Counting

Lifting this topic from another thread where it was raised today...

How do you feel about the spankee having to count the strokes/swats during a punishment?

Erotic submission or pointless arithmetic?

I assume the practice was common during judicial punishments in which a tariff had been set... but does it have a place in other contexts?

Of passing psychological interest perhaps: the first time I was whacked at boarding-school, aged 8 in the mid-60's, I distinctly remember silently counting the (four) blows. I was pretty terrified, and I suspect the counting was my mind's way of keeping panic at bay by focusing on something tangible. And, even though I was left very bruised, I don't remember feeling the pain...

Wish I'd seen your lift before I responded elsewhere TEM. I find counting tedious, slowing down the action. Plus, it seems to shift the control minutely (or at least the pace) from the spanker to the spankee.

Possibly a third, more practical reason? If the spankee is made to count out loud, the spanker can assess the effect of the punishment from the time needed to respond and the tone of voice.

Absolutely, and the increasingly strained, pained voice can, in itself, be a source of delight to the spanker, but need it take the form of counting?

Well, I feel that it can truly add to the humiliation experienced by the spankee, just because it is corny and stuffy. If the spankee knows that and still has to get these words out, it can be more humiliating than the actual spanking. If the spanker is a vilian, overuse of the same thing can be a good way to increase the reader's dislike for the spanker. And as said above, if the author can get the increasing distress in the spankee's voice through, it can really add to the reader's experience. Written the right way, I find it rewarding.

It puts added pressure on the one being spanked when the spanker has said that if the spankee misses a count or takes too long (after the next spank is given), the spanking will go back to start at one. This possibility makes the spankee fearful and nervous, so it adds to the impact of the spanking as well as the possible humiliation.

TEM I have never gone along with the idea that schooldays are the happiest days of ones life!

I would imagine that having your bottom pulverized while at the same time having to perform an intellectual exercise such as counting accompanied by a communication activity such as verbalizing, might lead to a moment of serious cognitive dissonance.

In an analogous exercise, but different genre, there is a project called "Hysterical Literature". I won't do a spoiler for those who wish to find it; searching for those terms will surely get you to it.

For the audience, it might be arousing, amusing or artistic; or perhaps all three to the interested party. @TEM @Janine : I suspect it will be just up your alley.

P.S. My favorite is the reading by Stormy.

That's brilliant, Gail. I love it.

I had always thought that the purpose of the counting was to prevent the spankee from dissociating themselves from the spanking and going, if not into subspace but into a mental space where they are not concentrating 100% on the kind attentions of the spanker on their bum.
I should add that I don't know if this distraction is actually possible.