
A naked young man kneels over the corner of a bed, looking over his shoulder as a smiling, simply dressed young woman stands behind him with her whip at the ready.
This great picture suggested by Derek Isme has a distinct look of (I think) an oil painting. It’s the kind of artwork I would love to hang on the walls in my theoretical house because it’s, “a nice drawing of a simple domestic scene," as Derek described it. Derek goes on to say, "I like how this normal appearing, and normally dressed, woman (no dominatrix!) has a little smile on her face, I like how the guy looks back at her, and I also like that the much larger man is not restrained in any way but is submitting willingly to this punishment.”
I am not convinced this scene is one in which punishment plays any involvement, and I also have grave misgivings about the way in which corporal and impact play is in general often conflated with punishment scenarios. I thoroughly enjoy being spanked, punched, whipped, and generally manhandled (and isn’t that an interesting, loaded word?) in a play context. Do athletes “punish” themselves when they push their bodies to the limit and enjoy it?
Update: I recently got some excellent feedback on this post that was very enlightening. As someone who is uninformed about the finer points of such things, it’s extremely educational when someone chooses to share their knowledge with me. Ilyena wrote in saying that the top in this picture is not at all “simply” dressed:
Those are either jodhpurs or riding breeches and good riding boots…and those aren’t cheap, or simple. Neither is that top, in all likelihood, but I can’t tell well enough. And with her hair pulled up in a dressage knot like that? That’s a powerful, rich woman wearing clothing and coiffure that proclaims it quite loudly.
Which is totally gorgeous and powerful and I really, really love that picture.












