Herjellsen leaned back in the cane chair, satisfied. It was only then that Brenda Hamilton realized how different her responses were to such questions than they would have been only two weeks ago. Before, she would have responded unthinkingly, to the first question, “A mathematician!” and, to the second, “Doctor Brenda Hamilton.”
She knelt before Herjellsen. Her ankles were still chained. But now, too, by Gunther, her wrists had been handcuffed behind her.
Gunther and William, also on cane chairs, sitting across them, sat to one side, listening.
“The interview is over,” said Herjellsen, getting up.
Brenda Hamilton looked up at him, astonished.
“What do you think of men?” asked Herjellsen, looking down on her.
“I-I think they are very strong,” said Brenda Hamilton.
“Do you desire sexual experience?” asked Herjellsen.
“No!” cried Brenda Hamilton. “No!”
“Gunther’s report,” said Herjellsen, “suggests otherwise.” Brenda blushed scarlet. She recalled she had, on her knees, begged Gunther to fuck her.
“That you desire, or do not desire, sexual experience,” said Herjellsen, “is doubtless less relevant to the success of the experiment than whether or not you, yourself, are, by others, found sexually desirable.”
“Others?” asked Brenda Hamilton.
“But,” said William, “when a woman does desire sexual experience she becomes, surely, subtly, physically,, more desirable.”
“You have in mind,” asked Herjellsen, “subconscious body signals?”
“Yes,” said William, “but even more obvious than that such things as smiling, inadvertent posings and touchings, approaching the male more closely than the culturally accustomed distances.”
“How do you read her?” asked Herjellsen. He again took his seat on the cane chair. He looked at Hamilton.
“I have studied her,” said William, “and I read in her body great conflict between resistance and yielding.”
“I do not find conflict,” said Gunther. “If I snap my fingers, she will lay for me.”
Hamilton put down her head.
“I mean more generally,” said William. “For example, today, while I watched her comb her wet hair before the mirror, she was obviously holding herself differently than if I were not present.”
Hamilton swallowed. She realized she had performed this act differently, when under the eyes of William. She had done it more slowly, more luxuriously, more beautifully, than she would have otherwise.
“That is natural,” said Herjellsen. “It is only a young female posing before a young male.”
“Look at her now,” said Gunther. “See the shoulders, back, the belly tight. She is presenting herself to us, even now, as a female.”
Hamilton put down her head and wept.
“Do not weep,” said Herjellsen. “It is natural female display behavior. It is quite healthy.”
Hamilton looked up at him.
“The only thing to be ashamed of,” said Herjellsen, “is the guilt.”
Hamilton regarded him, red-eyed.
“You are really quite beautiful,” said Herjellsen. “Straighten your body, put your shoulders back, draw in your stomach, thrust out your breasts.”
Tears in her eyes, Hamilton did so.
William whistled. “A beauty,” he said.
And suddenly Hamilton was no longer ashamed to be beautiful before men. That right was hers. She was a female. She would be beautiful, boldly.
“A true beauty,” said William.
Hamilton looked at Gunther.
“A slut,” said Gunther.
Hamilton tossed her head, and did not retreat. She looked away from him, her head in the air. She remained beautiful.
“Excellent,” said Herjellsen.
He turned to William.
“How do you read this woman’s attitude toward Gunther?” he asked.
“She desires him, intensely,” said William. His voice was flat.
Hamilton did not look at Gunther.
“Some women,” said Gunther, “who do not desire sexual experience, are extremely attractive. Their very coldness, their haughtiness, is a taunt to the blood, a challenge. It is great sport to take them, and reduce them to whining, panting whores, to break them to your will, to make them beg for your touch.”
Hamilton swallowed, painfully. Her shoulders fell forward. She bent forward, her head was down. She was again only a chained, handcuffed girl kneeling before men, at their mercy.
“Weakness, and fear, too,” Gunther was saying, “can enhance a woman’s sexual attractiveness.”
“Among mammals,” said William, “one is the aggressor, one the aggressed upon. This is the sexual equation. In most species of mammals, if not all, it is the male which is the aggressor. Sexual aggression in the female commonly neutralizes male aggression and makes consummation of the sexual act impossible. It is a common device used by women hostile to men, to prevent intercourse and insult and punish the male. In their own mind, and in his, if he is uninformed, she appears to be eager for sexual experience and he appears to be unable to satisfy her, or to be impotent. With another woman, of course, he functions normally.”
“I encountered, twice, such women,” said Gunther. “I beat them.”
“Scarcely gentlemanly of you, old man,” said William.
“After they were beaten,” said Gunther, “they responded perfectly.”
“Abjectly?” asked William.
“Yes,” said Gunther, “and with numerous orgasms.” He looked at William. “They only wanted to find a man stronger than they were. Strong women, they wanted stronger men, men strong enough to make them women, strong enough to subdue them, completely.”
“And you were that man?” asked William.
“Yes,” said Gunther. “In their hearts, like all women, they wanted to submit.”
“And you made them submit?” asked William.
“Yes,” said Gunther, “I made them submit.” He looked at William. “I made them submit to me-completely.”
“And doubtless they loved it?” asked William.
“That was not my concern,” said Gunther.
“What was your concern?” asked William.
“Their submission,” said Gunther.
“Did they seem pleased?” asked William.
“They were obedient,” said Gunther, “and had numerous orgasms. They wished me to keep them with me, on any terms. One was rich.”
“You see, Gunther,” said Hamilton, “I am not the only woman who is attracted to you.”
“You were not spoken to,” said Gunther.
“Forgive me, Gunther,” whispered Hamilton.
“Weakness and fear, as I said,” said Gunther, “can enhance a woman’s attractiveness.”
“They provoke the aggressor,” said William.
“What of servility, and submissiveness?” asked Herjellsen of Gunther.
“Yes,” said Gunther, “particularly if they are enforced upon her-if she is given no choice.” Gunther regarded Hamilton. “Women revel in groveling,” he said.
“That is not true!” cried Hamilton.
“Be silent,” said Gunther.
Hamilton put down her head. Something deep within her stirred. Though she hated the thought, she knew that she was pleased to have been so sharply commanded. Gunther had given her an order, a strict one. It excited her to obey him.
“What of helplessness?” asked Herjellsen of William.
“Yes,” said William, “helplessness in a woman tends to provoke sexual aggression; it stimulates the male. This expresses itself, of course, in countless ways. She needs him, say, to open a window, carry a bag, move a heavy object. Both he and she are conscious of her weakness; she must ask his favor; he readily performs the tasks; she now owes him and she, being weak, being a woman, has only her body with which to pay him. She responds with sexual favors; in the civilized situation, these are trivial-smiles, words of gratitude, an entire body attitude of gratefulness. That the male wants these favors is indicated by his customary fury, should she offer monetary payment. It is her `thanks’ alone he wants. Naturally. Her ‘thanks,’ of course, are a culturally accepted, little understood, muchly desired by the male display of her femaleness before him. Symbolically, he has had her; winning her smile is for him surrogate for the possession of her body.”