Thursday 3 December 2009

MALE BONDAGE






There’s something strangely alluring about the sight of a strong man in ropes and chains, struggling to be free of his bonds. Well, I think so, anyway. All that muscle, straining. His sweat making the bonds slippery, ever tighter. The struggle is hopeless; he sees defeat staring him in the face and still he is spirited enough to fight on.


You’ve only got to type in the word ’bondage’ into any search engine, to be overwhelmed with images, and stories, of men and women, bound and helpless. Mostly, it’s consensual, at least I hope it is. A little piece of BDSM, being acted out by adults involved in a highly charged erotic game.


But bondage is nothing new. The Internet generation cannot claim to have invented it. Neither can writers of porn and erotica. Bondage is in ancient art and old, old stories.
Laocoon and his sons are bound and helpless by fierce serpents. There’s a statue of Laocoon in his death throes, in the Vatican in Rome. Pliny attributes it to three Rhodian sculptures, Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus.








Laocoon’s exotic punishment is for committing a sacrilegious act; that of procreation in a place holy to the god, Poseidon.


Punishment through bondage, for a sin, real or imagined and often trivial, is the catalyst for many modern bondage stories. A slave forgets to collect his master’s dry cleaning, and is tied to a whipping bar; he is helpless and is whipped. The whipping is secondary; it is the fact that he is bound and helpless, that is the important part of the ritual. In another story, a submissive craves his punishment and will contrive to get it by inventing any misdemeanour. He visits his mistress in his lunch break and is forced to return to his office, wearing a cock cage beneath his pants. The cage is screwed tightly, pressing painfully against his balls, yet still his cock struggles valiantly for an erection that just cannot happen.


Strength and power are contained, controlled and relinquished.



The old stories are even in the Bible. Delilah contrives to discover the secret of Samson’s great strength. This is a man so strong and powerful, he has ripped a lion in two. Eventually, he tells her. His strength is because of his long hair. Delilah tells Samson’s secret to the Philistines, and Samson is shorn of his locks while he sleeps. His strength is gone and Samson is bound and chained. His eyes are put out and Delilah pockets the silver that the Philistines have paid her.Samson is punished through bondage and humiliation, for breaking his oath with God by cutting his hair.





Michelangelo’s REBELLIOUS SLAVE, can be seen in the Louvre, in Paris. The bondage is there for all to see. The slave is being punished. His hands are tied behind his back; he is engaged in an active struggle against his bonds. Michelangelo has left the marble raw and unpolished, emphasising the grittiness of the subject. The expression on the slave’s face is of agonized humanity. A rebel that has to be controlled.






I shall be posting a piece on female bondage soon -- to redress the balance!

5 comments:

  1. Hi Billie,

    Interesting post. I'm a big fan of femdom and find the mechanics are usually the minor aspect of the fetish. Giving control up, that's huge for a man. They're usually not wired that way. You're right though, it's been going on for a very, very long time.

    Can't wait to see what you bring up for the fem bondage.

    Hugs

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  2. Billie -probably covered this in other notes but can't resist saying you got twice as many hits when you googled male bondage as female bondage because...its twice as delicious!! Seriously, as a stright man, I am just so into male submission, most of my favourite stories are FemDom (Jude Mason's work is stunningly erotic) as are a lot of my own work.. nothing quite excites and fulfills me as much as submitting totally to the right Goddess (she would be divine for me)in her power, her pleasure all I crave. Stripped tied and whipped sounds good to me, pain and the pleasure mingle, and if she makes me beg to be enslaved,brands me as her creature, I would just plead to be taken deepr into her control..well.... my dream comes true!! Alex XX

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  3. Alex -- that's brilliant! You made me giggle! I'm working on a piece for my blog about BDSM and erotic fiction. I'll post it later this week -- I think you'll like it.

    And I agree -- Jude's writing is stunning!

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  4. Alex -- have you read Janine Asbless' collection "Dark Enchantment"? Couple of stories I think you'd love; "Scratch" -- buggery and humiliation. And "The scent of Hawthorn" -- extreme BDSM!

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  5. Thanks, Billie, I'll have a look out for these. Extreme is hot for me, hard to resist to be honest!I feel free to amil me direct as before, no probs. Alex

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