curb her tongue. Although sometimes fitted to a nagging wife by the local gaoler (jailer) at the request of her husband, or by the husband himself, it was more often a punitive sentence ordered by a magistrate. Judicial bridles were more elaborate than the basic type; they always had at least one spike and they could be locked. They also had a chain attached to the side of the bridle, with a ring on the end. This could be used to publicly humiliate the woman by leading her through the town, or staking her at a designated area for a set time period. The amount of time the bridle was worn could be from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on the seriousness of the offense, during which time the miscreant would not be able to eat or drink. It was also said to be used on witches to prevent them from chanting or casting spells.

It’s pretty evident that when some women, especially women of color , argue that BDSM kink culture has an overwhelming amount of racist-misogyny embedded in its practice of reenacting  bondage and inequitable dynamics, they have a reasonable argument worth considering. It’s not difficult to understand the viewpoint that some kinks take things steeped in the actual subordination and oppression of people and turn it into a sexualized drama that’s just “fun and games,” for the (hopefully consensual) participants involved.

If you are engaged in kinky, consensual sexual activity, your gut-reaction is most likely to defend something you’ve learnt to enjoy despite its highly problematic elements. However, the primary intent of this post isn’t to persuade you to stop practicing these things, but to come to realize that kink culture is still affected by whiteness and patriarchy while relying on it all the same. Relying on the use of sometimes and somewhat altered methods of torture to be able to act out scenes that induce discomfort and/or pain and to keep within the narrative of unequal power relations and acted abuse.

leaving bruises on your partner isn’t romantic actually

The Truth About Men Who Like Coercive Sex

It's common – and dangerous – to overestimate how easy it is to change someone’s sexual tendencies.

Wow, this is a really good read.

But I can already hear the rape “kink” men and their token woman shouting, “you’re kink-shaming me!” “its just a fantasy!”. Well, here we have a scientist that says, if a man gets off on non-consensual sex acts (rape, sexual assault) he is likely to be sexually violent. He is not going to change. And women should use that as a warning sign and get the hell away from him.

I wish she’d gone deeper in this article too. A lot of the reasons she listed are totally true for why women stay with men like this. But I think she should have also gone into how 1) so many women are survivors of sexual violence, so they might think that they somehow “deserve” this type of treatment or that it might even help them get over their past abuse and 2) there is definitely a culture right now where women feel like they need to be “kinky” and “exciting” in the bedroom. Women might not want to admit that they don’t actually want to try something like this, in fear of seeming less sexually powerful. Because so much of women’s (fake) “power” feels like it depends on their sexuality, this is a huge psychological dilemma for them that stretches to multiple things in the bedroom, including even vanilla sex. “Do I do it even though I don’t want to, or “let my partner down”? I’ll seem like I’m not good in bed if I say no! I heard that the best way to keep a man satisfied and faithful is to give him good sex!”

These are legitimate coercive forces that women face that we need to talk about. Some women literally feel that they will “lose their man” if they don’t give in to his sexual demands. And in some cases… they are right. Of course in the long run we would be better off far away from such men. But in the short run, women fear facing humiliation, losing family and friends, harming their children, and even losing financial resources. There’s a lot more at stake here than just “women can’t stand up for themselves” because they’re weak or fragile or something. No, a lot of women can stand up for themselves just fine, they just weigh the consequences and determine that the risks are too high (this is compounded by women being generally more risk averse, to bring some economics into it).

My other totally different question to this article is - so “kinks” can’t change? I wish the author had specified if she meant just the tendencies towards sexual violence, or all weird sexual preferences in general. Also, is it just in men? I’m curious because I think that a lot of women (me included) have been conditioned to like certain things, things we might not necessarily WANT to like. Porn is a powerful driver of that. Can we ever change, even if we want to? If we could be conditioned in, we can probably be conditioned out, right?

Lastly, I think its interesting that most men become less aroused if they think their partner is showing signs of not enjoying sex. I think that’s just really cool and shows at least some progress.

rape convictions should be life without parole. 1) their victims will never be safe if they are let out onto the streets again. 2) many rapists are serial rapists. 3) killing another person can happen in the heat of the moment by accident, with excess use of force while not intending to kill, in a situation of mutual aggression, or in self-defense or defense of others. but rape is unambiguously malicious and intentional–always committed in cold blood and never by accident. if you think anyone can be ‘provoked’ into rape, your humanity needs to be reevaluated.

Does anyone know of any books that focus on porn sickness or the effects of porn?

but basically, if you are anything like scoffiawsins and believe it’s okay to fetishsize and have sexual/rape fantasies for mlm as a way to cope and hide from misogyny (???) then please unfollow and block! i don’t need anyone who thinks that straight women or women in general should get a free pass to be homophobic toward mlm (esp mlm oc) following me and trying to justify that shit <3.