Exaggerations

One of the biggest let downs in a novel is the exaggeration of the results of a spanking where the victim supposedly can't sit down or needs cushions to sit on.

Yes a good sound spanking can leave a feeling of soreness for a day or so after, but not so that sitting is difficult.

Granted when a severe beating with a cane or paddle results in the breaking of the skin, then like any wound it will be painful to the touch, but that is a long way away from a typical sound or domestic quality spanking.

Your premise is correct. and accurate. That does not add to the kink we share. Fiction does not always have to match fact. Do not ever break skin as you allude to. Spanking yes, beating no. Regards France.

I think Disney put it well years ago, fantasy is about the plausible impossible. You have to be able to relate to the narrative you are reading.

Also it is a matter of taste, I don't find the severe Public School flogging scene in the film "If" at all pleasant, however the caning scene in "Das Goldene Ufer" is rather enthralling.

Both scenes are plausible and will most certainly have taken place over the years.

I am also a member of the "realist" or "naturalist" school as a reader and a writer, but my attitude also depends on what kind of story we are talking about. For some storires, exaggeration is the name of the game, and then everything is allowed as long as it fits the storyline. I'm sure real agents don't find James Bond movies entirely convincing, but they are still fun for the rest of us.

I think this is a very subjective matter. In my experience, adults who regularly engage in spanking play would rarely, if ever, find the aftermath so painful as to inhibit sitting, though my wife always liked to make use of a pillow after a more intense session. I think she did this partially to tease me. On the other hand, when talking about younger individuals and those who don't regularly engage in spanking activities, even a mild spanking can create a significant amount of distress. Pain is a uniquely individual experience.

I grew up in Texas during the 70's and 80's where spanking was an accepted part of life both at home and school. In high school there were students who shrugged off a paddling from the principal within a few minutes and others who'd still be on the verge of tears hours later. Regardless, most everyone agreed it was tough sitting in the student desks (they were either plastic or wood seats depending on the classroom) afterward.

So when I read a story where someone is complaining they can't sit in the aftermath of a spanking I tend to think of them as emphasizing the discomfort of sitting and not the literal interpretation. For some people the pain can feel that intense and for others, well they might be exaggerating for the purpose of gaining sympathy or teasing their spanker.

Either way, it would only make the story feel less realistic to me if the author's intent seemed to be to take the statement as 100% literal. And I might buy that if the spanking was especially severe in terms of leaving bruises, blisters or broken skin. None of which would appeal to me.

I would guess most people who enjoy spanking stories have been on the receiving end of at least one and as such have a fair idea of the REAL experience both during and after.

Whilst everyone had different pain thresholds, from the school experience the victims who got over the punishment quickly did so because they didn't let it hurt their pride.

I think there are plenty examples from real life, where physical punishment has caused considerable and long lasting pain and discomfort.
The Dave Kopay Story(Kopay was the first National Football League player to come as gay in the 1970s) has an account of Kopay's fraternity initiation paddling. He said his buttocks had blood blisters and that he had a "painful reminder" of the experience every time he sat for the next two. weeks. He also says that the next year he was paddling pledges himself.
There are numerous other true accounts of serious pain and soreness from Greek system paddlings, and for school cp as well.
So, no I don't think its always fantasy when a spanking story describes someone left with a really sore bottom that makes sitting very unpleasant or even not an option for awhile.
Of course real life play should probably be a different matter. Perhaps ideally the spankee should be able to wear a thong bikini to the beach next day with no red marks present!

I would completely agree about the majority of those reading these stories. The "can't sit" or "need a pillow" reaction is almost certainly an exaggeration of the real aftereffects from a typical spanking. I don't find it a deal breaker in terms of a story's realism because the phrasing is something I'm familiar with from real life experience.

My parents would often use some variation of, "If you do... one more time, you won't be able to sit for a week." The meaning was not that we would be beaten to within an inch of our lives, but rather we would get a harsher than normal spanking or, particularly when my sisters and I were teens, it might mean we would be grounded for a week with a daily spanking.

The reality of the spankings themselves was never all that bad. Most often the discomfort would be gone in less than a couple of hours and there wouldn't even be any visual signs a spanking had occurred by the time 4 or 5 hours had past. The real effects were what they were regardless of the exaggerated phrasing used in the threat.

I can also recall plenty of kids who would overstate the severity of their spankings with statements along the lines of, "I couldn't sit for two whole days." Generally, the point was to impress others with how tough they were and how mean their parents were. Other times it was an attempt to garner sympathy. I'm reasonably certain it was never a reality.

In the context of stories, as long as the "can't sit" description is delivered in such a way that it can be reconciled as an exaggeration, it works for me. It's not a realistic description of the aftereffects, but it is a realistic expression.

There is definitely an Overton Window to spanking stories.

To be a good one the criteria of historical context, characters involved, severity of punishment, location and consequences etc all have to credibly overlap.

One of the reasons I think "letters about a spanking" and "spankings in non-spanking novels" work best is because they are brief and are less likely to be embellished with the unrealistic.

This would be my interpretation. I would regard 'can't sit' as a synonym for 'that really hurt' rather than as an exaggeration to be taken literally. Parents might threaten to spank a child so hard they can't sit for a week, but I would hope none of them would actually literally carry out such a threat.


I would agree one hundred percent. This perfectly captures my feelings about where severity becomes unpleasant. However, watching a well-produced scene provides no escape for the imagination - I wonder if reading about the flogging in If might make it less unpleasant than watching it because of the ability of the mind to re-imagine what we read more to our own liking. (I suppose it would depend to some extent on how the scene is described - I have to confess I have not read If, or even know if If appeared as a book).