Magnificent!
Oct. 3rd, 2004 12:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jlhSo all the talk about Anne Rice and those dreadful Sleeping Beauty books got me thinking about a particular trope that I've noticed both in fic and in published erotica that I've been wondering about.
We are nearly always in the mind of a new sub, in BDSM erotica. And there's a moment when their dom takes them to some sort of party or gathering or club or even over to their dom buddy's house to sort of show them off. Now, at some point during this gathering, either when the sub is unveiled in all their leather or whatever clad glory, or when they've taken some kind of punishment, or beat out the other subs in a don't come / make the dom come contest or whatever the Great Event is, one or more of the other doms says to our Main Dom, "Gerald, she's magnificent!" and then asks to use them in some way.
Now. Is every new sub always magnificent—in other words, fresh meat syndrome? Is it just because books only get written about the magnificent ones because otherwise the book would be uninteresting and full of envy? Is every sub magnificent in their own unique way? And why is it that the actual word "magnificent" is nearly always used? What is up with that?
Seriously, I'm just wondering. It's not like I'm planning to have Dom!Harry bring Sub!Hermione over to Dom!Ginny's house to play with Sub!Draco or anything. (Um, well, that would be a sequel to Swingers, which is why I'm never going to write a sequel to Swingers as then it would be just a really boring BDSM two couple fic that anyone could write.)
So? Any thoughts?
We are nearly always in the mind of a new sub, in BDSM erotica. And there's a moment when their dom takes them to some sort of party or gathering or club or even over to their dom buddy's house to sort of show them off. Now, at some point during this gathering, either when the sub is unveiled in all their leather or whatever clad glory, or when they've taken some kind of punishment, or beat out the other subs in a don't come / make the dom come contest or whatever the Great Event is, one or more of the other doms says to our Main Dom, "Gerald, she's magnificent!" and then asks to use them in some way.
Now. Is every new sub always magnificent—in other words, fresh meat syndrome? Is it just because books only get written about the magnificent ones because otherwise the book would be uninteresting and full of envy? Is every sub magnificent in their own unique way? And why is it that the actual word "magnificent" is nearly always used? What is up with that?
Seriously, I'm just wondering. It's not like I'm planning to have Dom!Harry bring Sub!Hermione over to Dom!Ginny's house to play with Sub!Draco or anything. (Um, well, that would be a sequel to Swingers, which is why I'm never going to write a sequel to Swingers as then it would be just a really boring BDSM two couple fic that anyone could write.)
So? Any thoughts?
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Date: 2004-10-02 10:07 pm (UTC)... if you wrote a Dom!Padma fic, I'd be yours sub. :D
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Date: 2004-10-02 11:16 pm (UTC)Hmm, Dom!Padma. Well, I certainly think Ron is like, a total sub, so it would make sense. I'll have to ponder that.
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Date: 2004-10-03 07:38 am (UTC)Mmmm. Sub!Ron/Dom!Padma. That'd be hot.
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Date: 2004-10-02 10:09 pm (UTC)Anyway, I think it is probably one part fresh meat syndrome, but also a larger part wish fulfilment. If we're already in the mind of the sub (and really, most people are subs and not Doms, so this isn't surprising) and therefore living through them, if you will, and who can say that they don't want to be thought magnificent? I think that is the reson (or one of them - D/s relationships are all about psychology, with sex as a bonus) you see so much competition between subs at parties like that - all the subs want to please their Dom and bring recognition to them through being the 'magnificent' one. And having some random other Dom come along and claim them is the height of it all.
And yes, if stories were all written about the not-so-magnificent subs, it would just be about a bunch of people laying about in leather whinging about how so-and-so is the prettiest. ;)
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Date: 2004-10-02 11:25 pm (UTC)However, those are really good reasons. I just wish they'd switch it up occasionally. I mean, if the sub wasn't really ready at that first party, then you'd get a really great punishment scene, wouldn't you? And then they could come back and show everyone how great they are! Sub as Rocky!
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Date: 2004-10-03 08:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-04 06:19 am (UTC)The funny thing is that the sub is only magnificent in their subjugation. It isn't that they are, generally, incredibly beautiful or have an amazing body or whatever, but that they are a really good sub. But below this comment there is something interesting about being a natural that I think comes closer to what is going on.
interesting point
Date: 2004-10-03 10:23 am (UTC)this is a really intersting point. i wonder if it also has to do with some idea that good sex is inherently natural and unlearned--ie, some "magnificence" just waiting to spring forth. when in fact most sex (including things that may be characterize as bdsm, but certainly not limited to) involves a high degree of learning. which nobody wants to admit, as it brings up all kinds of awkward discomforts. so if it is partially about identication with pov, then maybe it's less about being inherently uninteresting or envy, but also about getting to fulfill a fantasy of being sexually unawkward (except in charming ways that make everyone else hot)?
--m.
Re: interesting point
Date: 2004-10-04 06:22 am (UTC)The funny thing about this is that of course the sub has to learn things, because that's what all the training is about, but then the subs that are generally celebrated in erotica are the ones that won't bow down lightly.
But I think everyone's true fantasy, really, is to have a secret talent, isn't it?
M, why lurk? You can get an lj if only for commenting and fpage convenience! But please, if you comment again, do sign M so I know who you are! And thanks for this great thought!
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Date: 2004-10-03 11:40 am (UTC)Seriously, though (sort of), answer #1 is that of all genres, erotica is probably the most rigid.... uh, the most strict... um, inflexible ... man, these adjectives are treacherous...
Well, anyway, the genre with the most clearly defined rules. Expectations are absolutely clear and must be fulfilled or the terms of the contract haven't been met. This is apparently far more important than originality, good prose, or story.
So repetition of an established formula is not only acceptable, it's almost required. "Gerald, she's maginificent" is indeed a shorthand way of saying, "Gerald, she is on display and is dehumanized, but not so dehumanized that she can't hear and be witness to her own humiliation." Good prose might intimidate some readers; sticking to tested phrases and cliches is reassuring. And many readers of erotica are nervous, even in the privacy of their own heads. Especially about BDSM, I should think.
Answer #2: Everyone is still trying to imitate the Marquis de Sade, originator of all Gerald-she's-magnificent tropes. Because as a lot of theoriest have pointed out, half of what's going on in BDSM erotica isn't so much about sex as about class. (Lynn Hunt has written a lot about that.)
Anne Rice can't write her way out of a paper bag and never could.
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Date: 2004-10-04 06:35 am (UTC)Even more so than, say, regency romance? Or is it really an offshoot of that?
"Gerald, she's magnificent" is indeed a shorthand way of saying, "Gerald, she is on display and is dehumanized, but not so dehumanized that she can't hear and be witness to her own humiliation."
Well, and also, "She is magnificent for offering herself up to us for our amusement" as it is always the subjugation that is being praised. Though on that note, see an anon comment above (that I had forgotteen to unscreen) that talks about natural talent. And in that sense they are trying not only to be Sade but also Reage, as O spends an inordinate amount of time thinking about her state, which speaks to "hear and bear witness to her own humiliation."
The funny thing about Sade is that no one has gone as far as he did. People want to be him but pulled back a notch or twelve and who can blame them? And while the pain and humiliation and head games and violence seem to have been assimilated into a lot of modern erotica, the obsession with bodily functions, not so much.
Anne Rice, I mean, those books. There are things that I like about them, and the second one is a lot better than the first (though the third is a disaster other than the relatively short period where Laurent and Tristan are ponies) but the universe is so weird that you can't even get your footing in it, and then she yanks you out of one country and into another, and there are far too many points of view, and Beauty herself is a really boring object of desire which really isn't a very subversive way to write her, now is it?
Book/series rec
Date: 2004-10-03 06:58 pm (UTC)I'm not sure if having the sub turn into a national heroine is cliche or not, but even if it is, it's not poorly done, either. s:)