The Sadists Among Us

"'Everyday Sadists' Among Us," a recent article in The New York Times, reports on recent psychological research that suggests that we shouldn't think of the typical sadist as a monstrous figure like Hannibal Lector or the Marquis de Sade. Instead,"Those who enjoy inflicting at least moderate pain on others, directly or vicariously, mingle with us daily." I think Freud would agree, when he writes, "as regards active algolagnia, sadism, the roots are easy to detect in the normal. The sexuality of most male human beings contains an element of aggressiveness--a desire to subjugate" (Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality).


The kind of "everyday" sadism discussed in the research is analogous to the "moral" masochism that Freud discusses in his later essay, "The Economic Problem of Masochism." It would stand in contrast to the more specifically sexual masochism that Freud calls "feminine masochism," because it involves the man taking on masochistic characteristics that are more typically feminine. (I know, I know, not good!) This image would depict the sexually specific sadomasochism that would stand in opposition to "everyday" sadism: