Why Spanking Fantasies?

One aspect of spanking that is not explained by Opponent-Process Theory is having fantasies of being spanked before having any experience with erotic spanking - or any other type of spanking, for that matter. Why would I have had spanking fantasies as a college student? I had only ever had the rare swat on the rear for being too loud in the house.

I remember picking up a book in the college bookstore, reading a random page or two, and being aroused by stories of activities much more extreme than spanking. The book was apparently assigned reading for a sociology class. I think the description was of bondage of some sort. Perhaps there was some mild BDSM, too. I just don't remember. Not long after that, browsing at Walden Books, I discovered Nancy Friday's books of women's fantasies. While the rape fantasies did nothing for me, those that mentioned spanking were dog-eared and underlined. Why? I definitely think the feelings of (safe) loss of control and being overwhelmed are part of that thrill. There is something to the repetitive and unrelenting nature of a spanking that is very similar to .... well, I'll let you figure that out! So, being commanded to bend over and then have that pounding, pounding, pounding - with a little imaginary sting each time is pretty exciting.

That is the fantasy world. If a real spanking were just pain and misery, a woman would ask for or agree to one, have a terrible experience and then never agree to another spanking. Certainly, this does happen to some women, depending on the experience provided by her spanker and her own mental state and perceptions. But, many, many more do it again and again. I believe they have nice afterfeelings even with the first spanking and develop the good aftereffects that Opponent-Process predicts if the spankings are just frequent enough - perhaps once a week or so? Most people seem to settle on some time period between four days and a week between "maintenance" spankings. Could that be the optimal time between experiences? Perhaps. Alas, I don't think we can really know, but maybe one day other research will give us an idea of optimal. Any volunteers??

In the meantime, "Keep on Spanking"!!