Editing Dominatrix (section)

==History==
[[File:Ostra Studio violin student.jpg|thumb|upright|Erotic photograph, {{Circa|1930s}}, showing a dominant female music teacher caning the buttocks of a submissive female student with a [[violin bow]]]]

The history of the dominatrix is argued to date back to rituals of the goddess [[Inanna]] (or [[Ishtar]] as she was known in Akkadian), in ancient [[Mesopotamia]]. Ancient cuneiform texts consisting of "Hymns to Inanna" have been cited as examples of the [[archetype]] of the powerful, sexual female displaying dominating behaviors and forcing gods and men into submission to her.<ref>"Inana and Ebih" ETCSL, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr132.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715233908/http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr132.htm |date=15 July 2019 }} cited in {{harvp|Nomis|2013|p=53}}</ref> The pseudonymous archaeologist and BDSM historian Anne O. Nomis notes that Inanna's rituals included cross-dressing of cult personnel, and rituals "imbued with pain and ecstasy, bringing about initiation and journeys of altered consciousness; punishment, moaning, ecstasy, lament and song, participants exhausting themselves with weeping and grief."<ref>See "A Hymn to Inana C" ETCSL, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford see lines 70–80 viewable at http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section4/tr4073.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140405163440/http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section4/tr4073.htm |date=5 April 2014 }} cited in {{harvp|Nomis|2013|pp=59–60}}</ref>

The fictional [[tale of Phyllis and Aristotle]], which became popular and gained numerous versions from the 12th century onwards, tells the story of a dominant woman who seduced and dominated the male intellect of the greatest philosopher. In the story, Phyllis forces [[Aristotle]] to kneel on the ground so that she rides on his back while whipping and verbally humiliating him.<ref>{{cite web |title=Aristotle and Phyllis |url=http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/20121 |publisher=[[Art Institute of Chicago]] |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=22 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322205020/http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/20121 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Smith2013">{{cite web |author=Smith, Justin E. H. |author-link=Justin E. H. Smith |title=Phyllis Rides Aristotle |url=http://www.jehsmith.com/1/2013/04/phyllis-rides-aristotle.html<!--Smith is a professor of history and philosophy of science, see his article--> |publisher=Justin E. H. Smith |access-date=31 March 2018 |date=2 April 2013 |archive-date=31 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331173615/http://www.jehsmith.com/1/2013/04/phyllis-rides-aristotle.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The profession appears to have originated as a specialization within [[brothel]]s, before becoming its own unique craft. As far back as the 1590s, flagellation within an erotic setting is recorded.<ref>{{harvp|Nomis|2013|p=80}}</ref> The profession features in erotic prints of the era, such as the British Museum mezzotint "The Cully Flaug'd" (c. 1674–1702), and in accounts of forbidden books which record the flogging schools and the activities practised.<ref>{{harvp|Nomis|2013|pp=80–83}}</ref>

Within the 18th century, female "Birch Disciplinarians" advertised their services in a book masked as a collection of lectures or theatrical plays, entitled "[[Fashionable Lectures]]" (c. 1761).<ref name="fashionable">"Fashionable Lectures" (c1761) British Library Rare Books collection, cited in {{harvp|Nomis|2013|pp=92–98}}</ref> This included the names of 57 women, some actresses and courtesans, who catered to birch discipline fantasies, keeping a room with rods and cat o' nine tails, and charging their clients a Guinea for a "lecture".<ref name="fashionable"/>

The 19th century is characterised by what Nomis characterises as the "Golden Age of the Governess". No fewer than twenty establishments were documented as having existed by the 1840s, supported entirely by flagellation practices and known as "Houses of Discipline" distinct from brothels.<ref name="Nomis_101">{{harvp|Nomis|2013|p=101}}, citing original historical books and accounts from British Library "Rare Books", including Fraxi, Pisanus (pseudonym of Henry Spencer Ashbee) (1877) "Index Librorum Prohibitorum" (Index of Forbidden Books) and Mary Wilson "Preface" to "The Venus School-mistress" (edition dating to between 1836–1877; reprinted by Birchopolis in 1917)</ref> Amongst the well-known "dominatrix governesses" were Mrs Chalmers, Mrs Noyeau, the late Mrs Jones of [[Hertford Street]] and London Street, the late Mrs [[Theresa Berkley]], Bessy Burgess of York Square and Mrs Pyree of [[Burton Crescent]].<ref name="Nomis_101"/> The most famous of these Governess "female flagellants" was [[Theresa Berkley]], who operated her establishment on [[Charlotte Street]] in the central [[London]] district of [[Marylebone]].<ref>{{harvp|Nomis|2013|pp=101–115}}</ref> She is recorded to have used implements such as [[whip]]s, [[caning|canes]] and birches, to chastise and punish her male clients, as well as the [[Berkley Horse]], a specially designed flogging machine, and a pulley suspension system for lifting them off the floor.<ref>Fraxi, Pisanus (pseudonym of Henry Spencer Ashbee) "Index Librorum Prohibitorum" (Index of Forbidden Books) (1877)</ref> Such historical use of [[corporal punishment]] and [[Suspension bondage|suspension]], in a setting of [[Domination and submission (BDSM)|domination]] roleplay, connects very closely to the practices of modern-day professional dominatrices.

The "bizarre style" (as it came to be called) of leather catsuits, claws, tail whips, and latex rubber only came about in the 20th century, initially within commercial fetish photography, and taken up by dominatrices.<ref>{{harvp|Nomis|2013|pp=119–129}}</ref> Within the mid-20th century, dominatrices operated in a very discreet and underground manner, which has made them difficult to trace within the historical record. A few photographs still exist of the women who ran their domination businesses in London, New York, The Hague and Hamburg's [[Herbertstraße]], predominantly in sepia and black-and-white photographs, and scans from magazine articles, copied and re-copied. Amongst these were Miss Doreen of London who was acquainted with [[John Sutcliffe (designer)|John Sutcliffe]] of ''[[AtomAge]]'' fame, whose clients reportedly included Britain's top politicians and businessmen.<ref>{{harvp|Nomis|2013|pp=133–135}}</ref> In New York, the dominatrix Anne Laurence was known within the underground circle of acquaintances during the 1950s, with Monique Von Cleef arriving in the early 1960s, and hitting national headlines when her home was raided by police detectives on 22 December 1965.<ref>{{harvp|Nomis|2013|pp=140–151}}</ref> Von Cleef went on to set up her "House of Pain" in The Hague in the 1970s, which became one of the world capitals for dominatrices, reportedly with visiting lawyers, ambassadors, diplomats and politicians.<ref>{{harvp|Nomis|2013|pp=151–157}}</ref> [[Domenica Niehoff]] worked as a dominatrix in Hamburg and appeared on talk shows on German television from the 1970s onwards, campaigning for [[sex workers' rights]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Childs|first=David|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/domenica-niehoff-prostitute-and-social-activist-who-campaigned-for-the-legalisation-of-her-1639293.html|title=Domenica Niehoff: Prostitute and social activist who campaigned for the legalisation of her profession|work=The Independent|date=7 March 2009|access-date=21 November 2016|archive-date=6 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806194642/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/domenica-niehoff-prostitute-and-social-activist-who-campaigned-for-the-legalisation-of-her-1639293.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Mistress Raven, founder and manager of [[Pandora's Box (BDSM)|Pandora's Box]], one of New York's best known BDSM studios,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/09/movies/humiliation-business-and-its-customers.html|title=Humiliation Business And Its Customers|author=Stephen Holden|date=9 May 1997|newspaper=The News York Times|access-date=3 April 2018|archive-date=6 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806181555/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/09/movies/humiliation-business-and-its-customers.html|url-status=live}}</ref> was featured in [[Nick Broomfield]]'s 1996 documentary film ''[[Fetishes (film)|Fetishes]]''.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041021033430/http://nyrock.com/movies/1997/fetishes.asp|url=http://nyrock.com/movies/1997/fetishes.asp|title=Fetishes: Whips, Chains and Other Family Entertainment|website=NY Rock|author=Otto Luck|date=May 1997|archive-date=21 October 2004}}</ref>