Domination and submission are coming into the mainstream and out in the open, which means that a lot of men and women must share these desires. What are the psychological underpinnings of domination and submission?

Has spanking gone mainstream? asks Katie Roiphe in a Newsweek cover story in response to all the hype around the Twilight fanfiction slash “mommy porn” bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey. Roiphe notes the coincidence of this trend of women eagerly consuming fantasies of submission at a time when women are “in hard economic terms” less subjugated or dependent by men than before. May it be “that power is not always that comfortable, even for those of us who grew up in it … that equality is something we want only sometimes and in some places and in some arenas …. that power and all of its imperatives can be boring”? Read more

Erotic or sexual spanking is probably the most socially acceptable form of BDSM. In fact, it’s almost mainstream. Fleshbot has posted the top ten amateur spanking videos. If this looks like fun, but you haven’t tried it yet, my post Bottoms Up: How to Give an Erotic Spanking gives some pointers to get started.

We like big butts and we cannot lie. That’s why we have nothing but good thoughts about booty spanking during sex. A little discipline never hurt anyone, especially when it involves sexy women on their knees.

These couples know how to add a little kink to their sex lives, finding a happy medium between pleasure and pain. The women in these videos enjoy every moment of their painful punishment—almost as much as we do. Watch videos

Erotic spanking is the act of spanking another person for the sexual arousal or gratification of either or both partners. Spanking can be sexy, and a majority of women have fantasies about being spanked. Most men, too, find spanking a woman to be a strong sexual turn-on.

For a woman, the turn-on is not so much in the sensation of pain as it is in the feeling of helpless submission and vulnerability of being bent over her partner’s lap, the attention being paid to her behind (a primary erogenous zone), the feeling of a man’s hand warming her buttocks, and the anticipation of sexual pleasures to come. For a man, the arousing aspect of spanking is the feeling of control and power over his helpless lover, and the excitement of playing with her beautiful bottom, turning it pink and putting her in the mood for some hot, passionate sex. (more…)

As if we women weren’t complicated enough! Men are asking why the woman they’ve been treating like a princess suddenly wants to be treated like a whore in bedroom. Apparently, it all goes back to dear old Dad.

Many men have faced this as they’ve grown into a more sexually active lifestyle. The woman who you spent so much time fawning over, making feel special, and trying your hardest to respect and adore as much as necessary to be rewarded… now wants to be smacked… treated rough. The man taught to be The Moron.. Is now being asked to be The Jerk! Read more

One point that the author makes (which I made in a previous post) is one that men should keep in mind if they want to “make sense” of the women in their lives: “women crave arguments and drama.”