Opening your find
Back to search
Opening your find
Most of us are familiar with the term "masochism," but few have read the scandalous story that gave a name to the fetish: Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novella "Venus in Furs (Venus im Pelz)," first published in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1870.
A sensational depiction of an erotic passion that defies the norms of nineteenth-century sexuality and gender, the story charts the stages of masculine obsession and collapse, leading a cultivated European aristocrat from his fantasy of abasement at the hands of a domineering woman to a climax of brutal physical violence.
It remains a foundational work of modern culture, defining a sexual perversion while also offering a critical lens through which to view persistent structures of masculinity and power.
No reviews available here yet.
Tell us what you’d change, or start with a new idea.
