Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Further informationTemplate:In popular culture
The role of sadism and masochism in fiction has attracted serious scholarly attention. Anthony Storr has commented that the volume of sadomasochist pornography shows that sadomasochistic interest is widespread in Western society;Template:Sfn John Kucich has noted the importance of masochism in late-19th-century British colonial fiction.Template:Sfn This article presents appearances of sadomasochism in literature and works of fiction in the various media.Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Fanny Hill (1749) by John Cleland – depicts mutual flagellation, between Fanny and an English client.Template:Sfn The understanding of flagellation is in transition from an aphrodisiac practice intended to improve sexual performance to a sexual activity in its own right.Template:Sfn
The 120 Days of Sodom (1785), Justine (1791), Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795), and Juliette (1797) by the Marquis de Sade – Have an extreme, sadistic perspective.Template:Sfn "The term sadism derives from the Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), a French nobleman imprisoned for his libertinism, and for writing fantastic novels, such as Justine [1797] and Juliette [1797] that equated sexual pleasure with the inflicting of pain, humiliation, and cruelty".
File:Woman Spanked by Another Woman Whilst Held Down by a Third Woman.jpgIllustration from Le Magnétisme du Fouet, ou les Indiscrétions de Miss Darcy (1902) by Jean de Villiot. Note this is the French translation of The Romance of Chastisement (1866). Illustrator is unknown, though is possibly William Adolphe Lambrecht.
The Lustful Turk, or Lascivious Scenes from a Harem (1828) by Anonymous. First published in England by John Benjamin Brookes, the book was not widely known until it was reprinted by William Dugdale in 1893. This tale of sex and sadism consists largely of a series of letters written by its heroine, Emily Barlow, after being abducted by Moorish pirates and held prisoner in an Algerian harem. The David F. Friedmansexploitation filmThe Lustful Turk (1968) is based on the novel.
The Romance of Chastisement (1866) by St George Stock, a probable pseudonym, also credited with The Whippingham Papers (John Camden Hotten: London).Template:Sfn A pornographic collection on the theme of flagellation. Reprinted by Charles Carrington in 1902 as The Magnetism of the Rod or the Revelations of Miss Darcy.
Personal Recollections of the Use of the Rod (1868) by "Margaret Anson", pseudonym of British author James Glass Bertram (John Camden Hotten: York, date given as 1857).Template:Sfn As is common in this genre, the author/narrator is given as female, and the perpetrators and victims are mainly women.Template:Sfn Reprinted by Blue Moon Books in 2000; also published as The Merry Order of St. Bridget. Translated in French as Une société de flagellantes. Réminiscences et révélations d'une soubrette de grande maison (1901) by Jean de Villiot, illustrated by Martin van Maële.
Memoiren einer Sängerin (1868). Translated to French as Les Memoirs d'une chanteuse allemande and to English as Pauline, the Prima Dona or Memoirs of an Opera Singer. Published anonymously but likely authored by Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient. Originally published after her death in two installments in 1868 and 1875; reprinted often since.Template:Sfn
Venus in Furs (1870) by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch – Autobiographical novel wherein the protagonist encourages his mistress to enslave and mistreat him. Many of Sacher-Masoch's other works contain themes of sadomasochism and female dominance of the male. The term 'Masochism' derives from von Sacher-Masoch's name.
At Mokroe I was talking to an old man, and he told me: 'There's nothing we like so much as sentencing girls to be thrashed, and we always give the lads the job of thrashing them. And the girl he has thrashed to-day, the young man will ask in marriage to-morrow. So it quite suits the girls, too,' he said. There's a set of de Sades for you! But it's clever, anyway.Template:Sfn {{#if:|
The Whippingham Papers (1888) with poetry ascribed to Algernon Charles Swinburne, edited by St. George H. Stock, a probable pseudonym, also credited with The Romance of Chastisement (1866). A collection of Victorian stories and verse about erotic flagellation.Template:Sfn
The Yellow Room (1891) by anonymous (generally attributed to "M. Le Comte Du Bouleau", aka Stanislas Matthew de Rhodes).Template:Sfn – Novella about an eighteen-year-old girl educated and disciplined by her stern aunt and uncle.Template:Sfn Reprinted along with the novella Letters to a Lady Friend, in Whipped into Shape: Two Classic Erotic Novellas by Renaissance E Books Inc. (2004).
Gynecocracy: A Narrative of the Adventures and Psychological Experiences of Julian Robinson, by "Viscount Ladywood" [pseud.] (1893),Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn the author recounts his punishment as a boy at the hands of the governess to whom he is sent, along with three female cousins, after having taken indecent liberties with a household maid. Forced to wear girls' clothing as his ordinary attire, Julian, now Julia, is subjected to frequent flagellations, as are his cousins, one of whom he later marries, submitting to her dominance through continued forced feminization and crossdressing.
The Memoirs of Dolly Morton: The Story of A Woman's Part in the Struggle to Free the Slaves, An Account of the Whippings, Rapes, and Violences that Preceded the Civil War in America, with Curious Anthropological Observations on the Radical Diversities in the Conformation of the Female Bottom and the Way Different Women Endure Chastisement (1899) under the pseudonym Jean de Villiot, probably Hugues RebellTemplate:Sfn or Charles Carrington. Edited and published in London and Paris by Charles Carrington.Template:Sfn Another edition was published in Philadelphia in 1904.Template:Sfn
"Frank" and I (1902) by Anonymous. Originally published in three volumes in England. Edwardian novel of flagellation pornography. A wealthy young man, who is "a lover of the rod", takes in "Frank", a teenage girl disguised as a boy. A 1983 film was released under the alternative titles Frank and I and Lady Libertine.
Birch in the Boudoir (1905) by anonymous (attributed to Hugues Rebell, real name Georges Grassal), translated and published in Paris by Charles Carrington. Reprinted in 1989 by Blue Moon Books as Beauty in the Birch. – An exchange of racy letters about the amatory and disciplinary experiences of a new master of an English school for wayward girls and a woman living in an Arabian harem.
La Flagellation Passionnelle (1906) by Don Brennus Aléra, pseudonym of Paul Guérard. Between 1903 and 1936 he wrote and illustrated around 100 historical and contemporary novels about flagellation and crossdressing petticoat punishment.
Sadopaideia: Being the Experiences of Cecil Prendergast Undergraduate of the University of Oxford Shewing How he was Led Through the Pleasant Paths of Masochism to the Supreme joys of Sadism. (1907) by anonymous. – Two-volume tale of a man who experiences both dominance and submission. Anthony Storr attributes it to Algernon Charles Swinburne.Template:Sfn
The Beautiful Flagellants of New York (1907) by Lord Drialys (The Society of British Bibliophiles [Charles Carrington]: Paris) – follows an intrepid traveller's adventures from Chicago to Boston to New York. Originally published in three volumes, one for each city.Template:Sfn Reprinted by Olympia Press as The Beautiful Flagellants of Chicago, Boston and New York.
The Way of a Man with a Maid (ca. 1908) by Anonymous. First published in France, exact date and author unknown. Three-volume Edwardian novel of abduction, sex and sadism. Often reprinted as a single volume under the shorter title A Man with a Maid. Adapted to film in 1975 called What the Swedish Butler Saw.
La Comtesse au fouet (1908), by Pierre Dumarchey (Pierre Mac Orlan)Template:Sfn – the story of a cruel dominatrix who turns the male hero into a "dog-man". Under the pen-name Miss Sadie Blackeyes, he wrote popular flagellation novels such as Baby douce fille (1910), Miss: The memoirs of a young lady of quality containing recollections of boarding school discipline and intimate details of her chastisement (1912), and Petite Dactylo et autres textes de flagellation (1913). And as "Anonymous" wrote Masochists in America (Le Masochisme en Amérique: Recueil des récits et impressions personnelles d'une victime du féminisme) (1905).
Coups de Fouet (1908) by Lord Birchisgood [pseud.] (Édition Parisienne, Roberts & Dardailons Éditeurs: Paris).Template:Sfn Author of Le Tour d'Europe d'un flagellant (1909),Template:Sfn et al.
Les Cinq fessées de Suzette (Five Smackings of Suzette) (1910) by James Lovebirch [pseud.], published in Paris. Author of many popular flagellation novels such as L'Avatar de Lucette (The Misadventures of Lucette), Peggy Briggs, Au Bon Vieux Temps (all from 1913), and The Flagellations of Suzette (1915), Paris: Library Aristique.Template:Sfn
Qui Aime Bien (1912) by Jacques d'Icy, pseudonym of author and artist Louis MaltesteTemplate:Sfn (Jean Fort: Paris), illustrated by Malteste. Writer of many books of spanking/whipping erotica such as: Chatie Bien (1913), Monsieur Paulette et Ses Epouses (1921), Paulette Trahie (1922), Brassée de faits (1925), Les Mains Chéries (1927), et al.
Le règne de la cravache et de la bottine (The Reign of the Riding Crop and the Boot) (1913) by fr:Roland Brévannes, pseudonym of Paul Guérard (Select Bibliothèque: Paris) – humiliating animal roleplay, female-dominated men are forced to crawl about in bear suits. A theme explored in several of his books; in Les Esclaves-montures (Slave Mountings) (1920) and Le Club des Monteurs Humaines (1924), men are turned into obedient cart ponies.
Fred: The True History of a Boy Raised as a Girl (1913) by Don Brennus Alera, pseudonym of Paul Guérard – classic story of humiliating petticoat punishment (Pinafore eroticism). Followed by the sequels Frederique (1921), Frida (1924), Fridoline (1926), and Lina Frido (1927).
Le Dressage de la Maid-Esclave (1930) by Bernard Valonnes, pseudonym of Paul Guérard (Select Bibliothèque: Paris) – two-volume story of women trained as cart-pulling ponygirl slaves.
Bagne de femmes (Jail for Girls) (1931) by Alan Mac Clyde [pseud.], Librairie Générale: Paris. One of the earliest of dozens of sadomasochistic novels by this unknown author. Followed by Dressage (1931), La Cité de l'horreur (1933), Servitude (1934), Dolly, Esclave (1936), et al.
Dresseuses d'hommes (1931) by Florence Fulbert (Jean Fort: Paris), illustrated by Jim Black [Luc Lafnet].Template:Sfn Story of men dominated and punished by women.File:Male submissive art.jpgLuc Lafnet
La Volupté du Fouet (The Pleasure of the Whip) (1938) by Armand du Loup, illustrated by famous French artist Étienne Le Rallic under the alias R. Fanny.
Story of O (1954) by Pauline Réage – To prove her love, the protagonist submits to being kept in a château and abused by a group of men, one her official lover. Later, she resumes her normal life, while secretly becoming the property of a friend of her lover's.Template:Sfn It was made into a film in 1975.
The Whip Angels (1955) by XXX or Selena Warfield, pseudonyms of Diane (née de Beauharnais) Bataille, second wife of French writer Georges Bataille (The Olympia Press: Paris)Template:Sfn – a pastiche of a Victorian erotic novel.
The Passionate Lash or The Revenge of Sir Hilary Garner (c. 1957) by Alan McClyde [pseud.] (Pall Mall Press: Paris) – Alan Mac Clyde was a popular house name used for English-language erotic books from the 1950s onward
The English Governess (Ophelia Press, 1960), revised as Harriet Marwood, Governess (1967) by John GlasscoTemplate:Sfn under the pseudonym, "Miles Underwood".Template:Sfn
Gordon (1966) by Edith Templeton – once-banned novel about a woman in postwar London who falls into an intense submissive relationship with a psychiatrist.
Tarnsman of Gor (1967) by John Norman – first in a series of 35 (as of this date) erotic science fiction novels set on the planet Gor. The novels describe an elaborate culture of sexual master/slave relationships which have spawned a BDSM lifestyle subculture of followers who call themselves Goreans.
Je... Ils... (1969) by Arthur Adamov – With stories like Fin Août. About Masochism, regarded as an "immunisation against death", but does not aim at erotic arousal.
The Marquesa de Sade: Erotic Mistress of Exquisite Evil (1970) by Joseph LeBaron [pseud.] (Hanover House: North Hollywood) – adapted from the film produced by Jaybird Enterprises.
Memoirs of a Slave (1976) by Rene Michel Desergy (Janus Publications: London) – a typical example of the many books and magazines fetish publisher Janus produced in the 1970s.
The Correct Sadist (1983) by Terence Sellers (Grove Press: New York City) – reverses the dominant-submissive roles of The Story of O to create a post-feminist American myth about power.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Something Leather (1990) by Alasdair Gray has as its framing story an initiation into sadomasochistic activities by the female operators of a leather clothing shop in Glasgow.
The Wet Forever (1991) by David Aaron Clark, about the sadomasochistic relationship between a grifter named Janus and a dominatrix named Madchen.Template:Sfn
Fifty Shades of Grey (2011) by E. L. James begins a best-selling trilogy of novels followed by the sequels Fifty Shades Darker (2011), and Fifty Shades Freed (2012). There are also films based on the novels. However, the novels and films have been criticized for their inaccurate and harmful depiction of BDSM.
A K Pasek's The Confession (2022) and The Hard Road Back (2024)' delve into the world of BDSM and follows the adventures of Ania and her girlfriend Dominika as Ania comes to terms with her sexual appetites and her past. At the end of The Hard Road Back there are hints of a third book in the making The Journey Home. A K Pasek has also written and published a novella Elwira; A Coming Out Story which is the background story to another key character.
Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal (1989), made-for-TV film. Police investigate underground S&M clubs looking for a serial killer. Vanessa Williams plays a hooker/dominatrix who videotapes her clients.
Jack of All Trades is a comedy-adventure series set in the 19th century starring Bruce Campbell. In the episode "X Marquis the Spot" (2000), Jack visits the island resort of the Marquis de Sade and competes in an S&M-themed obstacle course race that parodies Survivor.
Doc Martin, British television comedy-drama series starring Martin Clunes. In the episode "Old Dogs" (2005), the title character is consulted by a man who seems to have a habit of inexplicably injuring himself; it is later revealed that the man and his wife engage in BDSM, with the husband as the submissive.
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007); in the fourth episode, "Belle" (Billie Piper) takes BDSM lessons from a professional dominatrix as a favor for her accountant who is a closet submissive.
Dollhouse (2009); the beginning of the 9th episode shows Echo (Eliza Dushku), returning from an assignment as a leather-clad whip-wielding dominatrix.
On the Alias (2003) 2nd-season episode "Second Double", Agent Bristow (Jennifer Garner) goes undercover as a German dominatrix in a Berlin leather bar.
A Family Guy gag (from the episode "Let's Go to the Hop") depicts main characters Lois and Peter suiting up for a sadomasochistic session while having a mundane conversation about how wholesome their children are, and why they can be trusted. Toys have been made of this scene.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Season 1 of the FOX medical drama House, episode "Love Hurts" a patient is deeply involved in a BDSM relationship.
Rex Van de Kamp of Desperate Housewives was unveiled as a lover of S&M, much to the disgust of his wife, Bree.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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}}</ref> Detectives Bayliss and Pembleton investigate a murder in the S&M club scene. Bayliss expresses his disgust at the 'perversion', but the episode ends with his return to a leather shop, where he purchases a studded and belted leather jacket. This episode is the beginning of the character's sexual awakening, as he becomes comfortable with his bisexual feelings.
ER – a professional dominatrix with broken fingers and her male slave, who was injured in a fall during a bondage/suspension session, are admitted to the emergency room.
Season 5 of FX's Nip/Tuck has Sean crossing paths with a Hollywood agent (Craig Bierko) with horrific wounds on his chest and the dominatrix (Tia Carrere) who inflicted them on him in the episode "Carly Summers".
Rescue Me (2009) – In "Initiation" (Season 5, episode 15), Callie Thorne's character seduces Tommy (Denis Leary) dressed as a cheerleader, Playboy bunny and latex-clad dominatrix. They are briefly seen paddling each other in a fast-motion sequence.
Castle, "The Mistress Always Spanks Twice" (ABC, season 2, episode 16, 2010): a murder investigation leads to the underground world of the professional dominatrix.
HBO's series, The Sopranos, features multiple characters who engage in sadomasochism.
In the anime and manga Gintama, characters Sogo Okita and Sarutobi Ayame often practice sadism and masochism respectively.
In the manga Nana to Kaoru by Amazume Ryuta, the protagonista Nana and Kaoru are shown to be in an SM relationship to help Nana with her "breathers". It also depicts different cultural practices related to SM. The manga has been adapted to into OVAs and live-action television movies.
Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler, features Midari Ikishima, a crazed and mentally unstable student with sadistic, masochistic and suicidal tendencies.
Konosuba features Darkness, a masochistic crusader who dreams of being ravaged by monsters as well and marrying an abusive alcoholic husband. Ironically, she hates being called by her first name.
American Horror Story: Asylum – FX network series about an insane asylum in 1964 run by a sadistic nun, Sister Jude (Jessica Lange). In "Welcome to Briarcliff" (episode 2:1, 2012) and "Tricks and Treats" (2:2) she canes a male patient. In "Unholy Night" (2:8), a deranged male patient gets revenge for being beaten (seen in brief flashback) by caning Sister Jude.
Holby City episode 356 (#41 of Series 9, (2007)) involves a man being admitted to hospital with a stiletto heel in his chest. His Dominatrix, who accompanies him to hospital, has been trampling him, and penetrated his ribs.
Mom - Season 2 Episode 9 (2015) - When Christy (Anna Faris) discovers that her single neighbor, Andy (Colin Hanks) has a dungeon in his apartment, he appears and hands her the other end of the leash attached to the collar around his neck.
Bonding (2019) – Netflix series about a psychology student moonlighting as a dominatrix who recruits her gay best friend from high school as her reluctant assistant.
In Thomas Otway's play Venice Preserv'd (1682), Act III, Scene i, an old senator, Antonio, visits the house of Aquilina, a Greek courtesan. Antonio pretends to be a bull, then a frog, begging her to spit on him, and then a dog, biting her legs. She whips him, then throws him out and tells her footmen to keep him out.Template:Sfn
Jean Genet's play The Maids (1947) concerns two maids who play out dominant and submissive roles.
Genet's play The Balcony (1957) is set in a brothel where clients and staff perform various fetishized roles while a revolution brews outside.
"The Masochism Tango" (1959)<ref>Tom Lehrer in Concert, London, 1959.</ref> by Tom Lehrer uses the powerful rhythm of tango music and iconic implements like castanets and roses to comedic effect.
"Little Toy Soldier" (1967) by David Bowie is an early, unreleased track which recites lyrics from the Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs" as part of its chorus; although the song's humorous treatment of S&M owes more to the cockeyed psychedelia of Syd Barrett.Template:Citation needed
"Submission" (1976) by The Sex Pistols is a song which uses wordplay ("submission" as short for "submarine mission") to convey the ambiguities of an obsessive S&M relationship, albeit obliquely.Template:Citation needed
"Whip in My Valise" (1979) by Adam and the Ants expresses a fascination with S&M play in fairly explicit terms;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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}}</ref> Also 1994's "Closer" dealt with the subject, as well as the visually provocative video, which showed images of lead singer Trent Reznor tied up and blind-folded.
The video for "Missile" (2004) by IAMX shows Chris Corner first bound-down to a chair and then handcuffed with leather straps while his ex-girlfriend Sue Denim acts as a dominatrix.
"Ich Tu Dir Weh" (2009) by Rammstein contains fairly extreme examples of S&M, enough to get it banned from public display or sale to minors in Germany in November 2009 by the Federal Office for the Examination of Media Harmful to Young People (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien). After a hearing, the ban was lifted in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Several other songs by the band have also dealt with BDSM themes, such as "Feuerräder" and "Bück Dich".
British electronic singer Andi Fraggs released a single "Eroction" in 2011 which heavily featured sadomasochism in its lyrics. Limited 100 CD copies were dispatched to UK S&M clubs in a PVC sleeve.
Madonna also embraced the S&M aesthetic and content in much of her music. Firstly, 1990's "Justify My Love" dealt with submission and sadomasochism both in the song and its controversial accompanying video. Then again in 1992 with her best-selling, widely notorious publication Sex and her coinciding album Erotica. The title track was accompanied again by another scandalous and provoking music video.
