Player or spectator?
Friday, July 30th, 2010The severe judicial scenes that Emma Jane and Catherine played with friends a while back have had me wondering about the role of the girl’s partner during such floggings.
Whilst the scenes concerned clearly were ‘play’, they were so well organised and run that they did seem to engender the feeling of real trepidation beforehand for the girls, and the whippings were so harsh that they doubtless felt all-too-authentic whilst the birchings were being administered.
So imagine, for a moment, a real punishment – a genuinely scary ordeal with no potential for the girl to escape, with strokes that were clearly hurting, rather than something playful or light-hearted that could be stopped at any moment. What would be harder for the girl’s partner to take:
• Not being there at all, as was the case for me in these two scenes – in Emma Jane’s case, wandering the streets nearby, in Cath’s checking my phone every few minutes for tweets or texts, in both cases quite unable to concentrate on anything other than worrying about whether they were OK.
• Being in the room as a witness – having to watch, but unable to intervene. At least one would be there for them – but how hard to stand by and watch a loved one suffering. (And would it be worse to stand behind, watching the impact of the strokes and the emerging marks, or in front observing their pained facial reactions?)
• Being in the room as a witness, but allowed to hold and cuddle the girl during the whipping. (I picture the girl tied over the bench, myself kneeling in front of her, holding her hands, her head buried in my shoulder between strokes as she muffled her sobs).
• Being made to inflict the punishment, knowing that if it wasn’t hard enough, the court officials would re-administer it from the start. Hurting her, yet knowing that it was being done with love – better, perhaps, than by a complete stranger, a disinterested official.
Actually, I guess the answer is that all would be pretty tough! That’s the nature of the scene.
And I wonder which would be best, most supportive for the girl on the receiving end? There’s advantage, I guess, in solitude – in one’s suffering not being observed. But there must be benefit from support, too. I’m curious as to what people think…
