Spanking refers to slapping the clothed or bare buttocks, either with the flat of the hand or with a suitable object. In English, the term originally and still refers to the form of corporal punishment regularly practiced in schools (in the USA) and in the home in the education of children; spanking is often used colloquially as a generic term for various types of punishment carried out on the buttocks such as caning, paddling, switching, flogging and other synonyms.

Derived from this, spanking is also referred to as a consensual sexual practice (erotic spanking). In the German-speaking world, only the latter is understood as spanking, while the term „spanking“ and numerous colloquial terms such as „spanking“ etc. are used for corporal punishment in child-rearing.

Spanking and sexuality

In the 1990s, due to the fact that the German language lacked a corresponding term, the term spanking very quickly found its way into the linguistic usage of German-speaking followers of this sexual practice via Usenet and the World Wide Web. The corresponding English verb to spank is also occasionally used in German in the colloquial language of the subculture („ich möchte mal wieder gespankt werden“), as well as other terms from the scene such as spanko (short form of spankophile or spanking fetishist), spanker and spankee.

The term flagellantism is also used for harder forms of spanking in BDSM. is also used.

Among adult partners, playful spanking in intimate situations also has an erotic, sexual function.

Depending on the intention, planning and intensity of this activity (petting, spanking in the context of coitus, educational play), one can speak of a more erotic game or a BDSM game, especially sadomasochism. Nevertheless, many people see their passion for spanking as something independent that has little in common with classic sadomasochism.

Depending on individual preference, spanking can be done by hand, with a cane, whip, birch rod, carpet beater, hairbrush, paddle, martinet, tawse or a variety of other instruments.

Erotic spanking can be practiced in very different ways. It ranges from tender pats and educational games to severe chastisement with bondage. Also popular is the simultaneous and mutual pinching(squeezing) in the partner’s buttocks, which can also be carried out in an exhibitionist manner, for example during a stroll through town.

Regardless of how erotic spanking is practiced, the principle of absolute safety, reason and consensuality (safe, sane, consensual) forms the decisive basis for erotic spanking according to general consensus, since spanking, like all stimuli, is not accepted and only triggers reluctance if

· the intention is not clear, for example if the blows (slaps) are accidental because someone has just bent down to pick something up,

· they are given by a person who does not like to be touched erotically,

· it is done in a way that indicates that the spanker is unrestrained and is thinking more of himself than of the victim, the spankee.

Consensuality, on the other hand, can always be assumed when the spankee bends over on their own (without bondage). The voluntary „sporty bending over“ (touch toes) then guarantees the controlled, safe slapping of the spanker on the sexually relevant area of the buttocks. Strikes need to be prepared so that the spankee can feel the erotic character and sensual pleasure of the spanker. On the soft muscles in the area of the anus, they are only felt as „pleasantly pulling“, not as really „painful, hurting“, even if they are carried out with force, as long as the spankee desires to be hit. Intense physical reactions (twitching and „squeaking“) do not necessarily prove that the spankee is uncomfortable as long as he voluntarily maintains his position.

The use of a safeword can also be agreed. This gives the spankee the opportunity to beg in vain for an end to the „chastisement“ „in role“, but to be able to stop the game in a controlled manner at any time if really necessary.

Well-known personalities with a sexual predilection for spanking (possibly also a spanking fetish) include the Swiss-French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and the English poet Algernon Swinburne (1837-1909).

Source: Wikipedia