Janus Magazine: The Surprising Evolution to Spanking-Centric Erotica

The reputation of Janus magazine — a pocket sized monthly started in 1971 under the title of Mentor, selling itself as a magazine for, quote: the modern discerning adult — rests on its being one of few products dedicated entirely to the satisfaction of the Spankophile and their not so niche fetish in which the ass is lovingly abused. However, the magazine did not begin its run with this audience in mind. Gordon Seargant, Janus’s creator, started the magazine with only a vague idea of its direction: the first few issues focused on bondage and leather/ rubber fetishism; a spanking issue followed in natural progression of the BDSM theme, and received great appraisal from Janus readers. So much so that the editors decided on publishing three new issues with this identical agenda item. The audience response to these was positive enough to inspire Janus to henceforth only publish issues for the Spanko. 

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Style

Witness the following images to get a proper idea of the brand of content to be found in Janus: 

The model bent over desk, chair — or bed or lap — the buttocks always exaggerated in its prostration; either striated and in the nude or clothed but expectantly waiting a violent stripping then spanking, or alternative variation of the latter in which the hand comes down on fabric, not flesh, regardless, the ass is always the focus and rarely fails to be placed in center frame.  

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Paula Meadows

“Janus” also featured erotic fiction, supplemented by graphite renderings of the page’s most worthwhile passages. These sketches were most often done by Paula Meadows, a self proclaimed and self advertised spank fetishist who collaborated with Janus as the occasional model. Paula’s reputation is now less affiliated with Janus, as multiple roles in pornographic films, plus the publishing of multiple books of her compiled sketches and erotic comics, have distinguished her in her own right as a prominent figure of the erotic underground.      

Fig. 10 (Paula Meadows illustrating)

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A Word On Spanking

While the prominence of outspoken masochists, and the recent popularity of Bdsm themed erotic films and novels, is for the non masochist evidence enough for the validity of intermixing pain and pleasure as a form of healthy sexual practice, most still fail to comprehend just how it may be possible, even if they believe it is. Paula Meadows, the above-mentioned spankophiliac, wrote the following in one of her Janus columns regarding the initial contact between hand and ass: “For me there are two main factors: firstly there is  the immediacy and power of the sensation itself. A  red arc of pain sears through the air and lands with  an exquisite THWACK on my plump bottom,  and in that moment I am wrenched awake, totally  in the present, nerves tingling, responding to  something REAL which commands my whole  attention. It also arouses me, makes me glow, at the  same time as relaxing the inhibitions, freeing me  from self-imposed restraints.” 

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In Premium more on Janus's spanking aesthetics, an examination of erotic magazines in general, 55 additional images of spanking nudes and much more.

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