# Sex Torture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 11, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701 "2006-12-11T17:47:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/1 "2006-12-11T17:47:03Z")
In reading some of the erotic literature, it seems that some people confuse pleasure and pain-some of the practices described seem to cause quite a bit of pain, yet those who indulge in them clearly enjoy them. Is it possible for the brain to become reprogrammed-that is, interpret a painful stimulus as pleasurable? Like that odd sensation you get someyimes-when very hot water feels cold to you. is this is what is behind masochism? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/2 "2006-12-11T18:27:15Z")
I like pleasure mixed with pain, so music is my aeroplane. It’s my aeroplane. Guess that wasn’t much help. Your theory is too simppe, but makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/3 "2006-12-11T18:30:45Z")
Your theory may also be too simple. My pet chinchilla was biting me on my ass as I was writing the previous post. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/4 "2006-12-11T18:34:30Z")
[QUOTE=Dr\_Paprika] My pet chinchilla was biting me on my ass as I was writing the previous post. [/QUOTE] Was it pleasurable? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/5 "2006-12-11T18:48:25Z")
[QUOTE=Dr\_Paprika] My pet chinchilla was biting me on my ass as I was writing the previous post. [/QUOTE] You need to watch that show; _The Chinchilla Whisperer._ ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/6 "2006-12-11T18:50:01Z")
[QUOTE=Dr\_Paprika] Your theory may also be too simple. My pet chinchilla was biting me on my ass as I was writing the previous post. [/QUOTE] Kinky. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/7 "2006-12-11T18:57:36Z")
Yeah, if you’re into that kind of “stuff”. _d&r_ ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/8 "2006-12-11T19:21:54Z")
I timed myself – took me exactly 4.27 nanoseconds to click on the post titled “Sex … somethingorother.” Amazing, isn’t it? If it had been titled “Is this how S/M starts?” I wouldn’t have given it a second glance. But just put the word “sex” in it, and my mouse puts burn marks on the desk gettin’ it open! God, I am way too easy! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/9 "2006-12-11T19:40:00Z")
There are probably many reasons why people get off on pain. I think one is that people get off on the humiliation of it. They sometimes experience guilt from leading such successful lives that they need some sort of balancing experience. Hence humiliation. My cite for that, is a bunch of 80s wank mags. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/10 "2006-12-11T19:54:58Z")
It’s mostly the eroticization of power. One key way of underlining a power differential is to establish the ability of Party A to inflict pain on Party B, especially at times and to degrees of Party A’s choosing. Also, if Party A is similarly able to elicit pleasure in Party B with similarly granular control of how much and when, Party A has all the behavior-modification grips on Party B, pleasure and pain. Eroticism is to some extent bound up with power intrinsically — there are vulnerabilities involved in appetite itself, and in one’s body’s susceptibility to reacting to stimulation in ways beyond one’s deliberate control. Then on top of that, our culture’s really heavily into it, with “snarky” forms of sexuality that involve tantalizing and dominating and etc being rather heavily represented, so that aspect of our sexuality is something we’re all pretty well exposed to, so there’s no surprise that if a flash of erotic interest can be elicited in you when you see some of it, you might be fascinated enough to explore it in more detail. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/11 "2006-12-11T20:00:45Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Sex Torture? [/QUOTE] You mean this isn’t a Ron Popeil infomercial…!? 😃 “…And then just Watch it Julienne fries…!” ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/12 "2006-12-11T20:04:57Z")
Sex torture? I’ll pretend to not like it if I’m “subjected” to it. No, please! Don’t give me sex again! (yes! more sex!) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/13 "2006-12-11T20:18:24Z")
[QUOTE=Dr\_Paprika] I like pleasure mixed with pain, so music is my aeroplane. It’s my aeroplane. Guess that wasn’t much help. Your theory is too simppe, but makes sense. [/QUOTE] Ahem, I believe it’s pleasure _spiked_ with pain. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/14 "2006-12-11T20:23:56Z")
When I posted to this thread, titled “ **Sex Torture?** ”, it was Right Below the thread titled, “ **Does This Sound Suspicious to You?** ” :eek: 😃 Mmmm-yeah…Could be… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/15 "2006-12-11T20:50:22Z")
What, nobody’s mentioned [endorphins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorphins) yet? In a good scene, the sensations are built up slowly. One way the body reacts to pain is by releasing endorphins, which act as natural painkillers and give a mental high; some people will laugh while they’re being “tortured.” As endorphins are released, the amount of pain you can tolerate/desire increases. By slowly building the pain and paying close attention to how the bottom reacts, a good top makes sure that the level of pain doesn’t go beyond what the bottom can take. Remember also that “pain” and “pleasure” aren’t entirely seperate - they’re just two subjectively-described points within a spectrum of sensation. What’s interpreted as painful or pleasurable depends on the individual; some people enjoy or require a level or type of stimulation that other people would consider unpleasantly painful. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/16 "2006-12-11T20:55:32Z")
I like spicy food, even though it is painful sometimes. I like spicy sex, even though it is painful sometimes. Pain, when controlled (even if controlled by someone else whom you trust, can be very pleasurable. Humans are perverse creatures 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/17 "2006-12-11T22:15:18Z")
[QUOTE=The Weird One] By slowly building the pain and paying close attention to how the bottom reacts, a good top makes sure that the level of pain doesn’t go beyond what the bottom can take. [/QUOTE] The bottom of what? Or maybe whose bottom? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/18 "2006-12-11T22:33:42Z")
Paging **evil Captor**! You’re Wanted In The S&m Thread! ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/19 "2006-12-11T22:47:40Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] The bottom of what? Or maybe whose bottom? 😕 [/QUOTE] Bottom is a term that is often used to describe the one who is being “tortured”. There’s more to it than that, of course, so I’m sure a more experienced person will be along. I’m just a decently read amateur, with a semi-willing partner. Hehehe… ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701/20 "2006-12-11T23:55:56Z")
Generally in sexual terms the bottom is the ‘penitrated’ whilst the top is the ‘penitrator’. So the masculin sexual situation is usually as the top, whilst the feminine is the bottom. In BDSM the words are used differnetly, but in a somewhat related fashion. The bottom gives some level of control over themselves to the top. A dominatrix would typacly be a top, whilst someone being whipped would typically be the bottom. This can cause confusion when the BDSM use of the term conflicts with the general use of the terms. A person might tie up their partner (so acting as the BDSM top) and then give oral sex to their tied up partner (so acting as the sexual bottom). So in BDSM the top has the appearence of control over the bottom. But in normal consensual BDSM there will be a way that the bottom can request that things stop, usually a safe word, or action, that tells the top “This is too much, you must stop now, and release me from any bindings”. So though the top is in control, the bottom is never without some level of control and arbitration over what happens. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-torture/383701.md?page=2)