Spanking Instead of Spelunking
From the recently-discovered “Taken In Hand” come this excellent essay entitled “Don’t go into your cave, get out your preferred implement!” The author takes issue with the male practice (described metaphorically by author John Gray as “going into his cave”) of withdrawing from a relationship in times of emotional stress. Says Helen:
It’s all very well to give that a fancy name and make it sound good, but let’s call a spade a spade and see it for what it is: punitive sulking.
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There is a better way to handle such problems – one that draws the two people together instead of pulling them apart.
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Consensual physical discipline brings the couple together. It is an intimate act, and often leads on to another kind of intimacy. Going into your cave puts up barriers; getting out the wooden spoon breaks down barriers and makes you feel close, which then makes it possible to talk with understanding and resolve the issue in a way that is not possible when tempers have flared and you are in fighting mode. So you could say that putting your wife over your knee is a way of getting the fight over and the talking started.