Stocking Erotica and the History of Lingerie

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

What drove a garment made for function to the erection-causing fetish it has become today?  Is it the actual appearance of stockings, lingerie and high heels?  After polling over two hundred a list of one hundred subscribers, we have discovered that the majority (74%) thought that lingerie was designed for the purpose of attraction.  In other words, nearly ¾ of the people we talked to said that they thought lingerie has always been designed as a sex aid, a sensual addition;  not a functional garment.  (keep in mind over 60% of those polled were under 25 and we have a clear generation who remembers nothing of the horrid constricts of a functional garter belt of 30 years ago). 

After spending the war years drawing a black eye liner line down the backs of their legs, women were finally rewarded, in 1945 with the return of nylon stockings.  Nylon had been diverted for the war effort in 1940 and women were reduced to temporary lines and the horror of seam smearing. 

When Queen Elizabeth, in 1589, donned the first pair of silk stockings, she must have felt a right whore.  Those babies had heaven woven right into them, compared to the rough and ugly wools and cottons of previous leg garments. Her pleasure at the feel of silk against silk under her gown as she walked about the palace, must have kept courtiers wondering what that look on her face meant.  Perhaps it was in that period of our history that stockings took on a sexual context. 

When hemlines rose in the early 20^th century, women became more conscious of the appearance of their hosiery. Flappers rolled their stockings in an attempt to flirt with the social trappings of showing more skin. As women gained social independence, her choices of fashion widened and the functional corsets of the 40’s gave way to pretty and more comfortable lingerie of the later decades.  

With the design of pantyhose, much of the image of stockings, teddies, corsets and garters has taken on a more sexual than functional appeal.  Pantyhose indeed killed the fantasy girl for many husbands.  The last vestiges of a more genteel society were gone.  For them, watching their wives struggle into the misshapen lump of nylon became a scene to avoid.  A moment best not burned into the retinas. 

Is the art of hosiery and lingerie wearing gone?  Hardly.  Today, lingerie sites abound, both standard mainstream storefronts and adult lingerie porn.  All of them, across the board, continue to grow in popularity. For those who want the leg and stocking men’s entertainment, need only click a few links and your dreams come true.  If you’re after a comfortable convenient lingerie shopping trip, again just a click away.  The internet is a veritable goldmine of stocking sites. So poke around, see what you find with searches under "lingerie, stockings, legs, etc."

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Instruction and advice for the young bride on the conduct and procedure of the intimate and personal relationships of the marriage state for the Greater Spiritual Sanctity of this Blessed Sacrament and the Glory of God.

To the sensitive young woman who has had the benefits of proper upbringing, the wedding day is, ironically, both the happiest and most terrifying day of her life. On the positive side, there is the wedding itself, in which the bride is the central attraction in a beautiful and inspiring ceremony, symbolizing her triumph in securing a male to provide for all her needs for the rest of her life. On the negative side, there is the wedding night, during which the bride must pay the piper, so to speak, by facing for the first time the terrible experience of sex.

At this point, dear reader, let me concede one shocking truth. Some young women actually anticipate the wedding night ordeal with curiosity and pleasure! Beware such an attitude! A selfish and sensual husband can easily take advantage of such a bride. One cardinal rule of marriage should never be forgotten: GIVE LITTLE, GIVE SELDOM, AND ABOVE ALL, GIVE GRUDGINGLY. Otherwise what could have been a proper marriage could become an orgy of sexual lust.

On the other hand, the bride's terror need not be extreme. While sex is at best revolting and at worst rather painful, it has to be endured, and has been by women since the beginning of time, and is compensated for by the monogamous home and by the children produced through it.

It is useless, in most cases, for the bride to prevail upon the groom to forego the sexual initiation. While the ideal husband would be one who would approach his bride only at her request and only for the purpose of begetting offspring, such nobility and unselfishness cannot be expected from the average man.

Most men, if not denied, would demand sex almost every day. The wise bride will permit a maximum of two brief sexual experiences weekly during the first months of marriage. As time goes by she should make every effort to reduce this frequency. Feigned illness, sleepiness, and headaches are among the wife's best friends in this matter. Arguments, nagging, scolding, and bickering also prove very effective, if used in the late evening about an hour before the husband would normally commence his seduction.

Clever wives are ever on the alert for new and better methods of denying and discouraging the amorous overtures of the husband. A good wife should expect to have reduced sexual contacts to once a week by the end of the first year of marriage and to once a month by the end of the fifth year of marriage.

By their tenth anniversary many wives have managed to complete their child bearing and have achieved the ultimate goal of terminating all sexual contacts with the husband. By this time she can depend upon his love for the children and social pressures to hold the husband in the home.

Just as she should be ever alert to keep the quantity of sex as low as possible, the wise bride will pay equal attention to limiting the kind and degree of sexual contacts. Most men are by nature rather perverted, and if given half a chance, would engage in quite a variety of the most revolting practices. These practices include among others performing the normal act in abnormal positions; mouthing the female body; and offering their own vile bodies to be mouthed in turn.

Nudity, talking about sex, reading stories about sex, viewing photographs and drawings depicting or suggesting sex are the obnoxious habits the male is likely to acquire if permitted. A wise bride will make it the goal never to allow her husband to see her unclothed body, and never allow him to display his unclothed body to her. Sex, when it cannot be prevented, should be practiced only in total darkness.

Many women have found it useful to have thick cotton nightgowns for themselves and pajamas for their husbands. These should be donned in separate rooms. They need not be removed during the sex act. Thus, a minimum of flesh is exposed.

Once the bride has donned her gown and turned off all the lights, she should lie quietly upon the bed and await her groom. When he comes groping into the room she should make no sound to guide him in her direction, lest he take this as a sign of encouragement. She should let him grope in the dark. There is always the hope that he will stumble and incur some slight injury which she can use as an excuse to deny him sexual access.

When he finds her, the wife should lie as still as possible. Bodily motion on her part could be interpreted as sexual excitement by the optimistic husband.

If he attempts to kiss her on the lips she should turn her head slightly so that the kiss falls harmlessly on her cheek instead. If he attempts to kiss her hand, she should make a fist. If he lifts her gown and attempts to kiss her anyplace else she should quickly pull the gown back in place, spring from the bed, and announce that nature calls her to the toilet. This will generally dampen his desire to kiss in the forbidden territory.

If the husband attempts to seduce her with lascivious talk, the wise wife will suddenly remember some trivial non-sexual question to ask him. Once he answers she should keep the conversation going, no matter how frivolous it may seem at the time. Eventually, the husband will learn that if he insists on having sexual contact, he must get on with it without amorous embellishment.

The wise wife will allow him to pull the gown up no farther than the waist, and only permit him to open the front of his pajamas to thus make connection. She will be absolutely silent or babble about her housework while he's huffing and puffing away. Above all, she will lie perfectly still and never under any circumstances grunt or groan while the act is in progress.

As soon as the husband has completed the act, the wise wife will start nagging him about various minor tasks she wishes him to perform on the morrow. Many men obtain a major portion of their sexual satisfaction from the peaceful exhaustion immediately after the act is over. Thus the wife must insure that there is no peace in this period for him to enjoy. Otherwise, he might be encouraged to soon try for more.

One heartening factor for which the wife can be grateful is the fact that the husband's home, school, church, and social environment have been working together all through his life to instill in him a deep sense of guilt in regards to his sexual feelings, so that he comes to the marriage couch apologetically and filled with shame, already half cowed and subdued. The wise wife seizes upon this advantage and relentlessly pursues her goal first to limit, later to annihilate completely her husband's desire for sexual expression.

 

Reprinted from The Madison Institute Newsletter, Fall Issue, 1894
by Ruth Smythers, beloved wife of The Reverend L.D. Smythers, Pastor of the Arcadian Methodist Church of the Eastern Regional Conference Published in the year of our Lord 1894 Spiritual Guidance Press New York City