ABSTRACT
The patient, a man in his twenties, manly, vigorous, intelligent, pleased to be married and the father of a little girl, was referred for evaluation by his therapist. The patient was concerned that his perversion might cause him to harm some woman. There is an odd and dangerous perversion that, to judge from the literature, does not often come to the psychiatrist’s or psychoanalyst’s attention, but which may nonetheless be rather common if one weighs the amount of pornographic books and movies produced on the subject. It consists in tieing up women and torturing them, either in reality or in fantasy. The struggle to be manly is a crucial ingredient of puberty rites and of much of the turmoil of adolescence, and for the adult man, defense of his masculinity often seems even more important than preserving his life.
