Society requires methods of social control, even if they are complex, multifaceted and often disguised as stories or other practices. In one case, the Krampus is a Central European mythical figure who, according to the fairytale, would accompany Saint Nicholas every December to dole out punishments for bad behavior. Meanwhile, Saint Nicholas would provide presents and rewards to those who acted well. But this folkloric practice of storytelling has most influence only over the young, impressionable individuals who might still entertain such tales. Aside from obvious methods of social control such as the law and law enforcement, more private methods also exist. One particular social practice comes to mind when thinking about how the Krampus punishes and Saint Nicholas rewards: sexual kink.
The Krampus, who was not necessarily evil, although he is sometimes depicted as such (if ‘he’ is the proper noun here) functioned symbiotically with Saint Nicholas. Carrying bundles of birch and coal, he would spank or hit children who had acted out of turn. Like other folklore stories, this one had the function of discouraging bad behavior on the part of children, using fear as a way to discourage bad behavior. Parents would tell the stories to their children and the effect would be social control in the private sphere. As well, this kind of story evokes the notion of the Christian Judgment Day, where all deeds, good and bad, will receive their proper punishment.
The Krampus is all but lost in American Christmas celebrations. Saint Nicholas, or a modernized, consumerized version, effectively doles out slap-on-the-wrist punishments (coal) while otherwise rewarding good behaviors with gifts. Still, the giving out of coal is a hint at the history of the Krampus and the former inclusion of the Krampus in the story of this annual Christmas-time Judgment Day (a hint at an omission once the Krampus was deemed too fear-inducing for American children).
There is an important connection here to the modern practice of kink sex. Kink, while purportedly residing primarily in the private realm of the bedroom and the sexual, instead has important implications for our lives outside of it. We like to inflict pain because of pent up aggression in our lives (produced in most cases by the distance between the world we want and the world that is) or because we cannot do so in other parts of our lives. Or, perhaps one has a tendency towards dominance that one otherwise does not have an outlet for in a capitalistic system which provides upward social mobility only for a select few.
Importantly, the private realm provides opportunities for dominance, aggression, submission and expression of wants and needs in a way that might not otherwise be realizable in the world as it is currently. Likewise, for a submissive, perhaps there are negative feelings towards self, and sexual kink allows the sub to feel those feelings fully, in the form of punishment or beatings, in a safe and controlled environment that they can choose to curtail or leave, recreating a feeling of control they may otherwise lack in their lives.
Aside from providing an outlet for aggression, self-disgust or the need for dominance or submission, kinky sex affects our behaviors outside of the bedroom, much the same way a fear-inducing fairytale might do so. We don’t always act as we want to, and so often, we want to be dominated or controlled. We want someone to set limits and boundaries because our behavior has otherwise proven anti-social and has caused us a good deal of pain. Kinky sex is a space where we can be punished for our behaviors, or where we can be the punisher or the pleaser, where we can confess to another we trust in, and where we can feel consequences for our actions that are sometimes pleasurable and sometimes painful. Likewise, the feeling of pleasure can also be used as a tool for reward, much the same way a gift might be used as a reward for a child.
The existence of fairytales in our social conscious plays a similar role in regulating and moderating human behavior. The Krampus and Saint Nicholas, in this way, offer gifts for good behavior or punishments for bad behavior, much like punishments and rewards in kink sexual play. In this way, both fairytales and kink play can be said to be tools of social control. Tales we tell or sexual practices we continue operate to ensure that we can continue to cope with the harsh reality of a world that we may not fit into well: where some of our behaviors are socially-adaptive and some are not and continue to hurt us. Notably, fairytales and kink sex they are also about fantasy and imagination and play (although different kinds): they have specific social consequences, of changing or modifying our behaviors that are real and felt in the public sphere, rendering us more able to effectively cope in a sometimes complicated and sometimes difficult-to-navigate social world. In this sense, stories are not just stories but tools, tools like other human practices such as kink play.
In this way, next time you want to spank your partner, consider donning some horns and getting out the bundles of birch: the Krampus is cumming.
Bearer of Pity 