Ring of O
Encyclopedia
Ring (finger)
A finger ring is a circular band worn as a type of ornamental jewelry around a finger; it is the most common current meaning of the word ring. Other types of metal bands worn as ornaments are also called rings, such as arm rings and neck rings....
which has been worn as a distinctive mark among BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
practitioners, mainly in continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
— and especially the German-speaking
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
countries — since the 1990s. Its use is relatively widespread within this subculture. Its name derives from the name of the central female character in the classic BDSM novel Story of O
Story of O
Story of O is an erotic novel published in 1954 about love, dominance and submission by French author Anne Desclos under the pen name Pauline Réage.Desclos did not reveal herself as the author for forty years after the initial publication...
(written by Pauline Réage
Pauline Réage
Anne Desclos was a French journalist and novelist who wrote under the pseudonyms Dominique Aury and Pauline Réage.-Early life:...
), who wore an analogous ring.
Ring description in literature
Seal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
(with a seal disk on top which was relatively large for a woman's ring), made out of dull-gray polished iron, lined with gold on the inside, and with a golden Triskelion
Triskelion
A triskelion or triskele is a motif consisting of three interlocked spirals, or three bent human legs, or any similar symbol with three protrusions and a threefold rotational symmetry. Both words are from Greek or , "three-legged", from prefix "τρι-" , "three times" + "σκέλος" , "leg"...
on its top area.
The ring's symbolic meaning in the novel differs quite a bit from the one commonly used among BDSM practitioners today. In the book, such a ring is worn by a female "slave" after she has finished her training at Roissy. Those wearing the ring are obliged to be obedient to any man who belongs to the secret society of Roissy (whose emblem is the triskelion), and must allow him to do absolutely everything with them that he pleases.
This stands in strong contrast to the ring's meaning today. People indicate by wearing such rings that they are interested in BDSM, and sometimes by the hand they wear it on whether they are a Top
Top (BDSM)
In BDSM, a top or dominant is the partner in a BDSM relationship or in a BDSM scene who takes the active or controlling role over that of the bottom or submissive partner....
or a Bottom
Bottom (BDSM)
In BDSM, a bottom or submissive is the partner in a BDSM relationship or a BDSM scene who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant....
.
Modern shapes
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the novel Story of O showed a design consisting of a cylindrical steel ring with an attached ball holding an even smaller toroidal ring (which could swivel in one dimension). Thus it showed similarities to types of collars which in former times were used in order to chain animals or prisoners (see the collar in the image at right) and are still common in the BDSM scene today. Inspired by this movie, such small rings became quite popular among BDSM practitioners in German-speaking countries.
The first image of this jewellery design was published in the September issue (No.4) of the German BDSM magazine Schlagzeilen in 1989. Its development is commonly credited to German jewellery designers Jörg Hampel and Jan Scheu.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the ring's design has been increasingly found outside of BDSM contexts as well. Similar jewellery
Jewellery
Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
designs were published in continental Europe, for example by Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....
, and are often offered in shops specializing in selling to young people.
After the ring's most common design started increasingly circulating outside of the BDSM subculture, new design variants developed. These new designs are often incorporate foldaway elements and a more complex structure. This allowed a higher exclusivity and unambiguousness while at the same time the discretion with respect to "vanillas
Vanilla sex
Vanilla sex is a description of what a culture regards as standard or conventional sexual behaviour. Different cultures, subcultures and individuals have different ideas about what constitutes this type of sex...
" was significantly increased.
Ring of O as a collar
The term O Ring is sometimes used to refer to collars as well (contrasting with D-ringD-ring
A D-ring is an item of hardware, usually a metal ring shaped like the letter D. It may be used at the end of a leather or fabric strap, or may be secured to a surface with a metal or fabric strap...
collars). In this context it can describe a collar with one large ring for fastening. Collars featuring such rings are often worn by Bottoms
Bottom (BDSM)
In BDSM, a bottom or submissive is the partner in a BDSM relationship or a BDSM scene who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant....
to indicate that they are in a steady relationship.
Literature
- Kathrin PassigKathrin Passig-Life and Works:Passig was born in 1970 in a small town in Lower Bavaria. She is editor and programmer of the blog “Riesenmaschine” which received the Grimme Online Award 2006, awarded by the renowned Adolf-Grimme-Institut. The same year, her short story “Sie befinden sich hier” got her the...
and Ira Strübel: Die Wahl der Qual. Rowohlt-Verlag 2004, ISBN 3-499-61692-0 (German) - Matthias T. J. Grimme: Das SM-Handbuch. Charon-Verlag 2002, ISBN 3-931406-01-6 (German)
External links
- Ring der O on Papiertiger (German)
- Ring der O on Smikipedia (German)
- The Emblem project
- Bondagecollars.com