Leopold von Sacher-Masoch

[ProfessorPendark]

Brief synopsis : The word “masochism” derives from the name of the Austrian author, editor, and journalist Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. In 1869 he signed a contract with his mistress that made him her slave for six months, with the stipulation that she wear fur as often as possible. He published more than eighty novels and numerous articles—some in support of women’s suffrage—before dying in 1895 at the age of fifty-nine.
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This is the first recorded example of a "slave contract" in the sense we understand them in the BDSM world. He is considered both the attitudinal and social counterpart to de Sade. Where Sade was about tyranical use of fetish and sexual deviance to shock and offend, Massoch is considered an example of emotional and psychological submission to a Dominant. But, were his notions any less shocking to the society around him? And, did they have any different an impact on the modern view if BDSM?

 

[seela]

The dude in Venus in Furs was tedious and I'm not entirely sure he was submissive.

I mean, there are different brands of submission of course. But wouldn't a submissive, at least occasionally, submit and not throw a hissy fit the moment the domination doesn't look exactly like it did in their dreams?

It's been a long time since I read the book, but that's really what stuck with me. The constant complaining when things didn't go his way.

 

[ProfessorPendark]

The dude in Venus in Furs was tedious and I'm not entirely sure he was submissive.

I mean, there are different brands of submission of course. But wouldn't a submissive, at least occasionally, submit and not throw a hissy fit the moment the domination doesn't look exactly like it did in their dreams?

It's been a long time since I read the book, but that's really what stuck with me. The constant complaining when things didn't go his way.

I don't think that the character as written was certain he was submissive either.

"Woman's power lies in man's passion, and she knows how to use it, if man doesn't understand himself. He has only one choice: to be the tyrant over or the slave of woman."

 

[ProfessorPendark]

I very much relate to this phrase he wrote in describing his mental state:

"Until then I had lived as I had painted and versified - that is, I never got far beyond priming canvas, beyond penning an outline, a first act, a first stanza. There are simply people who start all sorts of things and yet never finish any of them. And that was the kind of person I was."

We must find ourselves via our choices to live a certain way. Once we have resolved to stop pretending to be what we are not, or to start being what we are, we resolve to complete the things we set out to do.

 

[CuteSlaveLisa]

Maybe I am too sensitive or I just think too much. I have been accused by more than one of each.

BDSM is such an imperfect description.

Bondage (oh yummie, being tied up and helpless to my lovers), Discipline (something I have not known in 60 years) Dominance (not sure about that one, I gave my body and soul to another 42 years ago. I would do whatever he told me to without reservation, but I have also been found to be 'topping from the bottom') Submission (I give everything, but find myself often writing the script) Sadism (pain is my best bud, but true pain is sustainable over time not disposable) Submission (I am happily the property of my lovers, I hope they enjoy having Kitt (certainly not Karr) tell them how to drive) Masochism (finally the OPs term, I dig, really, really dig pain. Humiliation and Degredation not so much, check that, not at all. I am cool with being an object, but I am a rare and valuable object. A Shelby Cobra that is totally good with her lovers revving her up and putting her through her paces, ragging her out. But not with running her into a tree or off of a cliff.)

Anyway I have taken enough bandwith.

Love and Kisses

Lisa Ann

 

[ProfessorPendark]

Maybe I am too sensitive or I just think too much. I have been accused by more than one of each.

BDSM is such an imperfect description.

Bondage (oh yummie, being tied up and helpless to my lovers), Discipline (something I have not known in 60 years) Dominance (not sure about that one, I gave my body and soul to another 42 years ago. I would do whatever he told me to without reservation, but I have also been found to be 'topping from the bottom') Submission (I give everything, but find myself often writing the script) Sadism (pain is my best bud, but true pain is sustainable over time not disposable) Submission (I am happily the property of my lovers, I hope they enjoy having Kitt (certainly not Karr) tell them how to drive) Masochism (finally the OPs term, I dig, really, really dig pain. Humiliation and Degredation not so much, check that, not at all. I am cool with being an object, but I am a rare and valuable object. A Shelby Cobra that is totally good with her lovers revving her up and putting her through her paces, ragging her out. But not with running her into a tree or off of a cliff.)

Anyway I have taken enough bandwith.

Love and Kisses

Lisa Ann

I enjoy these exchanges very much. I fully understand everything you state here. I have written an article on the very subject you pose here. There are many nuances to the term BDSM that I think are often forgotten or ignored. Including the fact that the S in BDSM can also stand for "Switch."


There are many forgotten ideas and ideals that are put off as "quaint" by the modern practitioner who thinks it is eaither all about bloid and bruises or all about "sigh... Yes, Mr. Gray, take ne to your red room."

But, enough of that. I'll share some of my articles and narratives as soon as I am certain where they fit.