Sadomasochism... Let’s break out that whip Baby!
The giving or receiving of pleasure—sometimes sexual—from acts involving the
infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. A subset of BDSM, practitioners of
sadomasochism usually seek out sexual gratification from these acts, but can also seek
out other forms of personal pleasure. While the terms sadist and masochist specifically
refer to one who either enjoys giving pain (sadist), or one who enjoys receiving pain
(masochist), many practitioners of sadomasochism describe, as can be found with the
enjoyment of the experience in other fields of personal gratification activity, can have
a spectrum or an activity switch, from someone being 100% active to 100% passive
(although there is some reasonable assumption that a passive participant can become
very involved in a scene).
The abbreviation S&M is often used for sadomasochism, although practitioners
themselves normally remove the ampersand and use the acronym SM or S/M.
Sadomasochism is not considered a clinical paraphilia unless such practices lead to
clinically significant distress or impairment for a diagnosis. Similarly, sexual sadism
within the context of mutual consent should not be mistaken for acts of sexual violence
or aggression.
Fun fact! ...I really cannot find anything funny about being spanked :(