Petticoat Punishment in Erotic Literature Part One: Before 'Gynecocracy'

                 Petticoat Punishment in Erotic Literature Part Two: 'Gynecocracy' Part I

The titles of the next few chapters of Volume I give some idea of their contents, and it is clear that at first there is no attempt in the novel to maintain the illusion that Julian is actually a girl, or to treat him exactly as a girl. I will summarise Chapters VI to IX and quote in full part of Chapter X, and all of Chapters XI and XII.

 VI - A Lesson in Psychology
 VII - A Mouth with a Moustache
 VIII - How Babies are made. What an Idea!
 IX - The Golden Elixir of Mademoiselle's Dressing-Room
  X - Now Dress Me!
 XI - Lord Alfred Ridlington
XII - The Conservatory

 In Chapter VI Mademoiselle gives Julian  the opportunity she has promised to tell her all about his desire to be a boy. Before this Julian knew nothing about sex. 'Why the drawers and petticoats kept me in a perpetual and delicious tremor of excitement, and made that organ grow inconveniently large and distil in an altogether unusual manner a pellucid essence, I did not know either'. But he realises that in spite of the punishment, he adores Mademoiselle. He tells her he wants to love her, and to kiss her. She allows that he may kiss her ankle, 'but you must first tell me about your experiences of a petticoat - you were very inquisitive about them. What could have induced you to lift up that girl’s petticoats? What did you expect to see underneath them? Your affection for petticoats made me put you in them, Julian. That is what your curiosity has brought you to'.

Mademoiselle then proceeds to give him what she calls 'a psychological lesson', which consists of fondling him and bringing him to a climax. Julian reflects that woman have such power over men because 'they have it in their power to do that with his body, which can convulse him with inexpressible and delirious joy. I began to feel the subtle pleasure of being wrapt in a woman’s garments, which seemed hallowed from their resemblance to those which enveloped Mademoiselle herself'.

In VII Julian’s sex education continues. He is made to sit on the floor, with his legs under the low and long-seated armchair in which Mademoiselle is sitting. 'She unfastened and took off the drawers from my arms, and also the body of the dress I was wearing, leaving my arms, neck, and shoulders bare. I was much incommodated by the corset, which was really a very ill-fitting one, and felt exceedingly awkward in my unfamiliar attire, and indeed hurt myself with the busks of the long-waisted thing as I assumed the required posture. My long legs, uncovered by the petticoats, which in my efforts to seat myself as bidden had worked themselves quite up to my knees, were disposed in a very ungraceful and clumsy heap beneath the chair...by a dexterous and half turn, accomplished  before I had time to guess what she meant, she whisked her petticoats over my head and lodged her right leg across my left shoulder...her legs were enveloped in exquisitely fine linen undergarments...'

She then tells him that if he should encounter a 'mouth with a moustache' underneath her petticoats,  he should kiss it.  'I revelled in the contact of her undergarments and in the warm atmosphere and pungent scent of the locality. I gloried in the discovery of what petticoats actually did conceal, and I swallowed the liquid in my mouth with a voluptuous thrill'. This continued for two hours.

This experience has given Julian the idea that he would like to put what he has into where his tongue was, and he tells Mademoiselle this in the next chapter.  She then explains that this is how babies are made, something of which Julian is entirely ignorant, but now finds entrancing. He tells Mademoiselle that he would like to do this with her. But she replies, 'In France ladies afford many favours and many harmless privileges, but they draw the line at what you ask for. I shall tease you as much as I like, and when I like, and make you please me frequently; perhaps, for the remainder I shall put you into another lady’s hands – Lady Ridlington’s, for example. She is very fond of breaking in amorous youths'.  When Julian puts on his bodice again, she discovers a trace of her bodily fluid on his chemise, and Julian has to admit that the third time he spat this out. 'Very well, you shall swallow something not half as nice in my dressing-room after tea, for punishment'. Elise brings in the tea things and they have tea.

In Chapter IX Julian is taken to the dressing-room,  made to undress completely and strapped into a long, narrow shallow bath.. Mademoiselle stands over him, lifts her petticoats and opens her drawers. He is terrified that she is going to urinate on him, but she does not do so. At this point there is a footnote which reads: 'The late Lord ----- was actually placed in this jeopardy by a German mistress in Fulham, who was not so merciful as Mademoiselle'. What she actually does is to pour over him a large can of tepid water and leave him soaking in it for half-an-hour. She also give him a glass of Eau Amere de Pesth to drink. Eventually Julian is dried, ready to help Mademoiselle dress in the next chapter, entitled 'Now Dress Me!

 'Her evening stockings had to be put on ceremoniously and carefully, the ends of the suspenders dexterously caught and attached to them. [this is an early and puzzling reference to the use of suspenders, as they are here apparently not attached to the corset]...Then [Grove Press changes this to ‘When’] her corset had to be changed, the evening one laced to her satisfaction, and fastening, adjusting a lady’s tight corset is a difficult and ticklish process, and her gown had to be put on and hooked'. When Mademoiselle has her shoes on, she dances about, kicking Julian on his naked behind. From this point on, as Julian is dressed as a girl throughout, I will transcribe the whole text up to the end of Chapter XII.

At length, fatigued, she summoned Elise to finish her hair and complete her toilet, and to lock me up for the time being, amongst her skirts and petticoats in the wardrobe.

When I was released in about another half-hour, Mademoiselle had left the apartment, and, not without some apprehension, I found myself left to the tender mercies of her maid. She roughly jerked me out of the cupboard by the arm, administering with the other hand, as she did so, a succession of sound, stinging slaps on various parts of my body, and expressing much curiosity as to what I had done to get myself made water upon by a young lady, and especially as to how I liked it. I indignantly denied it. 'None of your lies to me, you nasty dirty boy. I know very well what she did. I ought not to touch you with the tongs. I know where that water came from; don't tell me otherwise! Come off to the bathroom at once. Quick! we have no time to fool about!' peremptorily ordered Elise.

A hot bath and a big sponge were very welcome. It was curious being washed by a maid. And when she soaped the flannel and washed me like a baby between the legs, I squirmed and blushed and felt utterly foolish. The skin of my bottom was quite sore from the birching and kicking. Elise heeded this very little, in fact not at all, and rapidly dried me with warm rough towels; then taking me to my room, as rapidly dressed me. Silken vest, chemise en coeur  (I had a plump breast and well-rounded arms), drawers, a corset which fitted much better than the first, stockings and the rest; in short, a young lady's evening-toilette. Even my hair was done up like a girl's with a broad ribbon round my head after the Grecian mode; it was not long enough for any other style.

I must not omit one particular article which she added to my attire, and which gave me peculiar inconvenience as the evening wore on. At the end of my long-waisted corset in front, about four inches apart, were two hooks. As soon as she had tightly and severely laced that horrid instrument of torture, she proceeded to adjust a square piece of linen, to two corners of which were attached two tape loops. These she slipped over the hooks; and through loops she inserted a folded napkin, and drawing it between my legs, tied its ends together, after putting one through a broad steel eye, which was sewn into my corset at the back. It was pulled quite tight, and the effect, of course, was to drag down the square piece of linen in front, and envelope in it what I had there, so that that thing was kept straight down, and also, the napkin being mercilessly tight, well between my legs. It was a most uncomfortable affair and incommoded me dreadfully.

But my protestations were altogether unheeded as a matter of course. Elise remarked that some contrivance was imperative, to prevent any indications on the surface of my petticoats which would belie my sex; and that if I had the privilege of being dressed and looking like a girl, I must put up with some punishment for being in reality a boy! The friction of the napkin against the tender skin and sensitive nerves between my legs gave me my only consolation. It caused a pleasant titillation, and kept me in a perpetual condition of delicious naughtiness, the usual expression of which, however - erection in front - was quite, and designedly, out of the question.

At last I was dressed. It was a painful business. To give me a colour before I descended to the drawing room, Elise, who was really a beautiful damsel, frivolously inserted her right hand and arm under my skirts from behind, and severely rubbed and pinched my bottom, not forgetting to give the prisoner in front an energetic reminder or two, slipping her hand through from behind for that purpose. This proceeding did, indeed, bring the roses to my cheeks.

I was positively astonished and dismayed to find five or six men, in faultless evening costume,  in the drawing-room downstairs. I had no idea that there would be any strangers - men above all! - to witness what I had to go through. Fortunately, my great confusion was interpreted as sweet and pretty bashfulness and ingenuousness. By degrees, I rather entered into the spirit of the joke, especially as Mademoiselle took an early opportunity of whispering into my ear that she would expose me and flay me alive unless I behaved myself She then introduced one of the men as Lord Alfred Ridlington, and myself as Miss Julia Robinson. He appeared to be good-naturedly amused at my fluttered demeanour and at once tried to set me at my ease. He succeeded to a very considerable extent, but  there was something in his eyes which to my mind suggested that he was in on the secret; an idea which kept bringing a succession of hot blushes to my cheeks and neck. The other men regarded me with ill-concealed looks of respectful and profound admiration. They were, it was plain, jealous of Lord Alfred Ridlington's good fortune, and without any idea of the truth; but I could not rid myself of the notion that he had some inkling of it. The restraint of the bandage speedily became a subject of thankfulness; without it, some indication of what I began to feel would inevitably have made its appearance and have entirely destroyed the illusion [Grove Press, formerly ‘delusion’].

Lord Alfred Ridlington took me down to dinner, and, of course, sat beside me. He took a proper solicitude in my welfare, exercising a watchful care over me such as I conceived to be the duty of a cavalier towards the maiden whom he had been deputed to look after. And I, for my part, comported myself as much after the fashion of a young lady as I possibly could. I was careful not to encourage him too much, and gave myself all a girl's airs and graces, her pretty fastidiousness, her little wilful ways and arch caprices. Maud, Agnes, and Beatrice were all too fully occupied with their own cavaliers to notice me much, or I doubt whether my assurance would have proved equal to the occasion.

Lord Alfred Ridlington himself aided me materially by the perpetual flow of small talk which he kept up unceasingly for my entertainment. It admirably served to cover any little confusion arising at odd moments when I felt slightly at a loss. I was hungry, in fact very hungry, but the wretched corset was so desperately tight that I was compelled to eat like a real young lady and dared not drink much.

I filled up the time by wondering where I had heard Lord Alfred Ridlington's name, which seemed familiar to me, and, at length, recollected it had been mentioned to me by Mademoiselle herself during my discussion with her in her boudoir that afternoon. She had threatened to hand me over to Lady Alfred Ridlington, whom she said was particularly fond of breaking in amorous youths. This, I thought, must be that lady's husband, and I immediately cast at him a glance expressing so much interest that he noticed it. Ignorant of its true motive he seemed much gratified by the look, and we thereupon became greater friends than ever. He was a very good-looking young man, fair, plump, with a beautiful mouth, teeth, ears, and hands, and rejoicing in an enormous expanse of snowy white shirt front, fastened with three brilliant diamond studs. I observed how white and unusually well-formed his neck was, and a certain softness, even effeminacy, about him and his air suggested the question as to whether he had ever been subjected to the same discipline that I was going through. I sadly reflected how bitterly disappointed he would certainly be if he ever discovered that I was a boy.

After dinner there was a carpet dance. One or two of the other men were at first my partners. How odd I felt, and how feminine! But I naturally enjoyed most those waltzes which I had with Lord Alfred. He waltzed capitally. After several turns, however, he suggested a stroll and a rest; and although I was sure Mademoiselle would notice our absence and was by no means so sure how she would take it, we soon found ourselves in a cosy and sequestered nook of the conservatory, where, seated close to me, he began to make hot love. His advances were delicate and insinuating. Aggression would at once have put me in arms. When he hoped he was not altogether disagreeable to me, what could I say? I could not be rude. But my unprotected position, the knowledge that I could not respond, which grew upon me with increasing intensity, filled me before long with a feeling approaching dismay, and I positively longed for a chaperon.

I had never been in such a fix before. I liked being made love to; but when he discovered that I was a fraud! -  Confound Mademoiselle and all her ways!

What on earth to do - whether to confess what I was, say I could not help it, and rely on his honour not to tell - I did not know.
The idea of running away occurred; but what a fool I should look, and, besides, it very soon became impossible and I was obliged to abandon all thought of it; for he put his arm round my waist and held my thighs, pressed closely to him. How a girl would have enjoyed it! But me! I could only behave as I conceived a maiden would have done.

To add to my confusion, and to hasten the catastrophe, his other hand, in some inexplicable way, got up one of my legs underneath my petticoats. Then I felt there was no hope left!  The murder would soon be out, and he would indignantly expose me to Mademoiselle, and she! –But between my real and imaginary sensations, I was in such a state of tremor and excitement, that I could only rest, gasping, against him, be the consequences what they might...

After several minutes of the most deliciously exciting but yet most embarrassing dalliance with my legs and under-garments, and after many whispered soft nothings in my ear, he slipped his hand up to my waist and got a firm hold of what was fastened there between my limbs!

Now, thought I, surely all is over! And I prepared myself for the outburst I conceived imminent, and to meet the consequences as best I could. But to my intense relief and no small astonishment, he proceeded to play with his fingers and hand, until I was almost beside myself. The softness and warmth of his form surprised me much. I wondered whether I should treat a girl so. Certainly not, I concluded, if I discovered her to be a boy. However, he evidently thought otherwise, for he continued torturing me in this nice fashion for some time, and appeared to take an unaccountable pleasure in it. At length, he went further; he set me, or, to speak more correctly, an important part of me, free, by slipping the loops of the bandage over the hooks in front, and then leaning quite over me, he took hold of me afresh, this time more vigorously and more comprehensively.

The same crisis soon occurred (but under a completely different set of emotions) as had happened on the sofa with Mademoiselle, and, strange to say, his enjoyment of it seemed to equal, if not to surpass hers. It puzzled me how it could give him pleasure, and I felt no longer a girl. There was no mistake about it, his eyes swam, his lips were glued to mine, and he seemed to be carried away by a strong corresponding passion. Was he a man?

After a few minutes spent in imbibing as slowly as possible the deliciousness of the sensations we had evoked, he readjusted the linen bandage, gave me a final kiss, helped me to rearrange my disordered garments, and to smooth my ruffled hair, and then he proposed that we should rejoin the company in the drawing room. Although my cheeks were on fire, even if there were no other tell-tale signs, we were obliged to do so, for I felt sure that our absence would have been remarked. But returning did not accord with my wishes. I longed to tear open his shirt, his trousers, to investigate for myself, to solve the tormenting question without delay. Could he be a woman? He must know now that I was not one. What could he be? He gave me no chance, however, to ascertain. He availed himself of my dread that Mademoiselle would notice our being away, and said that my looks would confirm her worst suspicions, so we hurried off at once, and I was very glad to join energetically in the waltz we found just started when we got there. It would be some explanation of my flustered condition. Did all young ladies, I wondered, who left the ballroom or sat a dance out on the stairs meet with an experience like mine?

But I was doomed to disappointment. Mademoiselle had not failed to notice our absence, and proceeded in the presence of the entire company, to my horror, to rate Lord Alfred soundly for having carried off one of her charges, and upon his improper behaviour, paying scant attention to his excuses. Then, turning to me, she informed me I was to go off at once to my bedroom, there to be well smacked with a slipper, and put to bed by her maid for my forward behaviour. Whether this was to Lord Alfred's delight or chagrin I cannot tell, but it was to my own inexpressible confusion, and I was on the point of tears. I stood dumbfounded and foolish before everyone. I did not want any more whipping (I was still sore from what I had had), nor did I wish to lose the evening's enjoyment. But they started off for the next dance, and poorly I had to march off.

The content of 'Gynecocracy' is a good deal more forward than my readers would be used to in the pages of this publication, because 'Petticoat Discipline Monthly' is a magazine which stresses modesty, but Peter Farrer's thesis is of great historical interest, so that the claims of scholarship must override the claims of our usual restraint. This fascinating discourse will continue in future issues.