HOME / chatterbox: Gossip, speculation, and scuttlebutt about politics.

Pleasure, Pain, and Saddam HusseinA meditation on recreational violence.

By Timothy NoahPosted Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2002, at 6:51 PM ET

Illustration by Robert NeubeckerIn the Nov. 28 Washington Post, James Grimaldi reported that a member of the team assigned by the United Nations to inspect weapons sites in Iraq, a Virginian named Harvey John "Jack" McGeorge, was a founding officer of the Leather Leadership Conference, past president of an S&M club in Washington called the Black Rose, and a bondage instructor in Leather University's Dungeon 501. Four days later, the United Kingdom's foreign office released a report detailing human rights abuses committed by the government of Saddam Hussein. The juxtaposition provided a timely reminder that one man's recreation is another man's torture.

It goes without saying that adults should be allowed to engage in whatever sexual activities they desire, provided all parties consent. That's what Chatterbox wants to believe, anyway, and mostly does. But what about when the desired sexual activity is torture?

The S&M community has a simple answer: It never gets that far. In an interview with Salon's Kerry Lauerman, Jonathan Krall, founder and director of District of Columbia Sexual Minority Advocates, emphasizes that this is a world governed by strict standards. There are "dungeon monitors" to make sure nobody gets carried away. Local S&M groups standardize "what's appropriate and what's not appropriate." But when he gets down to specifics, he isn't particularly reassuring. Asked about a seminar McGeorge apparently gave on "knife play," Krall replied, "Picking up a knife and rubbing it across your lover's body to titillate them doesn't sound nearly as dangerous to me as bungee jumping." An etiquette guide provided by Black Rose weighs in on knife play solely to tell bystanders to keep their distance: "If a Domme is bending closely to the breast of her sub to do a cutting, she should not have to worry about someone bumping into her arm as she draws the blade down the skin." (The guide also chirps brightly: "Don't bogart that sling! There are never enough play stations for everyone to play at the same time.")

This is shaky ground for liberals (like Chatterbox), who on the one hand strongly advocate mandatory seat belts and steep cigarette taxes and on the other hand don't want to interfere with even the most rococo pursuit of happiness. As that pursuit drifts into the realm of actual violence, though, the whole notion of "consent" fuzzes up. What, exactly, does it mean to want pain? It doesn't help clarify matters to consider reports that Saddam and his sons commit torture partly for the sheer fun of it. It would be less awful if their victims were willing. But how much less awful? Running his finger down "Annex One" of the U.K report—"Methods of torture"—Chatterbox asks himself where S&Mers would draw the line. "Eye gouging" is surely beyond the pale, and "piercing of hands with electric drill" probably is, too. But "suspension from the ceiling" has definite possibilities, and so does falaqa, in which victims are beaten on the soles of their feet until they lose consciousness. By no means does Chatterbox mean to make light of these horrible practices. Quite the opposite: Chatterbox is trying to add a little weight to decisions about personal pleasure that shade into voluntary mutilation.

Calm down, Krall would say. This is all about fantasy and playacting. For most people, it no doubt is. But playacting is in Saddam's bag of torture tricks, too! The eighth item on Annex One's list is "mock executions," wherein "victims are told that they are to be executed by firing squad" They're hooded and shot at with blank rounds. Speaking for himself, Chatterbox would much rather be beaten into unconsciousness.

McGeorge submitted his resignation after the Post story appeared, and the U.N. was probably right to reject it. His sexual hobbies have no bearing on his fitness to hunt down anthrax in Saddam's basement. And Chatterbox doesn't particularly want the law mucking around in this. But when happiness requires misery, tolerance will only get you so far.

E-mail Timothy Noah at .

Print This ArticlePRINTEmail to a FriendE-MAILShare This ArticleRECOMMEND...Get Slate RSS FeedsRSS
Timothy Noah is a senior writer at Slate.
Illustration by Robert Neubecker.
COMMENTS

Remarks From The Fray:

Chatterbox cites reports that Saddam enjoys torturing people. I'm sure he does, but it's totally irrelevant - his acts of torture are clearly not consensual because the victims haven't agreed to them.

Chatterbox's reasoning is: I cannot imagine consenting to <insert activity>, therefore I cannot imagine it ever being consensual. But to confuse one's failure of imagination with logical necessity can only be described as painfully silly.

-- Penry

(To reply, click here.)


Kudos for Today's Papers for knowing that private sexual fantasies such as S&M is not on par with Saddam Hussein torturing poor souls via fake executions. I think his torture victims, which btw is not what the inspections are trying to find anyway, in no way "consent" to their torture. Furthermore, it is REAL torture ... not playacting or pain that some people desire because they get satisfaction from it. Pain that is no way on par with whatever sick things Saddam is doing.

Where does it stop, Chatterbox? Some couples like to playact, including scenarios where one or the other are at the other person's mercy. In other words, basically sex against their will. Well, this is too much, surely for human rights workers who investigate real rapes, right? What is consent anyway? Hell, certain feminists might call much of the sex going on these days not really consensual ... I guess this means guys can't investigate regimes or armies that rape civilians.

The paper had no business making public, surely not in such lurid detail, the sexual fantasy life of an inspector. Such a fantasy life does not prevent him from trying to find WMDs in Iraq. What doesn't Chatterbox understand?

-- Joe (JP)

(To reply, click here.)


mr noah spends a great deal of time deconstructing the fitness of a un weapons inspector who may - or may not - have engaged in S&M practices in the privacy of his bedroom.

that appears to set the bar pretty high, in terms of personal life.

does that mean i'm unfit to counsel rape victims because at one time (or maybe more than once) i enjoyed a bedroom game involving "pretend" forced sex?

-- baltimore-aureole

(To reply, click here.)

(12/4)

What did you think of this article?
Join The Fray: Our Reader Discussion Forum
POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES
JFK.TODAY'S PICTURES: JFK.
Cartoonists' take on the auto industry.TODAY'S CARTOONS: Cartoonists' take on the auto industry.
Dano the mano. TODAY'S DOONESBURY: Dano the mano.
Washington Post
The Washington Post
OPINIONS
Obama's New Church
Sally Quinn | Where will he worship? My vote is for National Cathedral, a place that transcends political and religious divisions.