I know, a lot of you aren’t able to listen to Whore School when it airs live.

But just in case you can, you should! Tune in on Sunday evenings at 11 pm Eastern and enjoy the show live! You can even hop into the chat room and hang out, ask questions, and take part in the interactive portion of the entertainment and education. The questions asked in chat can lead to interesting discussion and open up new avenues of thought and exploration, so, really, your participation in the show can help make it even better! Listener questions about sadism really did help push the show in interesting directions!

On Sunday the 10th, Whore School 145 Sadism aired. You can listen on demand, or read on for more information!

Listen to “WS 145 Sadism” on Spreaker.

Sadism is defined as “the tendency to derive pleasure, especially sexual gratification, from inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation on others”, however, that definition leaves a lot of nuance out. Deriving from work by Kraft-Ebbing and Freud in the late 1800’s, the term ‘sadism’ is derived from the Marquisse de Sade, a well known and deeply reviled author who wrote about his desires, acts, and extreme degradation and humiliation of others. The cultural contempt for de Sade has been applied to the term named after him, and as a result, sadistic impulses are assumed to be related to anti-social and cruel acts. A more modern understanding of sadism is beginning to reveal the ways in which all people have sadistic impulses to one degree or another.

In 2012 Erin Buckles presented a thesis for her Masters in Psychology titled “The Pleasures of Hurting Others; Behavioral Evidence for Everyday Sadism“.

In her thesis, Buckles used the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale, tested it, and showed that the vast majority of people have at least a little sadism in us. Derived in 2011 from the Sadistic Attitudes and Behaviors Scale, the SSIS can predict sadistic impulses and behaviors; as applied by Buckels, we now know that almost all people have some sadistic feelings.

Read these ten questions, and see how many you answer ‘yes’ to.

1. Hurting people would be exciting.
2. I have hurt people because I could.
3. I wouldn’t intentionally hurt anyone. (R)
4. I have hurt people for my own enjoyment.
5. I have humiliated others to keep them in line.
6. I would enjoy hurting someone physically, sexually or emotionally.
7. I enjoy seeing people hurt.
8. I have fantasies which involve hurting people.
9. Sometimes I get so angry I want to hurt people.
10. People would enjoy hurting others if they gave it a go.

Don’t worry, if you answered ‘yes’ to question 3, you’re not a sadist. That is a reversed question used to weed out survey respondents who just say yes to everything. On that one, a ‘yes’ is a ‘not sadistic’ answer.

Now, take those answers, and consider the following: contact sports played as a spectator sport are often violent, and injury is a possibility. The same is true in high speed racing, as well as MMA fights and boxing. Often, the free porn on the internet is full of violent imagery and degradation and humiliation. Horror movies and TV shows are very popular and common, and full of violence and gore. Enjoying those things does not make you a monster, but it does reveal a little sadism in you.

The difference between the stereotypical sadistic monster and an everyday sadist is consent.

Just like the line between BDSM and jail is consent, for a sadist who strives to be moral, consent is vital. If you ever wonder if your love of boxing and car crashes in Formula 1 races means you’re a terrible person, just ask yourself: would you do that to a person without their active, ongoing, continuous, enthusiastic consent?

Listen to the show for yourself to hear more, and to find out where I rate on the SSIS!