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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a historical chronicle of beauteous female bottoms, November 29, 2002
By A Customer
There are no known spanking daguerreotypes. The earliest spanking photograph shown here is from 1853 and portrays a little girl being punished by her mother. Nazarieff opines that this domestic discipline was a much more morally acceptable photographic subject at the time than spanking as love play between two consenting adults would have been. La Belle Epoque (circa 1900-1920) saw the English vice pass from the European aristocracy to the bourgeoisie, who frequented spanking brothels where they could book a session with a professional submissive. These establishments advertised with visiting cards depicting a stern, fully-clothed madam flogging one of the girls.The Roaring Twenties brought a spate of naughty post cards and even stereoscopic images of corporal punishment. The male consumers of these items preferred an all-female cast for the same reasons that faux lesbian scenes are such fantasy favorites for heterosexual men today. There are potentially more female parts on display, there's no competition in sight, and the women are simply warming each other up for the magical moment when the viewer steps into the picture. The attraction of het women to M/m scenes can be explained similarly. Historically, of course, the images were predominantly of females because the men controlled the money. The thirties featured the leather and rubber fetish photography of Parisian Yva Richard (not included in this volume). The horrors of WWII then temporarily curtailed the European appetite for the algolagniac image. But it surged in US popularity, as evidenced by the tremendous inventory of bondage and spanking pix merchandised by Irving Klaw, whose work is well-represented here. Klaw's favorite model was Betty Page who must have spent many, many hours getting tied up and unbound. Only a couple of pix of Betty here; however, there are plenty of books dedicated to her alone.
I highly recommend this volume. Jeux de Dames Cruelles features a multitude of beauteous female bottoms, often framed by fetching period undergarments, submitting to punishment. The spankees are mostly clothed except for their netherglobes, but there are a few nudes. It's fascinating to view the variety of female body types historically deemed appealing as opposed to the very narrow contemporary fashion, TV and movie industry standards. These women were allowed to eat, which reminds us of one of the great virtues of today's BDSM scene: its democracy of physique. The pictures' settings include the schoolroom, the boudoir, the land of dreams and the great outdoors. And there's a little dog and pony play.
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