Figging is the practice of inserting a piece of skinned

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

root into the

human anus In humans, the anus (: anuses or ani; from Latin ''ānus'', "ring", "circle") is the external opening of the rectum located inside the intergluteal cleft. Two sphincters control the exit of Human feces, feces from the body during an act of de ...

in order to generate an acute burning sensation. Historically this was a method of punishment, but it has since been adopted as a practice of

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often Eroticism, erotic practices or Sexual roleplay, roleplaying involving Bondage (BDSM), bondage, Discipline (BDSM), discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given ...

. The term "figging" comes from the 19th-century word " feaguing."

History

A similar method of physical

punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beh ...

was first used as a form of

discipline Discipline is the self-control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed, and the ability to keep working at something that is difficult. Disciplinarians believe that such self-control is of the utmost importance and enforce a ...

on slaves in

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

termed

rhaphanidosis Rhaphanidosis is the act of inserting the root of a radish into the anus. It is mentioned by Aristophanes as a punishment for adultery in Classical Athens in the fifth and fourth century BC. It was also a punishment for other sex-related crimes, s ...

. The detainee was restrained to varying degrees in order to restrict mobility while the sensation grew from uncomfortable to extreme.

Method

The ginger, which is skinned and often carved into the shape of a butt plug, causes an intense burning sensation. It takes time for the effect to begin, after which it builds steadily and lasts for approximately twenty minutes before diminishing rapidly. The ginger, after use, can be further skinned and used to extend the experience, or fresh ginger may be used; each application of

root refreshes the duration of the sensations in the subject. If the person being figged tightens the muscles of the anus, the sensation becomes more intense. For this reason it is sometimes used in

caning Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single Stick-fighting, cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or han ...

to penalize clenching of the buttocks. The subject must choose between bracing for the strike, at the consequence of increased burning sensation, or relaxing the buttocks and taking the full force of the blow.

References

{{BDSM Corporal punishments Physical torture techniques Anal eroticism BDSM terminology Ginger Spanking

History

Method

See also

Further reading

References