We all know that The Marquis de Sade popularized the term 'sadist' via "120 days of Sodom" and "Justine" - as well as being exemplified by his own devilish lifestyle. How/why was the word 'masochism' popularized?
3 Answers
Masochism is named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, and you can get all of the filthy details at that link.
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2Well, I was hoping for platinum, but if gold is the best you can do, I suppose that would be all right.– chaosCommented Mar 25, 2011 at 16:00
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1But it's Tom Lehrer that captures the essence of it. youtube.com/watch?v=TytGOeiW0aE– user597Commented Mar 25, 2011 at 17:28
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Uh, yeah, it's another eponym, by way of a dude named Masoch, sometimes praised as rather an artiste where de Sade is, by some accounts, fundamentally just a bully.
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Might you be so kind as to elaborate– user5531Commented Mar 25, 2011 at 16:25
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1Elaboration is hardly necessary here. All hits on the first page of Google results for Masoch identify the dude in question. Doubtless all those pages will flag up the sexual proclivity, if you want to dig that deep. Commented Mar 28, 2011 at 19:05
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Too bad no-one mentioned that his book : "Venus in Furs" is the direct method by which it was introduced.– user5531Commented Apr 1, 2011 at 15:51
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch wrote a book called "Venus in Furs" in 1870. A sadomasochistic relationship in which a masochistic man falls in love with a sadistic woman defines masochism and separates it from sadism.
