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Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose
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About This Book
An exploration of why people all over the world love to engage in pain on purpose--from dominatrices, religious ascetics, and ultramarathoners to ballerinas, icy ocean bathers, and sideshow performers Masochism is sexy, human, reviled, worshipped, and can be delightfully bizarre. Deliberate and consensual pain has been with us for millennia, encompassing everyone from Black Plague flagellants to ballerinas dancing on broken bones to competitive eaters choking down hot peppers while they cry. Masochism is a part of us. It lives inside workaholics, tattoo enthusiasts, and all manner of garden variety pain-seekers. At its core, masochism is about feeling bad, then better—a phenomenon that is long overdue for a heartfelt and hilarious investigation. And Leigh Cowart would they are not just a researcher and science writer—they're an inveterate, high-sensation seeking masochist. And they have a few Why do people engage in masochism? What are the benefits and the costs? And what does masochism have to say about the human experience? By participating in many of these activities themselves, and through conversations with psychologists, fellow scientists, and people who seek pain for pleasure, Cowart unveils how our minds and bodies find meaning and relief in pain—a quirk in our programming that drives discipline and innovation even as it threatens to swallow us whole.
Reviews
"Hurts So Good often left me frustrated, not so much by failing to answer Cowart's questions but by regularly approaching them in predictable and unsatisfying ways."
"Beyond plumbing their personal past, the author also engages in what might be called gonzo science writing."
"Along the way, there are informative explanations of the neurobiology of pain and pleasure, and plenty of personal reflection on the author's own relationship to masochism."
"Even as the language used to describe masochistic activities becomes familiar, sometimes calcifying into cliché, the activities themselves surprise by their variety ..."
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