posted on September 27, 2000 07:19:57 PM new
Ended up with two copies of this delightful tome -- one with the subtitle, "An Exercise in Cultural History" with a not-quite-cartoon-like drawing of a fella holding someone's head (removed) up.
The other is subtitled, "The ideology of pornography" and features on the front cover a corseted, masked woman with a whip and boots that go all the way up.
Oh, my! Wonder what happened along the way.
(The babe-o-licious version was published in 1978 -- prior to the death of the writer; the other was published this year -- considerably after her death. The text appears to be unchanged.)
posted on September 29, 2000 01:12:07 AM newThe other is subtitled, "The ideology of pornography" and features on the front cover a corseted, masked woman with a whip and boots that go all the way up.
It would be interesting to know the genesis of this image as a sexual archetype. When did it first show up? Is it relatively new, or has it been with us for centuries? I mean, it had to start somewhere, right?
posted on September 29, 2000 06:31:29 AM new
Sbunny, I think the popularity of Helmut Newton's images and their ilk in the 70s may have made that cover possible, while the equation of sexually provocative speech with death gets it by the MacKinnon/Dworkin brigade that holds sway today. Funny to think that images of decapitation are now preferable to stiletto heels and black leather. We've come a long way, baby!
Spaz, I don't see how the actual image of the dominatrix can predate the development of the boned corset and synthesis of rubber, but the dynamic of mutual pleasure in male subjugation probably dates back to the Original Sin.
