Spare the Rod

In my world, there is a common saying: "Spare the rod and spoil the man." This reflects the belief that men need regular discipline at the hands of women if they are to flourish in their roles in life. Even in relatively modern societies here, men are expected to remain submissive and obedient to women — husbands to wives, fathers to daughters, brothers to sisters — and common wisdom is that the proper way to inculcate such behavior is through the crop, the belt, the whip, or even more severe punishments.

The practice of punishment and disciplining of men has existed on my world for as long as recorded history, and there are many ancient texts from multiple cultures on the topic. Some cultures even consider the punishment of men a form of art in itself, while certain religions even have entire sections of their scriptures dedicated to appropriate punishments  for the smallest transgressions. Even now, new books such as Keeping Men Obedient: A Practical Guide to Discipline in the Home and Modern Techniques in Male Punishment still rocket up the bestseller lists once every few years. After all, faced with all the rapid changes in society, women must stay current with the most modern innovations in thinking.

The last few decades have seen many changes in thoughts and opinions on this topic in the West, with opinion tending towards a more balanced velvet glove approach as opposed to the unrelenting iron fist of old. Certain harsh practices have also become unfashionable. It was not too long ago in Western societies that particularly disobedient or inattentive men were hooded, bound, and dragged to a public square, tied to a post, and whipped in front of amused crowds. That practice has thankfully died out.

Another formerly common punishment that has fallen into disfavor in the last few decades is the bridle of silence, imposed upon men who have uttered something especially displeasing. It is a leather muzzle with a heavy ball of metal that is forced into a man's mouth. The ball is studded with sharp metal spikes so that the only way the punished man can avoid excruciating pain is by keeping his tongue still to balance the weight of the ball evenly across its surface. A man thus punished is supposed to wear this bridle in public to shame him for having spoken out of turn.

In the past, a public punishment was also an invitation for the public at large to hurl abuse at the chastised male.  This practice was largely carried out by other men at the urging of women; indeed, it was thought that involving men in the active punishment of other men would have an overall beneficial effect on both the punished and the onlookers.

Occasionally, such older punishments can still be seen in public. Many men who see them are quietly horrified but the most common reaction among women would be mild amusement at the use of such out-of-fashion techniques.  The still common attitude in my world when a man is punished, even severely, is that he most probably deserved it, and if the punishment seems harsher than warranted, it is merely to discourage him from behaving so in the future.

The velvet glove approach that is in vogue right now means that men are also rewarded for behaving well rather than just punished for behaving poorly, although many conservative women (and men) believe that such leniency is leading to the demise of Western civilization.  There is even a small but growing minority of women in the West who believe that such punishment should be kept to a minimum, who let their men get away with behavior that would have been unheard of a decade or two ago.

Of course, the fact that most men are physically and helplessly aroused by a strong and powerful woman, and that a portion of them — some women believe that all men secretly do — derive exquisite pleasure from being subjected to, among other things, a woman's whip, complicates things further.  I have alluded to this before, that some men are compelled to seek punishment and degradation for gratification.  Perhaps this explains why many men continue being rebellious, many even playfully so, in the face of the increasing severity of their penalty.  They are begging to be disciplined.

Still, even the most rebellious of men must know a woman's limits, as there is no physical punishment that can compare to the horror of being sold to work in the factories or mines.  From that ultimate sentence, there can be no turning back.