Was bare bottom spanking really that common?

That you would take down the shorts and underpants of a 12 year old boy whose ball had damaged some plants and make him stand in front of our neighbours to apologise and then allow the elderly neighbour to spank my bare bottom over the knee.

Thinking back on how trivial and insignificant some of the reasons for spanking/punishments actually were back then. Many older folks had a very low tolerance level it seems. And by golly some were sneaky tattletales and snitches who would call your parents for the slightest thing, like cutting through wooded backyards they owned or such.

I had my dad's slipper on my bare bottom for things like breaking a window with a ball, climbing the neighbour's tree without permission and various other typical mischief I got up to when I was between about 8 and 12. It was par for the course in those days (early 1970s).

It was here in wales often got spanked bare bum even in front friends if they were in our house at the time mums favorite implement was old wooden kitchen spoon all ways inserted soap up my bum first but my friends got same treatment bottom bared and spanked more saw it more it was a punishment

I got spanked ... once. I got the idea that my parents were super embarrassed - it screwed with them as much as it did me, and, probably the realization of that drove home the idea that I shouldn't've done what it was I did (I forget, but I recall that I intentionally didn't repeat that mistake) again.

I was spanked quite regularly by my father until I was 8 (1973), with one more at 10 (1975). Always with "just" his hand, always on my bare bottom.

I'd say it depends on the time frame (year) and norms of where you grew up. I had them from nuns when I was in school. Funny thing is, or pervy thing, when the male coach spanked you he did with pants down and underwear on. When the primary nun who disciplined did it, it was with pants and underwear down, hmmmmmm!

Spanking was never done bare bottom when I was in school (I left school in the year between 1977 and 1979). I was spanked many times by the male PE teacher for refusing to participate. He spanked me with a plimsoll over the seat of my trousers, and I never had more than six smacks at a time. It was a different story at home, my dad used to give me a couple of dozen with a leather slipper on my bare bottom.

That you would take down the shorts and underpants of a 12 year old boy whose ball had damaged some plants and make him stand in front of our neighbours to apologise and then allow the elderly neighbour to spank my bare bottom over the knee. The shame was terrible but the flip side is that I was very well behaved, polite and respectful of adults.

@Barry , how often was it that you were punished by a neighbour that way? Were your parents aware about that? Until what age did it happened. I hope not until you were in full puberty with pubic hair growing? Did you see other boys in such situation?

My dad would never have let a neighbour spank me. He would have said "If my son needs a spanking I'll do it" and then spanked me himself. He spanked me twice for climbing a neighbour's tree without permission when I was about 10.

@Kulemh I had been warned not to play with a ball in that part in the garden several times. Our neighbours were my aunts best friends and she initiated the punishment. There was quite a bit of damage to a netting fruit cage and the plants near it. I cant imagine signs of puberty or my bare private parts were of any consideration whatsoever. This was in the very early 1960s when the idea of ‘boyhood’ lasted very much longer, spanking was seen as good parenting and shame an effective way of making a growing boy know right from wrong. Very, very different times.

I grew up in the 90s and I don't think my mom (from whom I received the vast majority of spankings) considered additional shame a legitimate parenting method. At least she never took my clothes off before spanking me. Of course, even the beating through my clothes was humiliating for me, but I think it was more about the famous short sharp shock. The goal was to cause me enough physical discomfort, for which a wooden spoon was enough even through two layers of clothing. All her spankings were short but very intense and given in anger. Sometimes I wonder if the spankings would have looked different if she had kept calm and thought the process through a little.

In reply to the basic question of this thread - Did bare bottom spanking really used to be that common? Yep!! Spanking, in general, was much more common and in many places by many people the default method of discipline for children, youth and even young adults. Spanking occurred routinely schools and daycare. Misbehavior could earn you a spanking from many different authority figures. That said, bare bottom spankings were usually the domain of parents disciplining their own children. There was the additional shock and embarrassment of the recipient being bare but it also afforded the parent a clear and unpadded target to deliver their swats. Heavy corduroy or denim pants for boys, or thick skirts and ruffly underwear for girls, certainly provided some cushioning that lessened the impact. Removing that fabric allowed direct delivery of the hand, hairbrush or belt to the target and direct view of the color of the recipients cheeks was a good barometer of the progress in creating heat in the miscreants backside.

My parents did not spank. Spanking was however socially accepted, at least within certain limits.

In adult age, some friends about the same age and younger told me they got flogged with a 'martinet'. Obviously, it would have been very awkward to ask if it was on the bare buttocks… I however think there is little point in using a light martinet (like the ones that used to be sold for use on children) over clothing… Perhaps over panties but not over thick pants or skirt or dress. I think in the real old days, when boys wore short pants to school, they used the martinet over calves and thighs, but that does not apply to my generation. So I would assume they got it on the bare?

I think in the real old days, when boys wore short pants to school,

The real old days? When I was in the first 3 years of High School in Belgium, mid 1960s, virtually every boy wore short pants. This in high school mind you, kids 12-15 years old. Wearing long pants singled you out as coming from an affluent family putting on social airs ... ha ha. And short pants were really that, about halfway down the calves, like in WWII photos, to save on fabric.

By the end of high school (which lasted 6 years btw) most kids by then 18, but not all though, graduated to long pants due to growing up with unsightly hair on their legs and changing fashions.

@agracier I was born mid 1970s ! If you were in highschool mid 1960s this means you are the generation of my parents ! Thus the "old days" for me are when I was a kid, and the "real old days" are when my parents or grandparents were kids. 😉 Trust me, when I now tell people in their 20s about things that happened before they were born, they make it obvious they consider this the "old days".

Trust me, when I now tell people in their 20s about things that happened before they were born, they make it obvious they consider this the "old days".

Yeah, kids nowadays know nothing about the past.

However that aside, for me, even now still, the 'old days' were the times before the Great War of 1914-1918. Yes, long enough before I was born, but that was when modern times started and as many historians say, the 'long 19th century' (1789-1914) really and truly ended.

I grew up in the early 90's and 2000's. And I got many bare bottom spankings in that time. Well with me in my teenage years it was my choice. Be grounded for X amount of time. Or take a spanking. but it was there.

Yes they were for those of us born pre-1960's.... Something I realized is that for many of my generation - the excitement of spankings is actually more about exposure - having your pants pulled down or dress lifted in public and the fear of strangers seeing it all. So some gals I knew, it really wasn't so much the pain of being spanked, but more about their being exposed for the world to see... and so spanking pain became associated with the excitement of being exposed and made to cry in public.

It still is for those adults who need an attitude adjustment or some discipline.

I don’t want to say it’s common. Maybe amongst rural areas it is? I can say my stepdad spanked me bare from the time he came into my life forward. That would be 10 years old and never really having been spanked by my mom or dad.

I was also spanked bare at a private school I attended. If your parents didn’t opt you out then they were allowed to discipline you as they saw fit.

At times I wish I’d gone to public schools but again I have to look at the advantage of going to private school.

stepdad spanked me bare from the time he came into my life..

Oh, stepdads and spanking - especially when parents never spanked and then a stepdad enters the scene and spanks... there should be a thread for this....

I thankfully never had a stepdad. I didn't mind being spanked by my natural dad but I wouldn't have accepted it from a stepdad. I think it's even worse when parents never spanked and then a stepdad enters the scene and spanks. Why do some mothers allow that?

I think it's even worse when parents never spanked and then a stepdad enters the scene and spanks. Why do some mothers allow that?

Usually the stepfather is just pleased by the natural mother who allow him to spank her kid. Usuall, any mother want a really family active/involved father, including a step one.

Any family routine (including spanking) is a bonding one , so, belive or not - this help a lot the child and the father too, to act like a true part of a family

Usually the stepfather is just pleased by the natural mother who allows him to spank her kid? That sounds as if the stepdad wants to spank the kid. Don't you think that sounds a bit iffy?

That sounds as if the stepdad wants to spank the kid. Don't you think that sounds a bit iffy?

If he want , he want - the mother can allow or not, If he don't want, he can't be pleased or forced...

Nevermind, I'm not really good at all in english, so I admit that what I said before may sounds a bit weird ... Sorry

Any family routine (including spanking) is a bonding one , so, belive or not - this help a lot the child and the father too, to act like a true part of a family

A bonding experience? Doesn't sound very believable.

I would say that stepdads are often taking sexual advantage of the legal (?) opportunity to get their step-kids, especially teenage step-daughters, into their bare behinds for some ogling and slapping around on naked buttocks.

They aren't fooling me by playing the 'upholding of traditional family values' angle with this kind of situation ... I'm not a suspicious person by nature, but here I can hear the cathedral bells chiming loud and clear.

I would say that stepdads are often taking sexual advantage of the legal (?) opportunity to get their step-kids, especially teenage step-daughters, into their bare behinds for some ogling and slapping around on naked buttocks.

I thought as much.

I grew up in the 80s and 90s and spanking was definitely a thing. My brother, sister, and I can confirm that lol. I also knew of a few friends who were spanked too.

It was most of the time done on variations of the bare bottom (pants and underwear pulled down, pants and underwear taken off, completely naked, etc)

We got spanked until early/mid teens.

Yes they were for those of us born pre-1960's.... Something I realized is that for many of my generation - the excitement of spankings is actually more about exposure - having your pants pulled down or dress lifted in public and the fear of strangers seeing it all. So some gals I knew, it really wasn't so much the pain of being spanked, but more about their being exposed for the world to see... and so spanking pain became associated with the excitement of being exposed and made to cry in public.

This is true. Spankings hurt of course, but it was the embarrassment of my butt, penis, balls, being exposed that I really hated the most, as it was often done in front of family and occasionally friends. That in turn, has made embarrassment and exposure a huge part of spanking kink that I have now. I'm not a fan of severe painful spankings, but I love an embarrassing spanking.

embarrassment and exposure a huge part of spanking kink

Yes, gals I knew who said they were into spanking were actually more into the thrill of being embarrassed by the exposure - especially knowing other could/might see their privates.

The ones I know love the stinging sensation.