@izzythepush,
Geoffrey Gorer, in his brilliant book on the Marquis de Sade, makes some interesting remarks about sadism in the US.
Sadism, properly defined, is "
the pleasure felt from the observed modifications on the external world produced by the will of the observer.
Which is a bit of a show stopper imo. But it can be either constructive or destructive although the latter is the easiest to access.
Algolagnia is a specific category of sadism involving sexual activity.
Mr Gorer lived and worked in the US from 1939 to 1957 in some rather undefined position and wrote a book called The Americans.
Quote:In a fashion which is still somewhat obscure, it seems as though many of the inhabitants of the areas where the American Indian formerly roamed have taken over from the people they displaced this demonstration of manliness by the endurance of pain and humiliation without flinching, and the admiration of the spectators who witness the hero's agonies and impassivity. This is a recurrent theme in American literature, from Billy Budd to From Here to Eternity: for English readers this demonstration of Manliness by Suffering was brutal and obscene. No English writer could have written:
"There was a satisfaction that came from having borne pain that nothing else could ever quite equal, even though the pain was philosophically pointless and never affected anything but the nervous system. Physical pain was its own justification."
Perhaps it would be more correct to say that no English (and I suspect no French) writer could have written such sentences in a book intended for general circulation and serious consideration; such sentences might of course occur in the erotic algolagnic literature of the nineteenth century; indeed from the few excerpts available, it would seem that this might be the theme of Swinburne's monumental obsession with schoolboy punishments, The Flogging Block.
Obviously, we Englishmen are big softee Mumsie's little darlings and if we get tripped up on the football pitch we roll around in writhing agony in order to run down the clock, court the ref's sympathy and give the other players a bit of a breather whilst the trainer attends to us and offers us a soft drink.
In the NFL stoicism is the order of the day and the protective paddings mainly serve to make the players look more imposing than otherwise would be the case.
I think the difference between our football and the NFL makes Mr Gorer's point very well.
There's nothing manly in being injured.
That's why ICBMs and drones were invented. Both can be guided to the targets by a lady in full feminine war paint from a position which must come close to being the safest place in the world.
Whether Spade is seeking to control us all constructively or otherwise is an interesting subject.
