Birthplace of Masochism Under Fire

Non-consensual That includes missiles, rockets and so on 

Lviv in war-torn Ukraine is under Russian attack. 

Fanny Pistor (in furs, with whip) and Sacher-Masoch at her feet. Pistor was an aspiring writer who turned to Masoch for advice.

Lovely weather in Holland today. Makes me forget it's raining a thousand kilometers to the west for almost a month now. Bombs from hell that is, Russian missiles torturing Ukraine.

The word sado-masochism is derived from the names of two gentlemen. Sadism comes from the French marquis de Sade, a hardcore, seriously non-consensual sadist who went nuts and eventually died in prison. 

Leopold von Sacher-Masoch was born some 70 years later in 1802, in the city of Lemberg, which at the time was part of the Austrian empire. These days it's called Lviv and is located in Ukraine. Leo's dad's name was Sacher, his mother's Masoch. Because Charlotte Josepha was the last of the line, dad combined his surname with hers. Ironically what stuck was hers, not his.

In 1870 Sacher-Masoch publishes his famous novella Venus in Furs about female dominance and sado-masochism. Several years on, much against his will, a psychiatrist coins the phrase masochism. Some 150 years later the term is recognizable in almost any language.

If you were to walk around in Lviv today - OK bad choice of words, given the fact it's raining hell AKA Russian rockets for several weeks now and there is nothing left of what once was a beautiful city - but let's conveniently say last Spring, there's little that reminds you of the author's place of birth. Yes there's a café where you can order a drink called Punish Me, but other than that Lviv refuses to acknowledge Sacher-Masoch's legacy. Probably because his name became linked to ideas of warped sexuality and self-destruction after his 1870 book Venus In Furs. And look where denial got them. It's infinitely better to be consumed by happiness, no matter how odd than to be destroyed by Putin's missiles.

France remembers marquis de Sade by handing out an erotic literary price in his name: le prix de Sade. It's an odd choice no matter what. Despite that the 2022 edition looks set to be even crueler than usual given the fact that all major car manufacturers have closed shop in Mother Russia except Renault. With the blessing of the French state of course. Lovely weather for a revolution, don't you think so? Viva la Revolution. Viva la what Revolution товарищ (comrade)? 

The sooner the better. Don't wanna antagonize Putin, pussycat? Don't and he'll rule post-post Brexit Britain before Christmas come, two millennia after the Romans did. Viva la & le Ukraine. Fraternity!

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Ukraine will be reborn, so will be Lviv. The sooner they rise, the better. Despite the good vibes ahead, future glory cannot erase today's horrors and suffering. History is a cruel goddess. She won't ever let us forget how we, the sisters and brethern in the West stood by, watching idly, hand in pocket. Couple of half-baked songs I can think of, so it's real, recent images instead. Don't worry even I won't be so cruel as to make it all the way to 11.

This is before.

Now it's a little later.

Hard to believe it's only been four weeks.

France 24, the Fifth Republic's version of CNN reports on Lviv applying for help. How 'bout closing those Renault factories in Mother Russia? Everything helps.

Smoke and mirrors anyone. Talk is cheap. That is: untill Putin's Russian Bear liberates you and gags are all of a sudden no fun.