Anyone else notice that although the original image showed McLintock spanking his wife using a shovel, the majority of the promotional material images edit out the shovel and show him just using an open hand?

Why, I wonder?

"The spanking of men by adult women is not a humorous trope that was once ubiquitous, it was (and is) considered a weird sexual fetish."

Spanking is definitely not classified as a fetish. Also, I do not understand why the authors considers it to be weird - it is practiced in various forms (consensually) by 10-30% of adult population (depending on the definition). It is more common than being homosexual or black and we do not consider THAT weird, do we?

"The cultural endorsement of the dominance/subordination relationship, then, is distinctly gendered."

Dominance/subordination relationship is not the same as spanking (though it could be related). I do not see much gendering here - if you look for stories, videos, discussions etc., you can easily find all possible combinations of genders.

I've never seen the movie, but why are there children watching in the first scene? The crowd generally seems to enjoy watching this.

Also "I Was A Male War Bride." It's been years and I can't remember the details of the earlier scene but there's definitely a scene in the mess hall where one woman comments that Cary Grant's character "can beat me any time... and I'll bring the stick!" in response to the leading woman's outrage at their interaction.

I think it started during the war as a backlash to all those ladies in 1930s film acting like they were people or something. I base this overgeneralized and un-researched statement on The Thin Man Goes Home (1945), in which Nick Charles spanks Nora. In front of his parents. It's amazingly out of character. And, IIRC (it's been a long time), before he does it he says something like, "I'm going to do something I should have done a long time ago."

And I remember thinking that he was probably speaking for all the writers and producers who had watched the previous films, and thought "These movies would be so good if that Nora girl wasn't so uppity. Nick needs to remind her of her place."

Blargh. Still makes me angry.

Oddly enough that's not the only film where John Wayne spanks his female lead. There's a spanking scene in The Quiet Man (Maureen O'Hara again) and in Donovan's Reef. I think it reinforces the idea of putting back in their place since he's supposed to be such a man's man.

I wonder if anybody ever did a count of women smacking men across the mouth. Because that nonsense still happens? I guess men are suppose to take it cuz they arn and "lil ol women folk can't possible

I wonder if anybody ever did a count of women smacking men across the mouth. Because that nonsense still happens? I guess men are suppose to take it cuz the "lil ol women folk can't possible hurt a big ol man"

These pics just make me feel sick.

I hate to bring up personal narrative, but it applies: I was at a business event with some colleagues some years ago, and asked one of them to hold my evening bag while I had my photo taken with a client.

The holder, (male, and about 20 years my senior) graciously accepted the bag and waited while the snapshot was taken. I said my goodbyes to the client, and as we were walking back to our table, he used my evening bag, which he was still carrying, to swat me on the bottom. Playfully. As if this was an OK thing to do, and meant we were friends. It wasn't sexual, just sort of... condescending.

No one but me blinked an eye.

This was one of my favorite movies growing up in the sixties, and I bought the VHS as an adult. It is no longer one of my favorite movies. I have only watched it once in the last ten years, and that is because of the spanking scenes and the entire sequence at the end of the movie, which can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gapT5-l1D1U

Earlier in the movie, John Wayne's daughter in the film (Stephanie Powers) is spanked by a hired hand and love interest (Patrick Wayne). John Wayne not only approves, he hands Patrick Wayne a fireplace shovel to spank her with, and smiles approvingly during the spanking. The same happens but in reverse at the end, and the town all cheers approvingly, and this apparently has the effect of making Maureen O'Hara want to reconcile with John Wayne. And they lived happily ever after. Ummm . . .

It was so disturbing to me a few years ago to see this with "new" eyes, and realize how completely brainwashed I had been growing up. This is how I was raised. This was how men were supposed to treat women, and women were supposed to love it and them for displaying this type of behavior. My brothers and male friends still love this movie, and ridicule me and tell me I have no sense of humor when I have brought up the disturbing aspects of this movie. Men do not see it, and do not want to see it, because they have never been in a submissive role as women have been. This is just a movie, with over-the-top scenes, but it is true in showing the mindset of people in those times in regard to the status of women. The complete acceptance of this type of thinking limited so many women who were raised in the years before the women's liberation movement really started to have an impact. So many women raised with these attitudes never really had a chance to realize their potential - it took years for me to even realize how I and women of my age group and older had been subjugated. Women raised since the seventies will never understand how much of their freedom to do and be whatever they want is because of the women who stood up for their right to equality, and who were able to overcome the subjugation that was the norm in their day. Hopefully the attitudes expressed in this movie will never be the norm again in this country.

Not to take anything away from the post, and realizing I am inviting a withering firestorm of criticism, but might I point out that I believe "McLintock" was loosely (really loosely) based on "The Taming of the Shrew". So to some extent, the source story for this movie dates back to a story from the 1600's.

Of course, the sixties was not a shining example of gender role re-examination (Mad Men is only the latest portrayal of that). It's interesting to me that the political and civil rights conflict of the decade, which began at the fringes and ended in the center of politics, did not include a gender component until the 1970's. I would further suggest that part of the sexual revolution of the seventies, with the Equal Rights Amendment effort and other aspects, was at least partly driven by the introduction of large numbers of women to the workplace (itself partly by both the rise of the consumer society and economic conditions at the time). All FWIW.

I have only seen parts of the latest version of "Taming" to hit the movie screens "10 Things I Hate About You". I assume Heath Ledger was at least somewhat more culturally sensitive than previous Petruchio's.

"Of course, materials riffing on the spanking adult women today (outside of porn and fetish communities) would probably inspire an outcry, but that leaves open the possibility that the gendered power asymmetry simply manifests in other ways."

In a first season (2009-2010) episode of the NBC sitcom "Community," one of the primary female characters (Britta) "gets a switching" from the grandmother of one of the primary male characters (Troy). There's a YouTube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkTI1pxJI1o that has the scene as well as some context.

I think the author has an interesting and valid point, but really? "Weird" sexual fetish. Can we not casually marginalize the kink community - especially Female/male D/s - in a place that traditionally been a great space for objective, non-othering discussion. To say it's "considered by society as weird" (which is unfortunately is, when Male/female D/s is so culturally commonplace as to often not even be called kinky) would be miles more inclusive AND accurate than to just dismiss some people sexual selves as 'weird'

“Of course, materials riffing on the spanking adult women today (outside of porn and fetish communities) would probably inspire an outcry, but that leaves open the possibility that the gendered power asymmetry simply manifests in other ways.”

Weeds did an episode in season 4 where Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise Parker) gets spanked by a crooked politician/crime boss upon her second? meeting with him, in his limo.

Although I would not argue against the infantilization aspect, I also think that the popularity of spanking imagery during these periods was a way to allude to sexual acts during a period of time where it was unacceptable to actually portray sex in film and comics. Comics and horror films during this time both seemed to use bondage and spanking and women in peril as a way to sexualize their material when publishing and film code standards forbid actual sex.

"it was (and is) considered a weird sexual fetish"

Again, echoing prior sentiments that this is an insensitive phrasing. Statements of prevailing discourse can be made without reinforcing the popular notion being described.

It is perhaps the word "weird" that is objectionable, as its common tends toward the more subjective and judgmental than objective and descriptive. Furthermore, as other posters have stated the actual degree of deviance from norms is open for debate. That such behaviors come under consideration tagged as "weird" even in a milieu as inclusive as this might lead one to conclude that such conduct is underreported.

Consider in the alternative "was and remains a sexual practice not widely portrayed or discussed in the mainstream".

Have you ever considered that rather than an infantilisation of women - these images and movie scenes represent a repressed subDom sexual expression was forbidden any other outlet.

DJ Black

"Lady spanking is a manifestation of the infantilization of women. The idea that they are not men’s equals, but are expected to obey them as subordinates and can be punished when they do not behave."

If this is the point of the article, then the comment earlier about men routinely being abused by women in pop culture does apply. The stereotypical image of the housewife in curlers waiting to beat her drunken husband with a rolling pin clearly places the man in a subordinate role, where punishment from his wife is expected, deserved and even funny.

And this is not some outdated circa 1960's trope. Instances of men being abused by women (and that abuse being portrayed as acceptable), abound in movies, television and music videos.

Yawn. Lots of grad school speak here. (Plus the usual self important melodrama about needing to give up on humanity). Try to be original instead of repeating politically correct cliches you learned in a woman's studies course.

Hello:

I came across these posts a few weeks ago in this topic while helping my daughter do research for a school project. I sent an email to one of the women mentioned above asking that my comments be forwarded or added (since I didn't know if I would be allowed to post here). Since my post has not appeared and I have not received any reply, I have now decided to try posting it myself.

Something that you folks might not be aware of, but might find interesting was that during the 1930's and 1940's, spanking type promotional material was not only used for movies which actually contained such scenes, this type of promotional material was also used to promote many films which did NOT contain any such of a scene at all.

Back in the 1930's and 1940's, my late grandfather was partners in a New York store which sold 8 x 10 glossy movie stills of movie actors, actresses, as well as thousands of scenes from all of the Hollywood movies (good, bad and awful). They sold these photos to movie collectors, etc. When he retired in the 1960's, my grandfather sold his half of the business. However, being a collector himself, he of course kept about a third of his half of the stock.

Down my grandparents basement there were tons of folders containing thousands of photos of scenes from the various movies, each one labeled with the title of the films. Portraits of the actors and actresses were kept in individually named folders for each star. As a teenager I used to love spending time at my grandparents house just so that I could go through all of these folders. One day I came across a strange folder with tons of photos inside which was labeled "Spanking Publicity". Puzzled, I asked my grandfather "What's this?"

My grandfather then explained to me that during the 1930's and 1940's, spanking scenes were so popular that spanking type photos were posed for and produced for many films where there was no actual spanking scene in the movie itself. That's right, there are dozens and dozens of photos from dozens and dozens of movies where even though there was no such spanking scene in these actual films, the stars of these films posed in position with the hero in the act of spanking the heroine. According to my grandfather, these photos would be placed on display outside the movie theaters to lure movie goers into the theater. These photos would also be sent to newspapers and magazines to help promote the the movie. Did women find all of this offensive back then? According to my grandmother (who is still alive) NO!!!

I don't know if this info will help or add anything to this discussion, but I thought that knowing this info might give a better insight to this bygone era.

Best regards,
Linda Healey

I agree with the point which I believe that Ms. Healey is trying to make. Don't pass judgment on filmmakers and writers of past eras. You are all judging these films by the standards of today, and it is a big mistake to do so. Another thing which you may not be aware of, is that the book (the script) of the 1948 musical stage play KISS ME KATE (of which the 1953 film uses for the most part), WAS WRITTEN BY A WOMAN: BELLA SPEWACK!!! (While the music and lyrics to the songs were written by Cole Porter, the book was written by the Spewacks).

I should also explain a bit of how Sam and Bella Spewack worked. For the most part they worked separately, very much the same way as pop song writers Lennon and McCartney worked during the latter half of The Beatles career (for instance, Lennon wrote "Strawberry Fields Forever", and McCartney wrote "Penny Lane", yet the composer credits for both songs list: Lennon-McCartney). So even though the book of KISS ME KATE lists both Sam and Bella as co-authors, the play was actually written by Bella.

Bella Spewack was not only an extraordinary person, she was also one of the most independent and liberated women that I have ever known. I dare say that she was far more independent than most of the so-called independent women today. Bella also counted among her friends such other extraordinary women as Helen Keller and Eleanor Roosevelt!!!

Please don't take my word for any of this! The Butler Library at Columbia University houses the complete Spewack collection. There you will find documentation and correspondence between Bella and an unbelievable amount of the most important people of her era, including the complete script of KISS ME KATE translated into Braille at the request of Helen Keller.

More about Bella Spewack can be found at Kiss Me, Kate - at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Me,_Kate

Do you guys know what has been the MAIN source and outlet for scenes in which the heroine gets spanked by the hero in the MAINSTREAM medium during the past 30 or 35 years? NOT movies. NOT TV shows. NOT stage plays. NOT comics or comic books. NOT even Playboy, or other such men's publications.

The MAIN source has been ROMANCE NOVELS!!! Yep, the stuff written for women.

I review Romance Novels for a living, and can tell you that there have been a great number of these which have included such scenes, some of which become a focal point of the story. I can't list them all, but just off the top of my head, here's a few:

Johanna Lindsey:
BRAVE THE WILD WIND Avon, 1985.
CAPTIVE BRIDE, Avon Books, 1977.
DEFY NOT THE HEART, Avon, 1989.
KEEPER OF THE HEART, Avon, 1993
MAN OF MY DREAMS, Avon, 1992
ONCE A PRINCESS, Avon, 1991.

Catherine Coulter:
JADE STAR, Zebra, 1986.
THE OFFER, Topaz, 1997.

Anne Hampson:
TO TAME A VIXEN, Harlequin #2233, 1979.

Brenda Joyce:
FIRESTORM, Avon, 1988

Catherine Creel:
BREATHLESS PASSION, Zebra, 1983.
GOLDEN OBSESSION, Zebra, 1986.
NEVADA CAPTIVE, Zebra, 1984.
PASSION'S CHAIN, Zebra, 1991.
RAPTURE'S ROGUE, Zebra, 1986.
SURRENDER TO DESIRE, Zebra, 1985.
TEXAS SPITFIRE, Zebra, 1987.
TEXAS TORMENT, Zebra Books, 1985.
YANKEE AND THE BELLE, 1974.

Jude Deveraux:
THE CONQUEST, Pocket Books, 1991.
VELVET SONG, Pocket Books, 1983.

Heather Graham:
GOLDEN SURRENDER, Dell, 1985
LOVE NOT A REBEL, Dell, 1989.
A PIRATES PLEASURE, Dell, 1989.

I have loathed John Wayne ever since I can remember. He may not have written the scripts, but surely he was a big enough star to have objected on principle. Even as a young girl I was appalled at his "signature" way of relating to women in films. He should have stuck to war movies. People must have been really sick to think this behavior was romantic. At best it is dysfunctional; at worst, it is perverted.

Gene Autry, Tim Holt and other cowboy stars of the 1930's - 1950's spanked a lot more women in western films than Wayne ever did. So why are you only signaling him out? As has already been pointed out in other recent posts, it was the times. And what about all of that spanking of women by men in those recent romance novels that someone mentioned? Are they OK because they are only read by women?

A Zane Grey Western Fan

So... Romance fiction aimed at women is FILLED with scenes featuring dominant, sexy men turning bratty females over their knees and spanking them--en route to them eventually becoming lovers, of course. And many, many female readers find this incredibly sexy. Well... um... um... that just means that these female readers... uh... are victims of the patriachy. They obviously shouldn't be ALLOWED to like this dynamic. (You're all a bunch of dorks.)

Also, here's a report from the real world: a lot of contemporary college women I've encountered in recent years, while educated and career-oriented and institutionaly exposed to the type of psuedo-intellectual rhetoric being spouted here, love when I "infantalize" (spank) them and they actually encourage the whole dynamic by communicating to me in babytalk and calling me Daddy/Papi. And the context here is not highly contrived sex play, but me behaving as a genuinely dominant male, and them responding to it like a flower to the sun. Nothing short of forced re-education camps or Clockwork Orange-style behavior modification is going to stifle genetic hard wiring. To be fair, though, many of you are doing your very best to make such dystopian horrors a reality.

The idea of spanning adult women may be (at least) quasi abusive today in non-fetish/BDSM circles. Except for the Chrisitan Domestic Discipline community. To enforce the patriarchy of a 'christian' household the wife is to best spanked for physical and in I some causes mental transgressions.
It can read like soft-core BDSM to those of us on the outside, but doesn't see to be understood as anything other than normal and ideal family structure.

i'm not saying this is good, but do you know what a lot of it is? metaphorical forking. it's fallout from the hays code, which, believe it or not, remained in effect until 1968. meaning: for almost four decades sexual contact—or virtually any physical contact w/ various body parts, erogenous or even demi-erogenous—was not allowed onscreen. this was a detour around that restriction. via spanking, someone got to touch someone else's butt. usually heterosexually. yow.

i'm also not saying thats all it is, but it is a lot of it. the old discussion of whether violence is more obscene than sex pertains here at least as much as does discussion of socially constructed sex roles.
--
ps. i would also guess that the bottom clipping is true flotsam—a bunch of pictures of friends or family or willing strangers stuck besides contrived & conjured quotes by the byliner. semi-sexy weekday filler from an ancient, or nearly, forerunner to the weekly world news. or the enquirer, you pick.

ps to the ps. you will hate me for this, but if you read al goldstein's autobio, my screwed life, he includes a chapter about making these sorts of things up when he wrote for a similar paper.

These spanking are always in front of a crowd, as usually was the lynching of American-Americans. They both seem to me to be rituals for putting a gender or race "back in its place".

Sexual equality is an out of touch with reality fiction promoted by male sexual predator con artists to seduce their naive disposable liberal Democrat masturbation substitutes into becoming human inflatable sex dolls risking death by AIDS which has killed more people than the Holocaust and everybody who died on both sides of the Vietnam War by demonizing far less abusive and more supportive father figures as class enemies of some imaginary Feminist fantasy world where David Letterman and John Edwards are actually promoting female employees for their intellects in stead of for providing them with sexual favors, The reality is we are individuals more than anything else with our own individual strengths and weaknesses and Madonna gained more by manipulating male paternalism than Chastity Bono did by an egalitarian Gay Feminist marriage,

Women have no idea what it's like to be a man flooded with the most dangerous mind altering drug in the known universe from puberty and having no way to vent frustration dealing with verbally faster developing women in an inherently unequal world where such an astronomically higher percentage of men are in prison than women that it's ridiculously out of touch with reality to pretend men are not socially disadvantaged in our culture for the same reason black people are disadvantaged. The disadvantaged are more legally restricted from using genetic gifts to resolve conflicts and more legally sanctioned for not controlling genetic weaknesses than members of the privileged class are in using their own gifts to gain advantages or failing to control their own weaknesses.

Let's further note that back in the 40's and 50's men rarely punched women compared to our enlightened feminist world of today where we see that every day on television in spite of the fact that there has never been a female heavy weight boxing champion and women in the military can not meet the minimum physical fitness standards for men expected to engage in hand to hand combat. What modern Feminist film censorship has essentially done is give men and women an unrealistic illusion of threat potentials making men more likely to use extreme violence dealing with women and women less likely to avoid violence, It has not made our culture any less violent as crime statistics demonstrate.

I agree with Debbie about the popularity of romance novels with
women being spanked - and these novels were written by and
for women. Women also wanted to see movies where the hero
spanks the heroine as a comic and romantic element leading to
love, engagement and marriage. So don't blame only the men in
the fifties for the prevalence of spankings in romance books, movies
and comics - they are there because also the women wanted them.

Other women would be angry and ostracize a man who hit or punched his wife or girlfriend, but if he spanks her bottom good and hard because she has been unfaithful or flirted dangerously or endangered her own life, they tend to watch and smile and approve. Probably the women would also accept and approve if they were spanked themselves, not while they were being spanked, but afterwards when he told her that he spanked her out of love.

I don't agree with he claim that spanking women is away of infantilizing them and treating them as children. Personally I have never spanked a child, and never would, but a girl of eighteen and a wife have been spanked in retaliation for smacking my face or pouring beer down my back. They reacted positively to the spanking - and so did I, and we were best friends shortly she had adjusted her clothes. There is a sexual element in spanking that is powerful - and it works forboth sexes, and girls (and wives) are smart and know when they have deserved a spanking, and they alsoknow how toprovoke it when they feel that way.