The Callipyges by Anonymous

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


First of all let me make it clear that this a book, a guide or series of lectures about Sex and Spanking. There is no real plot or storyline as such.

I have the 1957 Pall Mall Press translation of the original French editions first published in 1892.

The book is a classic exposition about the joys of Spanking, which includes birching for the purposes of this book. Furthermore, it is about women spanking women and is told from the perspective of a group of upper class women who entertain themselves flagellating their servants and each other, and is definitely representative of the social attitudes of the time. The reader is therefore warned that modern sensibilities may find their attitudes offensive, the use of the term "negress" being an example.

The "plot" such as it is, involves the formation of a ladies' social club call The Callipyges, which refers to the fine posteriors of the members and their love of flagellation as a sport and sexual activity, the hiring of specially selected serving girls chosen for their attractiveness, and the recruitment of four school teachers (all women) to give lectures and demonstrations regarding the subject of corporal punishment. The members of the society are all young, ranging from twenty-three to nineteen.

The first item of note is that there is little or none of the modern concept of Dominance and Submission, D/s that forms such an major element of modern BDSM. To these women, the fact that they found the subject of flagellation, both the giving and receiving of it, to be fascinating and arousing, was sufficient justification in itself. I for one find this rather refreshing, lacking as it does the rather murky emotional elements of domination and humiliation.

The levels of punishment range from mild to fairly severe, sometimes drawing blood, so the depictions of punishment are not for the faint hearted.

The second item of significance is that although none of these women profess to be what we would today call Lesbians, they nevertheless found it perfectly natural that the receiving of oral sex, cunnilingus to be specific, from their servants and other women, form part of their social activities. From the casual way this homosexual sex is mentioned, one must assume that the reader would not be too surprise that this happened, which in itself is an interesting insight into the lives of some parts of European society at the time of the book's writing.

The book is not entirely about lesbian sex. There are scenes where men are involved, having intercourse with the women while they (the women) flog a servant girl. There is also an anecdote in which a jealous woman attempts to flog her male lover but has the tables turned on her and is instead flogged herself, by the man.

There are also depictions of a husband hiring a professional spanker to punish his wayward wife, and a more detailed one of a wronged wife wreaking her revenge upon her husband's lover, not only flogging her severely all over her body, including her vulva, but plucking out her pubic hair as a punishment and humiliation.

Not all floggings are depicted as simply punishments. There are occasions where the subject of the punishment finds pleasure from the rod and is given pleasure through oral sex.

In summary, the book is a visit to a time when corporal punishment was considered normal both in the family, between friends, and as a tool of discipline in the household and in schools. It is told exclusively from the viewpoint of women, all of whom unmistakeably derive pleasure from inflicting pain, and gives an interesting insight into the society of the day as well as a great deal of spanking and whipping action for those who enjoy such tales.

Is it a great work of literature? No. And yet it is well written and exhibits a great deal of enthusiasm and passion for the subject, with very little spite or meanness. For those interested in spanking, caning and other related activities, this should be an amusing and perhaps arousing read, as well as an interesting and nearly unique insight into the history of this form of erotic amusement, so I have given it five stars.






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