"Spanking" stories

I had a thought as I was looking at fanfiction.net.

I don't know if you've noticed, but for some reason there are always firefly fanfics posted that involve young stowaways, and "spanking" warnings. Sometimes they're kids, sometimes they're teenagers, but always spanking warnings.

I was spanked as a kid, and I'm still not really sure it's a huge deal, though I'm uncomfortable with certain implications about it.

But I don't think anyone on Serenity actually WOULD spank. It just seems like something human civilization might "grow out of" in the 25th century to me. I mean these stories always make a big deal about Inara arguing with Mal, because it's always Mal who believes in spanking and physical reprimand in these stories. But even though Mal does kinda push his crew around if they're refusing to follow orders, I'm not sure that's actually a thing with him, or that he and Inara would have such fundamentally different perspectives on child care.

I think Mal became violent with the war, I don't think being hit was any part of his upbringing. And so I don't see why people would think that Mal would bring that into his own actions as a parental figure.

I think you're right about Mal - I don't think he would have been raised in a spanking household. And he's articulate enough and a strong enough leader to make a verbal reprimand count. Jayne, on the other hand...and didn't Kaylee (I can't remember the episode) allude to getting some kind of physical punishment for fooling around with a boy?

Right, especially because his mother was from the core. Although some of the ranch hands and the ranch foreman might have smacked Mal sometimes.

But Mal will smack around guys and Saffron (hard to blame him there), but I just don't see him being inclined to hit women or children. That sort of thing is about power play, and while Mal is a sort of authoritarian figure, he also accepts quite a lot of insolence when it's not a crisis situation. He really isn't so insecure about himself that he has to push people around.

Agreed about Jayne. Jayne will even hit horses.

Jayne will hit horses...and cows. Whereas Mal recommends leading the cows instead of hitting them. There's a difference of philosophy expressed in that little detail.

I haven't read any of the "spanking" fics, so I can't comment specifically on them. I did notice the warnings and thought them a bit odd. My impression was that these might be fics about parenting written by people who weren't parents themselves (or adults, or even reasonably mature young people), and I wasn't eager to dive in. But since I haven't really looked at them, I may have the wrong impression.

Kaylee certainly did mention getting physically punished for messing around with a boy. Doesn't mean she would spank her own kids, but it does indicate it's part of her background, whether culturally accepted on the world she's from, or specific to her family.

Jayne will hit horses...and cows.

Yeah, cows. I meant cows, but was thinking about horses for some reason. Anyway.

I haven't read any of the "spanking" fics, so I can't comment specifically on them. I did notice the warnings and thought them a bit odd. My impression was that these might be fics about parenting written by people who weren't parents themselves (or adults, or even reasonably mature young people), and I wasn't eager to dive in. But since I haven't really looked at them, I may have the wrong impression.

I think that's pretty much exactly what's going on. Younger people are writing them - playing "house" with their fanfics so to speak by introducing children to take care of. But the spanking thing in all those fanfics is odd. I don't think it's fetishized (though some WEIRDO is going to read stories like that for exactly that reason) but it's like they're trying to make the disciplining "cute" and "heartwarming."

And so it comes off as kinda creepy, because parents disciplining kids might be necessary at times (consistent with my experience as a kid at least), but it's never cute or heartwarming. It never ends with hugs or apologies, because in order for an adult to hit their kids, they have to be majorly pissed off. So seeing those abrupt mood changes is kinda unsettling. Like either the relationship or the adult is emotionally unstable.

It's like reading parenting recommendations by that James Dobson guy who recommends hitting the kids and then immediately comforting them - the ultimate end point of that method being that the kid becomes confused by the juxtaposition, and they start to associate being hit and being abused with comfort. This also in the context of a very authoritarian biblical style family arrangement designed to encourage conformity and suppress individuality. Some seriously messed up stuff there.