Sadism and masochism in fiction

Novels

Pre-19th century

• Aloisiae Sigaeae, Toletanae, Satyra sotadica de arcanis Amoris et Veneris by Nicolas Chorier, translated into English as A Dialogue between a Married Woman and a Maid in various editions. depicts an older woman giving sexual instruction to a younger, recommending the spiritual and erotic benefits of a flogging.
• Fanny Hill by John Cleland – depicts mutual flagellation, between Fanny and an English client. The understanding of flagellation is in transition from an aphrodisiac practice intended to improve sexual performance to a sexual activity in its own right.
• Fashionable Lectures: composed and delivered with Birch Discipline on the theme of flagellation by dominant women in positions of authority.
• The 120 Days of Sodom, Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Juliette by the Marquis de Sade – Have an extreme, sadistic perspective. "The term sadism derives from the Marquis de Sade, a French nobleman imprisoned for his libertinism, and for writing fantastic novels, such as Justine and Juliette that equated sexual pleasure with the inflicting of pain, humiliation, and cruelty".
• Anti-Justine by Nicolas-Edme Rétif – A response to the works of de Sade, written in a like style, describing the opposite political point of view.

19th century

• The Lustful Turk, or Lascivious Scenes from a Harem by Anonymous. First published in England by John Benjamin Brookes, the book was not widely known until it was reprinted by William Dugdale in 1893. This tale of sex and sadism consists largely of a series of letters written by its heroine, Emily Barlow, after being abducted by Moorish pirates and held prisoner in an Algerian harem. The David F. Friedman sexploitation film The Lustful Turk is based on the novel.
• Exhibition of Female Flagellants attributed, probably falsely, to Theresa Berkley, published by George Cannon. The principal activity described is flagellation, mainly of women by women, described in a theatrical, fetishistic style. It was republished around 1872 by John Camden Hotten.
• The New Ladies' Tickler, or Adventures of Lady Lovesport and the Audacious Harry by Edward Sellon – dealing with flagellation and lesbian incest
• Romance of Chastisement by St George Stock, a probable pseudonym, also credited with The Whippingham Papers. A pornographic collection on the theme of flagellation. Reprinted by Charles Carrington in 1902 as The Magnetism of the Rod or the Revelations of Miss Darcy.
• Revelries! and Devilries!!, anonymous, published by William Dugdale. Said to be the collaboration of four Oxford scholars and an army officer. The book is a linked collection of stories in which sadism is a theme.
• Personal Recollections of the Use of the Rod by "Margaret Anson", pseudonym of British author James Glass Bertram. As is common in this genre, the author/narrator is given as female, and the perpetrators and victims are mainly women. Reprinted by Blue Moon Books in 2000; also published as The Merry Order of St. Bridget. Translated in French as Une société de flagellantes. Réminiscences et révélations d'une soubrette de grande maison by Jean de Villiot, illustrated by Martin van Maële.Flagellation & the Flagellants: A History of the Rod by "Rev. William Cooper", again James Glass Bertram, a best-seller for Hotten.
• Memoiren einer Sängerin. Translated to French as Les Memoirs d'une chanteuse allemande and to English as Pauline, the Prima Dona or Memoirs of an Opera Singer. Published anonymously but likely authored by Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient. Originally published after her death in two installments in 1868 and 1875; reprinted often since.
• Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch – Autobiographical novel wherein the protagonist encourages his mistress to enslave and mistreat him. Many of Sacher-Masoch's other works contain themes of sadomasochism and female dominance of the male. The term 'Masochism' derives from von Sacher-Masoch's name.
• The Romance of Lust published by William Lazenby includes flagellation by a governess among a variety of sexual activities, such as incest, orgies, masturbation, lesbianism, fellatio, cunnilingus, gay sex, anal sex, and double penetration.
• The Convent School, or Early Experiences of A Young Flagellant by "Rosa Coote", pseudonym of the author and publisher, William Dugdale, in which a woman is whipped and tortured by two men.
• Experimental Lecture by "Colonel Spanker", published by Charles Carrington, on sadistic flagellation. The Colonel and his circle have a house in Park Lane where young ladies are kidnapped, humiliated, whipped and raped.
• Miss Coote's Confession, an epistolary serial novella also supposedly by Rosa Coote in The Pearl, a pornographic magazine published by William Lazenby, deals with flagellation at home and at school.
• In The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Pavlovitch says,
• The Mysteries of Verbena House, or, Miss Bellasis Birched for Thieving by "Etonensis", actually by George Augustus Sala and James Campbell Reddie.
• The Whippingham Papers with poetry ascribed to Algernon Charles Swinburne, edited by St. George H. Stock, a probable pseudonym, also credited with The Romance of Chastisement. A collection of Victorian stories and verse about erotic flagellation.
• The Yellow Room by anonymous. – Novella about an eighteen-year-old girl educated and disciplined by her stern aunt and uncle. Reprinted along with the novella Letters to a Lady Friend, in Whipped into Shape: Two Classic Erotic Novellas by Renaissance E Books Inc..Gynecocracy: A Narrative of the Adventures and Psychological Experiences of Julian Robinson, by "Viscount Ladywood", the author recounts his punishment as a boy at the hands of the governess to whom he is sent, along with three female cousins, after having taken indecent liberties with a household maid. Forced to wear girls' clothing as his ordinary attire, Julian, now Julia, is subjected to frequent flagellations, as are his cousins, one of whom he later marries, submitting to her dominance through continued forced feminization and crossdressing.
• Raped on the Railway: a True Story of a Lady who was first ravished and then flagellated on the Scotch Express, anonymous, by Charles Carrington A married woman is raped by a stranger in a locked railway compartment and in a common trope in later Victorian pornography is depicted as ultimately taking pleasure in the act: she is then flagellated by her brother-in-law for the latter transgression. The plot may have been inspired by the real-life case of Colonel Valentine Baker, who was convicted of an indecent assault on a young woman in a railway carriage in 1875. An American adaptation, or plagiarism, was published in New York City under the title Raped on the Elevated Railway, a True Story of a Lady who was First Ravished and then Flagellated on the Uptown Express, illustrating the Perils of Travel in the New Machine Age set in New York.
• A Full and True Account of the Wonderful Mission of Earl Lavender by John Davidson. A burlesque on the Decadent movement with private whipping clubs and other flagellatory adventures from noted poet, playwright, and humorist John Davidson.
• Tales of Fun and Flagellation by Lady Gay Spanker . A diverse collection of anecdotes and stories.
• The Torture Garden by Octave Mirbeau An allegorical examination of Western society, and of the human condition.
• The Memoirs of Dolly Morton: The Story of A Woman's Part in the Struggle to Free the Slaves, An Account of the Whippings, Rapes, and Violences that Preceded the Civil War in America, with Curious Anthropological Observations on the Radical Diversities in the Conformation of the Female Bottom and the Way Different Women Endure Chastisement under the pseudonym Jean de Villiot, probably Hugues Rebell or Charles Carrington. Edited and published in London and Paris by Charles Carrington. Another edition was published in Philadelphia in 1904.
• Lashed into Lust: The Caprice of a Flagellator by Anonymous. – French novel reprinted in 1908 with "James Lovebirch" as author. Reprinted in 2000 by Blue Moon Books.

20th century

• "Frank" and I by Anonymous. Originally published in three volumes in England. Edwardian novel of flagellation pornography. A wealthy young man, who is "a lover of the rod", takes in "Frank", a teenage girl disguised as a boy. A 1983 film was released under the alternative titles Frank and I and Lady Libertine.
• Woman and Her Master by Jean de Villiot, pseudonym of Georges Grassal – a novel of flagellation erotica translated into English by Charles Carrington from the original 1902 French edition, La Femme et son maître.
• La Flagellation Passionnelle by Don Brennus Aléra, pseudonym of Paul Guérard. Between 1903 and 1936 he wrote and illustrated around 100 historical and contemporary novels about flagellation and crossdressing petticoat punishment.
• Les Onze Mille Verges by Guillaume Apollinaire – written in the 1906-1907 period; the publication is unsigned and undated. Picasso thought this was the finest book he had ever read.
• Sadopaideia: Being the Experiences of Cecil Prendergast Undergraduate of the University of Oxford Shewing How he was Led Through the Pleasant Paths of Masochism to the Supreme joys of Sadism. by anonymous. – Two-volume tale of a man who experiences both dominance and submission. Anthony Storr attributes it to Algernon Charles Swinburne.
• The Beautiful Flagellants of New York by Lord Drialys – follows an intrepid traveller's adventures from Chicago to Boston to New York. Originally published in three volumes, one for each city. Reprinted by Olympia Press as The Beautiful Flagellants of Chicago, Boston and New York.
• The Way of a Man with a Maid by Anonymous. First published in France, exact date and author unknown. Three-volume Edwardian novel of abduction, sex and sadism. Often reprinted as a single volume under the shorter title A Man with a Maid. Adapted to film in 1975 called What the Swedish Butler Saw.
• La Comtesse au fouet, by Pierre Dumarchey – the story of a cruel dominatrix who turns the male hero into a "dog-man". Under the pen-name Miss Sadie Blackeyes, he wrote popular flagellation novels such as Baby douce fille, Miss: The memoirs of a young lady of quality containing recollections of boarding school discipline and intimate details of her chastisement, and Petite Dactylo et autres textes de flagellation. And as "Anonymous" wrote Masochists in America .
• Coups de Fouet by Lord Birchisgood . Author of Le Tour d'Europe d'un flagellant, et al.
• Les Cinq fessées de Suzette by James Lovebirch, published in Paris. Author of many popular flagellation novels such as L'Avatar de Lucette, Peggy Briggs, Au Bon Vieux Temps, and The Flagellations of Suzette, Paris: Library Aristique.
• Qui Aime Bien by Jacques d'Icy, pseudonym of author and artist Louis Malteste, illustrated by Malteste. Writer of many books of spanking/whipping erotica such as: Chatie Bien, Monsieur Paulette et Ses Epouses, Paulette Trahie, Brassée de faits, Les Mains Chéries, et al.
• Le règne de la cravache et de la bottine by :fr:Roland Brévannes, pseudonym of Paul Guérard – humiliating animal roleplay, female-dominated men are forced to crawl about in bear suits. A theme explored in several of his books; in Les Esclaves-montures and Le Club des Monteurs Humaines, men are turned into obedient cart ponies.
• Fred: The True History of a Boy Raised as a Girl by Don Brennus Alera, pseudonym of Paul Guérard – classic story of humiliating petticoat punishment. Followed by the sequels Frederique, Frida, Fridoline, and Lina Frido.
• Ulysses by James Joyce employs themes of masochism, especially in the "Circe" section which has multiple allusions to Venus in Furs.
• Two Flappers in Paris by "A. Cantab" – two young women visiting Paris are lured into a flagellatory brothel.
• L'histoire de l'œil by Georges Bataille – A short novel.
• Le Dressage de la Maid-Esclave by Bernard Valonnes, pseudonym of Paul Guérard – two-volume story of women trained as cart-pulling ponygirl slaves.
• Bagne de femmes by Alan Mac Clyde, Librairie Générale: Paris. One of the earliest of dozens of sadomasochistic novels by this unknown author. Followed by Dressage, La Cité de l'horreur, Servitude, Dolly, Esclave, et al.
• Dresseuses d'hommes by Florence Fulbert, illustrated by Jim Black . Story of men dominated and punished by women.
• La Volupté du Fouet by Armand du Loup, illustrated by famous French artist Étienne Le Rallic under the alias R. Fanny.
• Story of O by Pauline Réage – To prove her love, the protagonist submits to being kept in a château and abused by a group of men, one her official lover. Later, she resumes her normal life, while secretly becoming the property of a friend of her lover's. It was made into a film in 1975.
• The Whip Angels by XXX or Selena Warfield, pseudonyms of Diane Bataille, second wife of French writer Georges Bataille – a pastiche of a Victorian erotic novel.
• L'Image by Jean de Berg. In 1975, it was made into a film, The Image, also titled as The Punishment of Anne.
• The Passionate Lash or The Revenge of Sir Hilary Garner by Alan McClyde – Alan Mac Clyde was a popular house name used for English-language erotic books from the 1950s onward
• The English Governess, revised as Harriet Marwood, Governess by John Glassco under the pseudonym, "Miles Underwood".
• Gordon by Edith Templeton – once-banned novel about a woman in postwar London who falls into an intense submissive relationship with a psychiatrist.
• Tarnsman of Gor by John Norman – first in a series of 35 erotic science fiction novels set on the planet Gor. The novels describe an elaborate culture of sexual master/slave relationships which have spawned a BDSM lifestyle subculture of followers who call themselves Goreans.
• Je... Ils... by Arthur Adamov – With stories like Fin Août. About Masochism, regarded as an "immunisation against death", but does not aim at erotic arousal.
• Hogg by Samuel Delany.
• The Marquesa de Sade: Erotic Mistress of Exquisite Evil by Joseph LeBaron – adapted from the film produced by Jaybird Enterprises.
• Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
• Memoirs of a Slave by Rene Michel Desergy – a typical example of the many books and magazines fetish publisher Janus produced in the 1970s.
• Pagan Sex Orgy by Randy Palmer – reflects the 1970s revival of occultism in books and film. Cover and illustrations by Bill Ward.
• 9½ Weeks an erotic memoir by Elizabeth McNeill, later made into the film 9½ Weeks starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke in 1986.
• Spanking the Maid by Robert Coover
• The Correct Sadist by Terence Sellers – reverses the dominant-submissive roles of The Story of O to create a post-feminist American myth about power.
• Die Klavierspielerin by Elfriede Jelinek, made into the film The Piano Teacher by director Michael Haneke.
• Anne Rice's sadomasochistic writing includes: Exit to Eden, Belinda, and The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty and its sequels, Beauty's Punishment and Beauty's Release. The Sleeping Beauty books she wrote as A.N. Roquelaure.
• The Hellbound Heart, by popular horror writer Clive Barker, is a gruesome study of sadomasochism featuring brutal rituals by demonic entities.
• Macho Sluts by Pat Califia
• Birch in the Boudoir a.k.a. Beauty in the Birch by anonymous. A pastiche written in the style of Edwardian era erotica. The fictional preface claims this was originally published in Paris in 1905. The story is in the form of an exchange of racy letters about the amatory and disciplinary experiences of a new master of an English school for wayward girls and a woman living in an Arabian harem.
• Something Leather by Alasdair Gray has as its framing story an initiation into sadomasochistic activities by the female operators of a leather clothing shop in Glasgow.
• American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.
• The Wet Forever by David Aaron Clark, about the sadomasochistic relationship between a grifter named Janus and a dominatrix named Madchen.
• The Ties that Bind (Le Lien) by Vanessa Duriès.
• Matriarchy: Freedom in Bondage, 1997 by Malcolm McKesson – A boy undergraduate student in Harvard college is dominated by his mistress, and forced to dress as a woman.
• Killing Me Softly by Nicci French. Made into a film of the same name in 2002 starring Heather Graham

21st century

• The Marketplace, a series of novels by Laura Antoniou.
• Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey – A dual-genre work, belonging to fantasy fiction and BDSM fiction, along with its sequels.
• Role Plays by Andrei Gusev – a collection of BDSM stories and short stories. Themes include female domination, bondage, erotic spanking and BDSM fiction.Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James begins a best-selling trilogy of novels followed by the sequels Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed. There are also films based on the novels. However, the novels and films have been criticized for their inaccurate and harmful depiction of BDSM.
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson is a popular mystery-thriller that features scenes of sadism, sodomy, and torture. The two films adapted from it, by Niels Arden Oplav and David Fincher also depicted scenes that made the book controversial.
• A K Pasek's The Confession (2022) and The Hard Road Back (2024) delve into the world of BDSM and follows the adventures of Ania and her girlfriend Dominika as Ania comes to terms with her sexual appetites and her past. At the end of The Hard Road Back there are hints of a third book in the making The Journey Home. A K Pasek has also written and published a novella Elwira; A Coming Out Story which is the background story to another key character.
• Mark Ramsden's three novels The Dark Magus and the Sacred Whore, The Dungeonmaster's Apprentice and The Sacred Blood are a darkly comic series of thrillers about the occult, fetishism and the BDSM scene.
• Never the Face by Ariel Sands, an account of a dominant-submissive relationship that descends into abuse between a man and a woman named only as "Kitten" or "Bitch".

Mainstream films

• Leap Year (Año bisiesto), Mexican drama directed by Michael RoweA Dangerous Method, directed by David Cronenberg, starring Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen and Michael FassbenderNymphomaniac, Volume II, directed by Lars von TrierVenus in Fur (La Vénus à la fourrure), directed by Roman Polanski, is based upon the 2011 two-person play, Venus in Fur, by David IvesThe Duke of Burgundy, directed by Peter StricklandFifty Shades of Grey, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson
• Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, biopic of Wonder Woman creator William Moulton MarstonDogs Don't Wear Pants, directed by J-P Valkeapää, starring Pekka Strang and Krista Kosonen
• Sanctuary, directed by Zachary Wigon, starring Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott
• Babygirl, directed by Halina Reijn, Starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson

Television

• Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal, made-for-TV film. Police investigate underground S&M clubs looking for a serial killer. Vanessa Williams plays a hooker/dominatrix who videotapes her clients.
• Mercy (film) HBO cable-television movie starring Ellen Barkin and Peta Wilson. Murder mystery leads to a secret S&M society.
• Jack of All Trades is a comedy-adventure series set in the 19th century starring Bruce Campbell. In the episode "X Marquis the Spot", Jack visits the island resort of the Marquis de Sade and competes in an S&M-themed obstacle course race that parodies Survivor.
• Doc Martin, British television comedy-drama series starring Martin Clunes. In the episode "Old Dogs", the title character is consulted by a man who seems to have a habit of inexplicably injuring himself; it is later revealed that the man and his wife engage in BDSM, with the husband as the submissive.
• Secret Diary of a Call Girl ; in the fourth episode, "Belle" takes BDSM lessons from a professional dominatrix as a favor for her accountant who is a closet submissive.Dollhouse ; the beginning of the 9th episode shows Echo, returning from an assignment as a leather-clad whip-wielding dominatrix.
• On the Alias 2nd-season episode "Second Double", Agent Bristow goes undercover as a German dominatrix in a Berlin leather bar.
• The FOX series The Inside episode "Old Wounds" dealt exclusively with S&M, and was criticized by the Parents Television Council as a result.
• The television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has featured Melinda Clarke as professional dominatrix Lady Heather in six episodes, most notably in the 90-minute special episode "Lady Heather's Box".
• 2015 Season 3 Episode 10 Vikings whipping / punishment scene.
• Season 4 of HBO series Six Feet Under features a character who wants to adopt a submissive sexual role in his relationship with Brenda.
• A Family Guy gag depicts main characters Lois and Peter suiting up for a sadomasochistic session while having a mundane conversation about how wholesome their children are, and why they can be trusted. Toys have been made of this scene. In the audio commentary for that episode it is noted that such a practice seemed normal to them.
• Season 1 of the FOX medical drama House, episode "Love Hurts" a patient is deeply involved in a BDSM relationship.
• Rex Van de Kamp of Desperate Housewives was unveiled as a lover of S&M, much to the disgust of his wife, Bree. In Come Back to Me, Sharon Lawrence plays Maisy Gibbons, a dominatrix who walks across Rex's back in stiletto heels.
• Season 2 of NBC's Friday night drama Homicide: Life on the Street, in the episode "A Many Splendored Thing". Detectives Bayliss and Pembleton investigate a murder in the S&M club scene. Bayliss expresses his disgust at the 'perversion', but the episode ends with his return to a leather shop, where he purchases a studded and belted leather jacket. This episode is the beginning of the character's sexual awakening, as he becomes comfortable with his bisexual feelings.ER - a professional dominatrix with broken fingers and her male slave, who was injured in a fall during a bondage/suspension session, are admitted to the emergency room.
• Season 5 of FX's Nip/Tuck has Sean crossing paths with a Hollywood agent with horrific wounds on his chest and the dominatrix who inflicted them on him in the episode "Carly Summers".Rescue Me – In "Initiation", Callie Thorne's character seduces Tommy dressed as a cheerleader, Playboy bunny and latex-clad dominatrix. They are briefly seen paddling each other in a fast-motion sequence.Castle, "The Mistress Always Spanks Twice" : a murder investigation leads to the underground world of the professional dominatrix.
• HBO's series, The Sopranos, features multiple characters who engage in sadomasochism.
• * In The Sopranos episode, "Mergers and Acquisitions", Valentina La Paz reports, in disgust, to Tony Soprano that in lieu of having conventional sexual relations, Soprano family mob captain, Ralph Cifaretto, asks her to scrape a cheese grater across his back and pour hot candle wax on his testicles.
• In the anime and manga Gintama, characters Sogo Okita and Sarutobi Ayame often practice sadism and masochism respectively.
• In the manga Nana to Kaoru by Amazume Ryuta, the protagonista Nana and Kaoru are shown to be in an SM relationship to help Nana with her "breathers". It also depicts different cultural practices related to SM. The manga has been adapted to into OVAs and live-action television movies.Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler, features Midari Ikishima, a crazed and mentally unstable student with sadistic, masochistic and suicidal tendencies.Konosuba features Darkness, a masochistic crusader who dreams of being ravaged by monsters as well and marrying an abusive alcoholic husband. Ironically, she hates being called by her first name.American Horror Story: Asylum – FX network series about an insane asylum in 1964 run by a sadistic nun, Sister Jude. In "Welcome to Briarcliff" and "Tricks and Treats" she canes a male patient. In "Unholy Night", a deranged male patient gets revenge for being beaten by caning Sister Jude.Holby City episode 356 involves a man being admitted to hospital with a stiletto heel in his chest. His Dominatrix, who accompanies him to hospital, has been trampling him, and penetrated his ribs.Mom - Season 2 Episode 9 - When Christy discovers that her single neighbor, Andy has a dungeon in his apartment, he appears and hands her the other end of the leash attached to the collar around his neck.Bonding – Netflix series about a psychology student moonlighting as a dominatrix who recruits her gay best friend from high school as her reluctant assistant.

Stage

• Thomas Shadwell's play The Virtuoso includes an old libertine named Snarl who entreats a prostitute, Mrs Figgup, to bring out the birch rods. It is unclear if he is to flog her or be flogged.Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery, an obscene Restoration closet drama thought to be by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester.
• In Thomas Otway's play Venice Preserv'd, Act III, Scene i, an old senator, Antonio, visits the house of Aquilina, a Greek courtesan. Antonio pretends to be a bull, then a frog, begging her to spit on him, and then a dog, biting her legs. She whips him, then throws him out and tells her footmen to keep him out.
• Jean Genet's play The Maids concerns two maids who play out dominant and submissive roles.
• Genet's play The Balcony is set in a brothel where clients and staff perform various fetishized roles while a revolution brews outside.
• Venus in Fur is a two-person play by David Ives set in modern New York City.

Poetry

• The Rodiad, a pornographic poem on the subject of flagellation, falsely attributed to George Colman the Younger: probably by Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton.
• Algernon Charles Swinburne wrote poetry on erotic flagellation, some of which was published anonymously in The Whippingham Papers.
• Squire Hardman by John Glassco, purporting to be a reprint of an 18th-century poem by George Colman the Younger, is a long poem in heroic couplets on the theme of flagellation.

Music

• "The Masochism Tango" by Tom Lehrer uses the powerful rhythm of tango music and iconic implements like castanets and roses to comedic effect.
• "Venus in Furs" by The Velvet Underground takes its title and subject matter from the 1870 novella of the same name by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. It is quite possibly the first pop song to detail an S&M encounter and relationship in explicit, unequivocal terms.
• "Little Toy Soldier" by David Bowie is an early, unreleased track which recites lyrics from the Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs" as part of its chorus; although the song's humorous treatment of S&M owes more to the cockeyed psychedelia of Syd Barrett.
• "I Wanna Be Your Dog", "Dirt" and "Gimme Danger" by The Stooges all clearly indicate powerful masochistic tendencies and behavior on the part of the singer, Iggy Pop.
• "Submission" by The Sex Pistols is a song which uses wordplay to convey the ambiguities of an obsessive S&M relationship, albeit obliquely.
• "Whips & Furs" and "I Need a Slave" by The Vibrators are two classic London punk-era songs which address the topic of recreational S&M.
• "Bobby Brown" from 1979's Sheik Yerbouti by Frank Zappa is a narrative of a man who transforms from a misogynist teenager to a BDSM-practicing homosexual disc jockey after an unpleasant encounter from Freddie, a woman's rights activist.
• "Whip in My Valise" by Adam and the Ants expresses a fascination with S&M play in fairly explicit terms; many of Adam Ant's other early songs of the 1970s, such as "Rubber People", "B-Side Baby", "Ligotage" and "Beat My Guest", also describe similar kinds of sexual fetishes.
• "Melt!" by Siouxsie and the Banshees describes an intense romantic relationship in terms evocative of an S&M encounter.
• "Twisted Little Sister" & "The Whip" by Savatage
• "Master and Servant" by Depeche Mode
• "Pleasureslave" by Manowar
• "Bed of Nails" by Alice Cooper
• "Pretty Tied Up" by Guns N' Roses
• "Happiness in Slavery" by Nine Inch Nails takes its title and refrain from Jean Paulhan's preface to Story of O. Also 1994's "Closer" dealt with the subject, as well as the visually provocative video, which showed images of lead singer Trent Reznor tied up and blind-folded.
• "Dominated Love Slave" by Green Day, lyrics by Tré Cool, told from the point of view of a submissive masochist.
• "Fetish" and "Baby Blue" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are two songs focused on this theme.
• The video for "Missile" by IAMX shows Chris Corner first bound-down to a chair and then handcuffed with leather straps while his ex-girlfriend Sue Denim acts as a dominatrix.
• "Ich Tu Dir Weh" by Rammstein contains fairly extreme examples of S&M, enough to get it banned from public display or sale to minors in Germany in November 2009 by the Federal Office for the Examination of Media Harmful to Young People. After a hearing, the ban was lifted in 2010. Several other songs by the band have also dealt with BDSM themes, such as "Feuerräder" and "Bück Dich".
• "S&M" by Rihanna from her album Loud.
• British electronic singer Andi Fraggs released a single "Eroction" in 2011 which heavily featured sadomasochism in its lyrics. Limited 100 CD copies were dispatched to UK S&M clubs in a PVC sleeve.
• Madonna also embraced the S&M aesthetic and content in much of her music. Firstly, 1990's "Justify My Love" dealt with submission and sadomasochism both in the song and its controversial accompanying video. Then again in 1992 with her best-selling, widely notorious publication Sex and her coinciding album Erotica. The title track was accompanied again by another scandalous and provoking music video.

Opera

• Lady Bumtickler's Revels, a comic opera on the theme of flagellation written and published by John Camden Hotten.