Introduction
Few of us have not read or heard of the increasing number of "discipline groups" that nourish behind locked doors, stimulating sexual appetites and often triggering sexual climaxes through the medium of corporal punishment.
Imagine, as has Chaucer Cartwright, an entire society which has structured its family, neighborhood, community and state laws to provide corporal punishment, public and private, for all human failures-from simple family discourtesies, through traffic violations, to incivility toward a superior!
In this place, referred to only as "the Territory" and never delineated geographically or politically, there is a pecking order within the family group which involves "both cane and pecker," as Alec Reddick might readily admit.
There is a modification, in the Territory, of what we know as disciplinary sex. Certainly algolagnia is involved in both cases, for definite sexual pleasure is derived from the infliction and the suffering of pain. In the Territory, however, it is always the more specific mastigothymia which applies, for whipping is the only accepted method of inflicting the pain. More importantly, the punishment often exceeds the point of sexual stimulation for the victim. As a result, many if not most of the females in the Territory have more tingles in their behinds than in their befores.
In this very definite patriarchy there are gradations of punishment. Therefore canes and other implements of selected materials are graded by their pain potential. The implication is that a proper choice of implement can achieve a controlled punishment, if the wielder knows his own strength and the resiliency and pain threshold of the victim.
One comes to realize that there is a very exacting art to the application of the cane, but that there is no guarantee of artistry in any particular whipping. Indeed, all too many of the hair-trigger cane wielders lack either the expertise or the wisdom of judgment to control their punishment within the limits our heroine deems proper.
The moment we discover that traffic officers in the Territory deliver on-the-spot punishment, we suspect that this is a society in which male authority blossoms and thrives. For not only is Papa the executioner for punitive paddling in the family unit, but all females, child and adult alike, are accountable to authorized whipsters in schools and other civil institutions. And the men are required only to pay fines for their transgressions-unless they wish to save money, in which case they can offer their wives as whipping surrogates!
Which male among us has not at some time deplored the Momism which offers him only a choice of bachelorhood or the tension-shortened life of the provider who has less than a full vote in family elections? There may be food for thought in the literature of those historical societies which believed that since it was Papa who paid the bills, Papa must govern the family unit and mete out punishment as he saw fit.
And, considering the pendulum effect observed throughout history, we may well extrapolate that the days of Momism in our society are limited. From today's extreme permissiveness toward both children and wives, whither can we go but toward strict paternal discipline?
In this magnificent erotic novel, has created an unusual fantasy. He takes us into a shockingly believable society which is isolated by normal immigration controls, but armed with citizenship requirements that should make a female immigrant think twice before signing her papers ... or thrice, as did our heroine.
Cartwright's voyage into this land includes a fantasy within a fantasy, but the manner in which he handles both confirms his right to such literary license, and provides extra thrills and thought-food for the reader.
Whatever one's reaction to "the Territory" and its inhabitants, it can hardly be one of indifference. The male reader may rejoice in the vicarious thrills provided by this highly sexual patriarchy, deriving compensation for the real society in which he now lives, where he is, at best, limited in the exercise of the authority he feels God intended him to have.
And female readers will include many, according to the consensus of contemporary psychologists, who are no more enthusiastic about Momism than the average male. These may also enjoy many a delicious shudder or two as they journey through "the Territory."
-Martin Weidemann, Ph.D.