A question for Aussies (and others too) about implements

[Banjo]

What would you consider the "quintessential" Australian spanking implement?

It's the cane for Britain, the 'frat style' paddle for America, the feather duster for many parts of Asia, the tawse for Scotland... etc.

Although all these countries (including Australia) have seen use of many other implements, those key associations are what many consider the "national treasures" of said countries when it comes to spanking.

So... what do you first think of when you imagine a "Down Under" bare bottom punishment?

[phantombl]

This activated my neurons and reminded me of the Simpson episode where Bart is sentenced to a booting from the Australian government.

[Banjo]

Originally Posted by phantombl

This activated my neurons and reminded me of the Simpson episode where Bart is sentenced to a booting from the Australian government.

LOL, arguably the worst episode of the Simpsons I've ever seen (haven't watched it in a decade so there may be worse episodes now).

They clearly wanted to make an episode about the then-current Singapore caning of a US citizen, but for some bizarre reason used Australia instead. Australia, where there is no legal corporal punishment. That and the random parody of the withdrawal from Vietnam (WTF?) convinces me it was set in Singapore or elsewhere in Asia originally and they chickened out.

In short: our national spanking implement isn't the *boot*, that's for sure!

Hmm, thinking on this has triggered a memory for ME now: I was in highschool (16 or so) at the time of the Singapore incident and a girl in my class was paired with me to work on a debate about the issues of judicial corporal punishment. She was *super* into the idea of not just caning that poor dude, but introducing the cane (and other forms of corporal punishment) back here in Australia too. She said it's a job she'd gladly do herself! I was kind of "in the closet" about my spanko-ness then, so I'm not sure if I somehow gave out vibes that made her want to bring that up with me or if it was just coincidence, because thinking back she did on several occasions make jokes about spanking or teased about giving someone one! I often think about her and the possible missed opportunities if she was indeed genuine and if I had been less shy and awkward.

[GrandpaHino]

Then what IS the "national spanking implement"? The cane? Because of Australia being part of the Commonwealth? Since you said that girl wanted to bring the cane BACK, I assume it at least was the implement of choice in the past.

[Banjo]

Originally Posted by GrandpaHino

Then what IS the "national spanking implement"? The cane? Because of Australia being part of the Commonwealth? Since you said that girl wanted to bring the cane BACK, I assume it at least was the implement of choice in the past.

I have no idea, which is why I am asking!

There was never corporal punishment at schools and such, nor was it common in the home (already it was seen as "outdated parenting") in MY lifetime here in Australia and I'm not a young dude. It would have to be my parents or grandparents era (and they're from the UK).

I've never once heard references to the cane being used in schools here (that was always something you saw in British comedy movies and Benny Hill!), but I have heard my dad's generation talk of the belt or strap when HE was a kid. I've also occasionally seen online references to the wooden spoon being very popular here, and of course the flip-flop is often easily to hand if needed to whack someone... but like I said, I have zero first hand experience or knowledge of actual historical corporal punishment in this country (i.e. not between consenting adults or playful banter as teens). As a kid, any spanking reference I remember was a handspanking "smack your bum" type threat, and never carried out in any sort of proper OTK formal style.

Oh, and my friend in highschool was entranced by the cane almost certainly because a) the Michael Fey Singapore case was what we were studying and so it was all over the news and clearly in her naughty mind and b) she likely had much more knowledge of corporal punishment history than I did at that age! LOL!

[GrandpaHino]

That's interesting. Sooo... flip-flop or surfboard would be a nice option, at least for comedy spankings in stories and pictures, wouldn't it?

[ScribbleOrcus]

I had relatives and teachers reference ruler to the hands in primary school and a relative old enough to remember caning in schools. Puberty Blues (2012) had a scene with a belt and another with a wooden spoon, and was set in the late 70's.

You're right about the hand from my own memory. You got a threat or a hard hit and that's all. No formality or ritual to it.

Before the 20th century, flogging and whipping on posts are probably the most "iconic" as that evokes the penal colony heritage. I know we saw implements, artworks, and a whipping post in high school when visiting Tasmania's most "gentle" prison.

So I'd agree there isn't one primary implement that could be associated specifically with Australia.

[vaikeb]

I am not Aussie, but something I can remember about Aussies and spanking is Alan Marshall and his childhood memories. I guess the title was something about jumping and puddles.
If I remember it correctly there was a male teacher who used the cane and female teacher who had some sort of belt.
Oh, and two boys had a fight, where they hit each other with sticks.

[Sleb]

This isn't much to go by, but I've spoken to a few Aussies that admitted to having been spanked before.
One guy said the hand and belt (I imagine these are/were commonly used pretty much everywhere, though the belt is sometimes seen as a thing in poorer communities? And just 30-60 years ago, *most* of Australia was poorer compared to the better-off parts of America and Europe).
One girl said "a large plastic ruler", apparently it was her mother's ruler for fabrics, and when it broke in use across her bottom, it was her mother who was most distraught about the whole spanking.
Two guys and one girl said the hand and the wooden spoon.
And one guy said his parents would spank him with "a stick", but I don't know if that means a special stick kept for spanking (a cane, a walking stick, a pointer, whatever), or if they would cut a switch, or if they just literally picked a stick off the ground and used that on one occasion. It might not have been the go-to thing.

These people would now be in their 40s or maybe 50s, so it's a small group of people from a long time ago, not really much useful information. But it sounds like the hand is always a popular choice in any community where people have hands (a quick google search tells me that most people have hands), and Australia may have tended towards "a household object or something else that we already had" rather than a special purpose-made spanking tool.