We talk a lot about the different instruments that can be
used in corporal punishment and most aficionados of the subject have their own
favourite – the hand, the cane, the slipper, the belt, paddle, the birch… We talk a lot about costume - skirt up, pants
down, naked, tight jeans, uniformed…
We seem to talk very little about the furniture but I think
it’s equally a topic worth attention.
On one level you could have four very simple categories:-
- · No furniture at all
- · “Human” furniture
- · “Accidental” furniture
- · “Intentioned” furniture
In the first case the subject receiving the punishment is usually just standing or bending unsupported. The second case might include putting them over your knee, under your
arm, or the more unusual practice of horsing as formerly used sometimes in
public schools and the like where a third persons back becomes the
“furniture.” The last two categories
would be the more traditional notion of furniture distinguished between what
I’ve termed “accidental” as in objects that just happen to be there (bending
over a desk or chair, lying face down on a bed etc.) or “intentioned” when it’s
something designed or purposed for the task.
Many of the final category come from those operating more at the BDSM
end of the spectrum or judicial punishments but not all. There are
also some borderline examples – for example if someone is misbehaving during a
PE class and is made to bend across a vaulting horse to be punished it might
appear the be in the “accidental” category but if the headmaster has decided to
put a vaulting horse in his office it would appear to be rather more
“intentioned.”
I’m really interested in a different basis for
categorising, which is by intention and consequence of use, and I’ll talk about
that in my next post tomorrow.












