Suffragettes

I knew that Adelaide Clemens would be seen nude in episode 3 of Parade’s End, with hopefully a glimpse of the bare bottom that was threatened with a smacking in episode 2, but I certainly wasn’t expecting that she would pose as Venus in the famous painting by Velasquez!

As most of you will know by now, the reclining nude has been the inspiration behind many of the Spank Statement headers, and this beautifully lit image, complete with the reflection in the mirror, is easily the best recreation of it that I’ve seen so far.

With hindsight, some clues did appear in the previous episode when Adelaide’s character witnessed the slashing of the painting by a suffragette in London’s National Gallery. According to a review:

The impact of her witnessing the slashing of the Rokeby Venus by Mary Richardson at the National Gallery is portrayed with a striking and impactful visual moment that reveals Valentine’s true appreciation of beauty, coupled with the burgeoning desire and sensuality that lie in her heart.

Quite. And more to the point…I’ve got my next header for 2013. 🙂

*****

Inspired by Parade’s End, I thought I’d take a look at what I’ve got on my hard disk related to suffragette spanking. It turned out to be mainly contemporary accounts from old newspapers.

I’ve had this report for a few years now, I can’t remember where I found it but I think it was on one of the spanking blogs.

Martyn sent me these two reports a few months ago after he had spent an afternoon browsing an Australian government website.

In the first episode of Parade’s End, there’s a great scene where Valentine and a companion stage a protest at a golf course. It’s an ‘event’ that the modern day women’s group FEMEN would be proud of as they interrupt the game of a group of old Tory buffers and throw water at them. It would have been perfect if it had ended with a spanking, but unfortunately, they make a narrow escape after being chased across the links by the furious golfers.

That’s why the man threatens to smack Valentine’s bare bottom in the clip that I posted last week. The scene takes place at an Eton cricket match and he thinks that she might be planning a similar stunt.

But he probably needn’t have worried. Considering the newspaper reports above, the ready availability of flogging apparatus nearby, and the public school masters no doubt present amongst the spectators, it would have taken a very brave suffragette indeed to disrupt a cricket match at Eton during that period!