In the childhood of my generation, the martinet was common currency --
that is to say, it served to show boys and girls the cost of their
childish misbehaviour. However, it has far from disappeared from the
France of today, where one can find martinets in almost all the big
shopping centres, but also in markets, general stores and even some
toy stores. It's a tradition as firmly anchored in the French
consciousness as baguettes, even if its use is condemned by modern
psychologists.
Let's say that today the martinet is most often used to cause fear,
and it is only rarely put in action. It is a little whip made of a
shaft of lightwood and ten or twelve leather thongs, which originate
from the leftovers of leatherworks. Although martinets are all made
rigorously on the same model, their lashes can vary significantly
from one to another, more or less supple, of a tawny colour usually,
but sometimes multicoloured.
The strokes of the martinet have nothing with the sting of an Anglo-
Saxon cane or tawse. The martinet only causes a smarting and brief
burning, like one might experience when nettles unexpectedly caress
your hand or calves in the garden.
As far as how it is used: French mothers never need to be taught;
they know how to use it instinctively! Seriously, the martinet is
aimed most frequently at the calves, or the thighs left uncovered by
short pants or a dress. It can be a weapon for use in pursuit, which
an angry mother can ply while chasing a miscreant around a table or
in the garden.
But it can also be used in very formal corrections: the punished
girl must remain standing up, immobile, and lift her dress to expose
her legs and her rear end, which is poorly protected by cotton
panties, and stoically accept five or six lashes, which kiss her
bottom and the upper part of her thighs. And, of course, it can
happen that the girl has her panties taken down for her own good. As
the martinet is short, the miscreant can also receive it while bent
over her mother's knees, in the classic position for spanking.
The manufacturer of martinets has long been a family-owned business
in which the work is hand-crafted. The studio can be found in
Morvan, and the old lady who exercised her talent there has been the
subject of a good number stories by the press. Stories that were
always made in a lighthearted style, since in the collective memory
the martinet is attached to the world of childhood, in the same light
as bonbons, comics and "surprise pockets."[1] Today, the old lady
has retired. Martinets are still made in Morvan, but they are sold
on the Internet!
If readers' curiosity is getting the better of them at this point,
below is the web site address that will allow you to acquire one.
Make sure you chose the traditional martinet ("le martinet
traditionnel") -- the other models have nothing to do with little
girls who have been naughty rather than nice.
http://www.morvan-martinets.com/