The Primitive Thing to Do

Fanfiction
Title:	The Primitive Thing to Do
Author(s):	Andrea Arat
Date(s):	1985
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
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The Primitive Thing to Do is a Kirk/Spock story by Andrea Arat.

It was published in One Night Stand #3.

Summary

"After being abducted, tortured and raped, Kirkʼs disquiet at his apparent responsiveness to it keeps him from being able to make love with Spock."

Reactions and Reviews

1985

Before I discuss "A Primitive Thing To Do" by Andrea Arat,I would like to deal with some misconceptions about S/M — sadomasochism not Spock/McCoy. There is much bigotry and misunderstanding about S/M. It seems to me, from my observation of K/S fandom, that the word "positive" in a zine advertisement or call for materials is a code word for NO S/M WANTED, Sometimes editors are explicit about this policy and sometimes not, but everyone seems to know what is meant by "positive".

These people are sincere in their belief that S/M is violent, equivalent to torture and non-consensual. This image of S/M is indeed negative and I would never defend it. However, it is a far cry from the practice of gay men, lesbians and heterosexuals who are into S/M. Their relationships are voluntary and contractual, often involving much more consideration for the sexual preferences of each partner than in many relationships which aren't S/M oriented. Because S/M practitioners must be concerned with safety, a great deal of planning goes into the sexual encounter and partners discuss exactly how far they want to go, A sexual encounter is often built around a carefully designed fantasy scenario in which both partners play roles. It is not haphazard cruelty.

In "A Primitive Thing To Do", Kirk is experiencing dreams which are memories of a harrowing captivity where he was tortured for two days. He exhibited sexual arousal during this captivity and continues to have erections as a result of the dreams. Spock explains to Kirk that this is a natural response to extreme danger. There is an additional explanation. Psychologists who have studied hostages have noted a response called "Stockholm Syndrome". Captives thrown together intimately with their captors begin to feel a dependency toward them and a sympathy for them. Some of them may even go so far as to become rornantically attatched to their captors, or sexually obsessed by thern. When the imaginative horizon is narrowed by imprisonment, it tends to focus on what is before it. But all of this is not the same as S/M. Kirk confuses the two and Spock attempts to free him of this confusion by making a dernonstration that supposedly proves that Kirk isn't turned on by pain. This dernonstration satisfies thern that Kirk isn't into S/M, but it doesn't convince rne. When someone is turned on by pleasureable stimulation, this doesn't mean that any such stimulation applied haphazardly with no attention to technique will do, Spock could have made an equally- inept attempt at cocksucking, for example, but it wouldn't be fair to conclude from this that Kirk isn't sexually turned on by cocksucking. If Spock really wanted to prove that Kirk isn't turned on by S/M, he should have designed a sceviario in consultation with Kirk, established the parameters and then tested it out. Then if Kirk had no sexual response to this, I would have been convinced that he really isn't into S/M. Well, Andrea Arat, do we want to try again?

I enjoyed this zine because it allowed me to elaborate my thoughts on a number of issues of concern to me. The stories that I discussed in depth we're flawed, but it was out of those very flaws that my insights grew. For this reason, ONE NIGHT STAND 3 can be said to be an interesting experience. It is very probable that my analysis will stimulate further discussion from those of you who disagree with it or who have different insights into these issues.

1992

In this rape recovery story, Kirk believes that his post-traumatic stress syndrome is attraction to s/m. Spock slaps him around a little followed by romantic sex, and Kirk is supposed to be cured — both of his mistaken belief and of his trauma. This solution is way too simple. Slapping someone around a little is not s/m, Spock should have gone to the trouble of devising an actual s/m scenario. I will also never believe that anyone can ever be made to recover from rape or abuse as a result of a sexual encounter. It doesn't happen that way, and it never will.