Customer Reviews

Anatomy of Masochism (The Springer Series in Social Clinical Psychology)

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Ugh! I don't normally review books just to slag them off, but I've heard people express interest in reading this book because of the title, so I feel it's practically my civic duty to save them from a repeat of the nasty encounter I just had in the University of London library.
It manages to discredit itself most impressively from the very first sentence: "When a `love' relationship is not loving it is usually sadomasochistic' - no, professor, that's a dysfunctional relationship, the presence or otherwise of kinky practice is neither here nor there. And the performance continues for 300 pages until the closing twee homily: "In this vale of tears, where the only certainty for the individual is death, preceded or not, as the case may be, by old age and infirmity, where one species can only survive by feeding on another, the deliberate pursuit of suffering would seem gratuitous." Just as well "sadomasochists" (a highly controversial term in itself) seek not "suffering" (again, unforgiveably sloppy use of terminology) but mental, spiritual and emotional development, through a process in which physical pain is one element.
For all I know (I'm a literary critic rather than a clinical psychologist by training) this book is a brilliant and thorough manipulation of statistics and theory, but it is not ultimately about sadomasochists or even about human beings, it is about theory, and even more about the binary fantasies in the author's head, where nice is nice and nasty must be cured.
By all means use this book if you are a clinician or researcher looking for specific statistical data, as there is plenty of that. But do human dignity a favour and steer clear of the author's interpretation of her own findings. To anyone with an understanding of psychology as it is _lived_, not just as it is written, this book is simply laughable.

I find serious scientific problems with this book, and moreover the authors aggressive disenfranchisement of BDSM. Her framing of masochism is encapsulated in the legacy of antiquated theory, with seemingly no appreciation for the empancipatory science that created mental health reform around gay/lesbian identity. There is a lot written, both before and after, that offer a much more balanced and empowering view of BDSM. Her closing paragraph borders on sexual harassment...she reads like a bitter second wave feminist, too rigid to share diverse sexual voice and join the third wave. Not recommended, other than as an example of the stigma that still exists against BDSM within academia.