With its undertones of forbidden, mischievous enjoyment, the marriage between pain and pleasure has many lit up and ready to be naughty under the sheets. For human beings, it appears that pain and pleasure have always been intertwined. Albeit considered opposites, pain and pleasure are powerful motivators of behaviour and can co-exist to help highlight the other. Pain isn’t always pain.
Pleasure is associated with reward while pain is associated with punishment. It is a fact that pain and pleasure stimulate the same chemicals and hormones in the human brain. Beyond sex, the act of loving requires a willingness to experience both pain and pleasure. I believe pain has such bad PR. Many times, in reality, pain helps us embrace pleasure. Ever wondered why a cold beer tastes so much better after a long day? Or why spanking feels good when you’re sexually aroused or when it’s done by a lover?
Important to Note About Erotic Pain:
In any sexual engagement, unless the involved is/are specifically interested in exploring and/or experiencing pain as a part of the intercourse, sex should not be painful for anyone. Always ask for consent and have a safe word. When the safe word is mentioned, the act(s) must come to an instantaneous end.
While I was doing research on this piece, I came across Tina Horn’s Why Are People Into Masochism. At the beginning of that article, she shared a very hilarious joke and it does a perfect job, summing up all this article is about.
Enjoy!
A masochist visits a dominatrix. His Mistress shackles him to a St Andrew’s cross on a raised platform. She attaches powerful magnetic clamps to his nipples and sharply pinching clothespins all up and down the insides of his thighs. Goes ahead to place his cock inside of a locked metal cage, and his erection becomes sore within a few minutes of swelling against the steel restraints.
Continuing, she whips him mercilessly, first using a flogger with heavy bullhide falls almost as tall as her legs are long, then moving on to the vicious sting of a braided singletail. She raises deep purple bruises, red bites, and white welts all along his shoulders, back, and ass.He curses and moans and screams in catharsis, hungrily accepting her ministrations.
As an experienced and bottomless pain slut, he knows how to breathe deep and steady, transforming the sensations from agony to ecstasy. Tension evaporates from his body and his troubles are cleared from his mind. Taking pain and worshipping this woman’s power puts him in a meditative state, which he craves in order to feel fearless and good in his life.
When his time is up, his Mistress tenderly removes his bondage, giving him her leather-gloved hand to steady himself. As he steps off the platform, deeply grateful and blissed-out, he stubs his toe and hollers, “OUCH!”
Tina Horn
The above scenario fully embodies the saying: “pain is a uniquely human indulgence.” Erotic pain cannot be likened to accidental pain, as the difference between both is consent. A person who enjoys afflicting erotic pain on others is called a sadist while a person who enjoys receiving erotic pain is called a masochist.
However, if you’re wondering how the mind is able to tell the difference, it’s mostly because when the body has experienced both, the feelings were different. Accidental pain leaves you in pain, literally. Erotic pain on the other hand leaves you feeling rapturous. For many who indulge in the act of sadomasochism, it brings them some kind of peace; escape from real life if you will. In this tent, we do not yuck anyone’s yum, as one man’s meat is another’s poison.
Key Takeaway
- Pain and pleasure activate the same chemicals and hormones in the human brain
- Pain isn’t always pain, as it allows us to appreciate pleasurable moments more.
- The difference between accidental and erotic pain is consent.
- Yes, some people enjoy inflicting pain on others, sadists. Others enjoy receiving pain, masochists.
- Never yuck anyone’s yum. Find your tribe.
