
I was reading a piece in the newspaper (The Guardian, 16th July 2007) written by a lady called Julie Bindel who was writing about someone she had known at school and who was recently convicted of a brutal murder. Now it's an interesting piece in it's own right but the bit that grabbed me was when Julie is talking about how both of them were often getting into trouble at school.
"Often, Ashdown and I would find ourselves outside the head teacher's office to be punished for our various antics. I remember one particular day when Ashdown came out of the office having been caned on his bottom. I was next. "They don't cane lasses on the backside," he advised "so go and put plenty of soap on your hands - it hurts less." It was sound advice, coming from someone who knew."
The idea that having soap on your hands would make a caning hurt less seems rather far-fetched to me but I've heard of similar ideas in the past, all of which seemed to me to be doomed to failure. However, perhaps there's something else to it. After all, part of the experience of being summoned to the head teacher's office and made to hold your hand out to be caned is about a very painful experience that you may not want to repeat. But the other part is about the establishment and it's authority and the fact it is able to make you do something to it's instructions. The rebellious schoolboy or schoolgirl who's been doing things the school disapproves of is forced into a position of acquiescing to their control.
And perhaps that's where the soap thing comes in. I don't believe it lessens the pain, but it may make you feel better - it's like saying you've not done exactly what they've ordered you to do - you're still rebelling and they don't even realise it.

There we are, waiting for me. How on earth did they know?









