The Dunce Cap has a long and interesting origin as a form of public humiliation. During medieval times the Dunce Cap was originally used by a group of scholars led by John Duns Scotus, who's followers were known as duns, or dunsmen. The conically shaped dunce cap was intended to absorb knowledge through the point and funnel it down to the wearer. During the Renaissance period, this idea was eventually proven to be wrong.
One of the early uses of the Dunce Cap as a form of humiliation occurred during the Spanish Inquisition. Individuals accused of heresy would be forced to wear them in public as a way of being marked. This practice continued in schools and the term Dunce soon came to be synonymous with being an idiot or someone who is a slow learner.
My first Mistress began using "silly" hats in conjunction with corner time as a form of punishment very early on in my foray into the D/s lifestyle as an added humiliation and a symbol that I was being punished. My second Mistress incorporated silly hats as a standard uniform since she thought I was better off feeling that type of humiliation all the time rather than just during punishments (I had told her about my previous experiences).
I know there are many Dommes and subs out there that believe in corner time as punishment and I was curious if anyone employed things like these as a standard practice.
I use corner time occasionally for my husband, but I've never added any sort of hat, unless you consider a pair of my used panties covering his head and face a "hat". I much prefer to hang objects from his nipples or balls while he's in the corner with his head bowed toward the floor. Which would you prefer, Fur?
ReplyDeleteI would prefer to not be in the corner :)
ReplyDeleteIf that wasn't an option, I would usually choose the path of least discomfort, which if the choice was between the hat or something dangling from me I'd have to go with the hat.
If the choice was between things hanging from the nipples or the balls, I guess it depends upon how they were hanging there. Alligator clips or clothes pins I'd say are a lose-lose scenario no matter where they are. If it was the choice between painful nipple clamps or a ball weight, I'd have to go with the weight unless it was one of those nasty ones with the spikes, in which case I'd probably just cry :P
I have spent time with a Y-chain that had nipple clamps at the top of the Y and with a cock ring or clamp at the bottom of the Y as well. The weight of the chain is usually more than enough to pull on the nipples and any fidgeting can be quite painful.
I guess the big question is whether you want corner time to be used for inner reflection/shame or for discomfort, pain, and suffering. My nipples are rather sensitive and any type of clamps makes it impossible for me to maintain a rational thought, so in those cases they work well for suffering and agitation but quite poorly for reflection and shame.
In my experiences the hat was added because it didn't have to be there. It's purpose was mainly to breed self-consciousness and embarrassment, especially if she took pictures. At that point the order to get the hat from the drawer would instill quite a bit of panic and have me begging. My corner time was often in the realm of 3 hours maintaining an uncomfortable position.
Three hours is rough, but I bet that whatever you did to earn such treatment won't be repeated often:)
ReplyDeleteYou've got me thinking about a hat. I'm wondering how a knit cap with a long top knotted "ponytail" would look, especially if the tail had a bell on the end. Any audible tinkling of the bell would increase the corner time. I'm afraid I'd be reluctant to give up the nipple clamps, and I usually use one of my high heels as the "weight" dangling from his balls. It makes a pretty picture, at least for me.
Hehe. Well, the three hours thing was kind of when things melted down around the end. Communication had broken down in the relationship and by trying to talk about issues or problems usually led to some of the worst of the punishment. The problem was that I'm a communicator and it was very difficult for me to keep silent about issues that I know were affecting the quality of our relationship. As great as the D/s aspects could be, there were other areas that didn't flow quite as smoothly. I wrote something about this a couple of months back.
ReplyDeleteAs for the hat... I wrote about bells being used for humiliation/punishment back on June 8th at: http://furcissy.blogspot.com/2010/06/public-humiliation-accessory-bells.html
Having experienced bells for both humiliation and for restricted movement punishments what I can say is that loose dangling bells (on the end of a tassel, end of a hat, etc.) don't ring as easily as ones that are tight or taut. e.g. a couple of bells sewn at the base of the "ponytail" and another one on the end would be more effective at limiting motion than a few hanging from the end. I know they also make posture collars that have tons of jingle bells hanging from them intended for a similar use.
Have you ever thought about bells hanging from the nipple clamps?
I had forgotten about your bell blog entry, but upon re-reading it I see we're on the same wavelength corner-wise. I haven't tried hanging them from nipple clamps, but I must say that the idea intrigues me.
ReplyDeleteThis is beside the point, but I must draw your attention to a comment that just arrived on my blog from someone called "rob" (on my "Setting the Stage" entry). It's an attack on all things D/s, especially the dominant female, and it's so totally absurd that I considered just not publishing it. Then when I decided to publish it and tear it apart, I changed my mind and left it on there for others to read and comment on. I'd especially love to hear your take on it, if you think it's not a waste of time.
Lady Grey,
ReplyDeleteI wrote a reply to rob. He seems a bit "misguided" in things.
I've had bells hung from various spots, including nipples and even from my penis or chastity cage.
You'd definitely be looking for bells that are tight/snug to the body. You could probably even just buy some at an arts & crafts store along with some elastic strings. Threading the strings directly through the mounting spots on the bells and making sure the strings have to stretch to fit. You could probably make a couple of bracelets, anklets, necklace, and cock ring that would have him cornered for hours.
Things like silly hats were added onto my situation for humiliation purposes. I would sometimes get bells and fur pom poms dangling from my genitals for similar purposes, especially because she loved to seem them bounce and jingle when I got excited.