What is your favourite era for a story to be set in?

Katie

There was a clip a couple of years back of a contemporary Scandinavian film where a father canes his mature daughter in their rustic dacha. I can't remember what it was called though I thought the cane was more of a tree branch which spoiled it somewhat.

I do write school stories quite often and the obvious era to set them in is that of my own childhood -1960s just about into the 1970s. It was not at all uncommon for girls in Scottish schools to get the belt across their hands but in the rest of the UK where the cane was generally used it was much rarer though I have read enough factual accounts, usually on local historical sites rather than kink sites, to assure me that it was not unknown and caning girls may have even become MORE common in the 1970s in an age of more mixed schools and an awareness of the wrongness of sexist treatment.

I don't think women talk about it as much as men because, for girls, it tended to be a shameful admittance of bad behaviour whereas for most boys it was more a matter of course and an occupational hazard at school and also women may find they are the subject of prurient enquiries about what kind of knickers they wore, etc. (If I ask you such a question it would be purely in the interests of historical accuracy for a story, you understand!)

mobile_carrot
I went to school in the 1960's at a strict Grammar School and the cane was certainly used on girl's bottoms over the tight grey uniform skirt. It was less common than for the boys. Hence I prefer that era.

A cane in a Scandinavian cabin would definitely spoil it for most Scandinavians!

Actually, I think the film you have in mind is the German "Schneeland" where the heroine is spanked by her father with the strangest of implements - a dry, thick, twisted branch that seems more suited to hit somebody over the head with. Although the film is German, it is based on a novel by the Swedish novelist Elisabeth Rynell and is set in Swedish Lapland. The spankings are bare bottom and of a kind rarely seen in mainstream movies, but they are also ruthlessly brutal and (I agree) spoiled by the strange choice of implement.

I like the 20's, 30's, 40's, and 50's as well. One era not mentioned so far is the negative utopia set in the future. This appeals to me, because you can construct your own world with your own rules of social order.

It takes time and effort to build this "world" but you can brush aside the social norms forced upon you by any historical era.

I did branch out and write a story called "Whack To The Future" where a lad called Marty and a crazed old guy called Doc travel in time in a car and meet both the Jetsons and the Flintstones who, though separated in time by millennia, both spank their daughters. Well, nobody else was going to write it, were they?

The Prudence stories, being westerns, are my only attempt at historical fiction to date. I like the wild west era as it has plenty of potential for spankings but it was a maddening experience writing it as I found myself stopping every five minutes to look something up. People who write historical novels must spend most of their time doing research.

There seems to be quite a strong preference by many for the 1950s. I wonder if this is because it is within living, or at least anecdotal, memory. My own vote however would be for the late Victorian/Edwardian era. Maybe it is because at a time when I thought I was the only spankophile in the world I discovered 'reprints' of (supposed) Victorian erotica which featured many a naughty female getting their bottom warmed. (I discovered soon after, from the letters columns in gentlemen's magazines, that it was still a common occurrence in England where every female secretary could expect to be spanked bare bottom by her boss on a regular basis, prompting me to wonder if I was living in the wrong country). Nevertheless, the Victorian era has a special appeal. I love the hypocrisy of the contrast between outward ultra respectability and what does on behind closed doors.

@ BashfulBob

I suspect Bob you are correct about the preference for the 1950s being related to living memory, but also I think it appeals to those like me who prefer the the more domestic and milder aspects of spanking.

The Victorian/Edwardian era stories are often more institutional or semi-institutional (governess/nanny) and are often more brutal. That is not a criticism, just an observation as each personal preference and era offers different aspects.