Masochism and Identity

While “homosexuality” and “masochism” both emerge in sexological discourses around the same time, homosexual identity has taken a more concrete and politically potent form than masochistic identity. Beginning with examples of female masochists who go to physicians precisely in order to experience pain and humiliation—thus using medicine to satisfy, rather than to cure, their condition—this essay attempts to determine the structures of masochistic identity.

“Masochism and Identity,” in One Hundred Years of Masochism: Literary Texts, Social and Cultural Contexts, Psychoanalysis and Culture 10, ed. Michael Finke and Carl Niekerk (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000) 33-52.