Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Reflecting on a Set of Personal and Political Criteria 1 Pt. 1 Expanding the Scope of Sadomasochism Ch. 1 Exploring Sadomasochism in the American Context 15 Ch. 2 Defining a Basic Dynamic: Parodoxes[sic] at the Heart of Sadomasochism 43 Ch. 3 Combining the Insights of Existentialism and Psychoanalysis: Why Sadomasochism? 69 Pt. 2 Sadomasochism in Its Social Settings Ch. 4 Employing Chains of Command: Sadomasochism and the Workplace 93 Ch. 5 Engendering Sadomasochism: Dominance, Subordination, and the Contaminated World of Patriarchy 125 Ch. 6 Creating Enemies in Everyday Life: Following the Example of Others 155 Ch. 7 A Theoretical Finale 187 Epilogue 215 Notes 223 Index 231

Why do men and women lock themselves in painful intimacies, continue to work for tyrannical bosses, and put up with people who humiliate them? Exploring the self-inflicted suffering of everyday life, this book sheds light on a widespread psychological phenomenon of our time--and points the way to breaking that pattern of unhappiness.

Why do men and women lock themselves in painful intimacies, continue to work for tyrannical bosses, and put up with people who humiliate them? Exploring the self-inflicted suffering of everyday life, this book sheds light on a widespread psychological phenomenon of our time--and points the way to breaking that pattern of unhappiness.

Sadomasochism is explored from three distinct vantage points in this volume. First, there is an extensive critical overview of the etiology of the clinical syndrome that singles out specific parent-child interactions responsible for its causation. Second, the author presents a sociological perspective tracing the sadomasochistic elements existing in all basic interactions between men and women and argues compellingly that sexism is ultimately an expression of a sadomasochistic arrangement between the sexes. Finally a detailed and specific treatment plan is offered. Richly illustrated with four case histories, this plan integrates the developmental phases of normal infancy with specific phases of the therapeutic process.

The Scarlet Gospels reveal hidden commentaries revealed through the psychology of sadomasochism in daily life. You may discover they unfold like a puzzle itself revealing a disenchanting dark secret within.

Sadomasochism, Popular Culture and Revolt: A Pornography of Violence explores powerful connections between violent pornography and current gender wars, generational conflicts, political struggles, and racial and ethnic unrest. Long before these conflicts dominated headlines worldwide, they become embedded and contextualized in popular culture. Tracing the history of today’s popular porn genres, including torture porn, revenge porn, war porn, and fascist porn, Tom Pollard reveals a "sadomasochistic trope" of fictional and real sexual violence and sexual justice that had largely remained hidden and suppressed. Today it has exploded into public awareness by mass movements like #MeToo demanding justice for sexual assault victims. This movement joins other recent social movements, including Black Lives Matter and advocates of safety from gun violence, which, along with #MeToo, constitute a "revolt of submissives" no longer willing to endure unwanted violence. This thoughtful examination of the history and content of violent pornography reveals portentous patterns and developing trends. By examining pornography’s violent content, Pollard forces us to confront wider social and cultural violence. Sadomasochism, Popular Culture and Revolt will be of great interest to scholars of gay and lesbian studies and queer studies, while being a vital text for undergraduate and graduate instructors of social movement studies in sociology, political science, American Studies, and history.