By Jonatas Dornelles
Anthropologist

By definition, the sexual deviation in which someone would get aroused by domineering, despising or inflicting pain into some living creature, whether human or else, is known as sadism. By and large, this kind of behavior is associated to another variation, the masochism, which consists in pleasure derived from self-punishment.

Gilbert Lely, one of the so many Sade biographers, a French writer (1740-1814), and the author of Les 120 Jours de Sodome, quoted that the Marques de Sade, in having fallen prey of his urges, would have a teenage girl tortured in 1763, in the French town of Aix-en-Provence, and faced death because of it but got spared in the end. Then caught at it again in Arcueil (1768) and in Marseille (1772), got locked up several times, but always managed to get away with it. In 1801, was finally held in a mental institution in Chariton, where died in 1814.

In fact, after all these years spent in prisons and institutions, Sade did not get much in the way of opportunity to indulge himself.

None the less, he was able to write novels in which had wild sex romps described, whose punters often relied on lewd practices for the sake of their self-indulgence. The moniker “masochism”, in turn, stemmed from Leopold von Sacher Masoch (1836-1895), Austrian novelist who described several aspects of the marques antics’.

Both variations are known by their pain to pleasure ratio. Sadism would play the active role in the sadomasochist approach, whereas the masochist would be the passive one. But overall the denominations of both variants appear strung up together in the word sadomasochism. Once it’s perceived that these particular variations seemed to go hand in hand of ilk.

Alias, that’s exactly what happened to Marques de Sade and Sacher-Masoch, the prime would get aroused when pain was inflicted and the late when hassled or subjected.  But both could swing either way.  

We all display certain sadomasochist tendency, some would say. Just as many people seemingly enjoyed a bit of mischief as foreplay. Couples usually pick on each other, through pillow fight, by nagging or pretending to kiss then denying it, seeking to arouse one another without the slightest pathological hint in it.

The tendency would become problematic if turned compulsive or whenever the undergone or inflicted pain has grown unbearable.

In practical terms, those into it hardly ever promote or bear grievous bodily harm. Hence the murder cases still few and far between. Together can get along with each other fairly well provided their urges are kept at bay. In contrast, they seemed rather careful not to upset each other when it comes to sex. Such easygoing approach towards intercourse is meant to make up for the rough foreplay, upon which, the peak of their arousal would be reached.