Trading blows or trading licks is an endurance test in which the participants (usually two
boy
A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man.
Definition, etymology, and use
According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is ...
s or young men) take turns, alternating between administering a blow to an opponent and assuming the agreed exposed position (e.g. bending over an object or grabbing the ankles) to endure the next one, using the same implement (e.g. a
fraternity paddle), until only the winner can still bring himself to endure the gradually increasing pain in the progressively tormented target part of their anatomy (usually the posterior, in which case it is a form of
spanking
Spanking is a form of corporal punishment involving the act of striking, with either the palm of the hand or an implement, the buttocks of a person to cause physical pain. The term spanking broadly encompasses the use of either the hand or im ...
or the cheeks), which in the interest of fairness should be covered by a common uniform. This can be anything from regular jeans or pants, underwear, and finally, bared (naked) buttocks. As the blows are not given by the same person but by the parties themselves, the strongest-armed one actually has an unfair (but not always decisive) physical advantage.
Such rather
macho
Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...
displays of willpower, restraining the instinct to avoid pain, can serve various purposes, including:
*a
physical punishment, especially for quarreling, possibly the origin of the practice (this ritualized alternative to a more disabling or even lethal
duel should also make its participants realize the futility of physical aggression)
*a motivation test, especially as part of an initiation process, such as
hazing
*an obedience test, as in certain
paddle games (possibly really an excuse for the rather sadistic amusement of the seniors)
*a duel, either personal or as champions representing similar, especially rivaling, groups; in certain fraternities, refusing such a challenge may result in exclusion from the membership, even for an alumnus
*as a game, either to 'proudly' display one's tenacity (often to impress some audience) or in the pursuit of a sadist and/or masochistic, erotic or pain-addicted, kick.
*as a
sexual fetish
Sexual fetishism or erotic fetishism is a sexual fixation on a nonliving object or nongenital body part. The object of interest is called the fetish; the person who has ''a fetish'' for that object is a fetishist. A sexual fetish may be regard ...
Another game with the same name is often played among boys or young men, where two people agree on a place to hit the other (e.g. the shoulder or chest) and the two take turns trading punches until one person cannot stand the pain any longer. The first person to give up is the loser.
See also
*
One-upmanship
Sources and references
game in a scout troop in St.Louis, Missouri in the 1950s- scroll to "the Baker paddle"
Abuse
Aggression