The History & Arts of the Dominatrix - Anne O Nomis

Reviewed By: Kashiko Black
Review Date: May 27, 2015
Category: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, BDSM, Informational, Dominatrix

Back Cover Summary:

This much-anticipated book is the illustrated treatise on the Dominatrix throughout history. Begun in 2009, it has taken four years to come to be published with artwork illustrated with permission of the highest museums and libraries in the world. No book previously existed on the subject. Nomis set to work meticulously researching the most discreet and mysterious occupation of the Dominatrix. This book reveals the ancient roots of the Dominatrix lie within sacred rituals to a Goddess Inanna who ruled one of the most important cities of the ancient world, the city of Uruk (or Warka). With a Masters degree in archaeology and art history, Nomis has included exerts of a hymn to the Goddess with rites of gender transformation, punishment, pain and ecstasy, linked to the high en-priestess named Enheduanna, and images of the Goddess. Into the English history record, the secular profession appears in books from the 17th Century, with flagellation prints of the Dominatrix in role of 'Whipstress' and 'School-Mistress'. The ladies providing birch discipline were interlinked with royalty, nobility, parliamentarians and secret societies. By the 19th Century, London held 20 sumptuously appointed discipline houses, run by 'Governess' Dominatrices, one of whom invented a special machine for whipping, known as the Berkley Horse. In the 20th Century, the book presents rare vintage snapshots of mid-20th Century ladies of the 'bizarre underground' in time, space and place, from London, New York, The Hague and The Herbertstrasse. Lastly, Nomis examines the contemporary occupation of the modern-day Dominatrix, and contributes a theory of their 'Seven Realm Arts' characterizing their practices. This book is the seminal work on the subject of the Dominatrix, her history and her arts as a unique craft.

Reviewer Comments on Rating:

This book was an excellent collection of history and research. It academically pursues the origins of the idea of the dominant woman and how it has been seen by varying cultures and in different times around the world. I was impressed by the detail in the book, I felt that the author covered many areas very thoroughly. She gives a detailed reference list for all images used in the book and goes into details about their cultural significance.

The author's writing style was easy to read and had a good flow to it making it an enjoyable book to review. One aspect that did bother me was the excessive use of "" around common BDSM terminology. Near the beginning of the book I found it odd and as I came to the end of the book I found it tiresome and unnecessary. The author tells about her journey to write this book in the Preface and makes many mention that the interest in the topic stemmed from having friends in the BDSM scene and her interest was strictly academic. The way this was written came across to me as stressing that the author had never participated in such activities. There is nothing wrong with that at all but when combined with the divergence from typical BDSM writing by constantly placing terminology in "", it gave a flavour of inexperience that changed the tone of the book.

Overall I would say this is a very worthwhile read for anyone interested in some of the lesser known historical aspects of BDSM. It is a pleasant addition to the Keeping it Kinky library and will be a source of reference for some of my future articles.