For it falls out,

That what we have we prize,

Not to the worth, Whiles we enjoy it,

But being lacked and lost

Why then we rack the value

Then we find the virtue that possession would not show us

While it was ours.

— Shakespeare

People like to possess things, great and small, although they do not like to be possessed themselves — slavery can attest to that. But then again, there are some folks who love to be possessed, especially women, as it makes them feel wanted, protected, needed, loved.

Well, some women do, and more back in the past than in this present day. But people on the whole love to possess things. In fact, it’s the essence of their lives to possess as many things as they possibly can.

They want to posses the house, the car, as much jewellery as they can acquire, clothes, finery, horses and dogs. And if they are men, they want to possess women, sometimes one, other times as many as they can.

But can they really possess women? And bear in mind that possession is nine-tenths of the law, so if you possess it, it’s legally yours. Still there are caveats, for if you stole it, borrowed it, found and subsequently possess it, is it legally yours?

“I’ve been with your wife for some time now, so she’s legally mine.”

All these and more we’ll find out, right after we see what these readers had to say about my piece on ‘Cleanliness’.

Hi Tony,

There is nothing like the smell of a freshly showered woman. The aroma of soap and water left on a woman awakens the senses that attract a man to her. Sometimes a touch of perfume to her neck and wrists after a bath is also a turn on. The best turn on, though, is an invitation by the woman to have the man join her in the shower to “soap each other up”, to say the least, if you know what I mean.

Dennis

Teerob,

You crack me up as you brought back memories of my childhood. I was not fond of showers or baths when I was a young boy, and would find every excuse not to take one. It was only after my mother told me that I would turn into a pillar of mud in the same way that Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt that I was scared into taking daily showers — ut only if the water was warm. Now I’m an advocate for cleanliness.

John

From we were children most of us liked to possess things. It could have been toys, gadgets, clothes, books, then fancy furniture, electronics and cars when we grew older and could afford them. We often prized them dearly and guarded them jealously.

I remember my late brother used to have a collection of foreign coins that meant the world to him, and he would lay them out and examine them for hours. I possessed hundreds of comic books that were worth more than gold, or so I thought.

Even now I have a friend in New York who has thousands of
Conan the Barbarian comics in pristine condition, dating back to the very first edition. They’re worth thousands of US dollars. Some of my other friends had great record collections that they prized more than life itself.

We love to possess, and one man’s prized possession is another man’s garbage so don’t knock what people like to possess, for value is relative. When it comes to the human condition though, possession can have negative connotations. Women love to possess trinkets and jewellery, as I mentioned, but men, ah men, men love to possess women — and especially what women have.

On a general scale many men want to stamp their brand on any woman who they get involved with, much like the brand that is burned into the hide of cattle. It may not be the same searing, burning heat of the metal brand that permanently etches the name on the skin, but it can have the same effect — a permanent reminder that she is possessed by him.

In these modern times the hot metal brand has given way to the tattoo but the effect is the same: his name is burned into her skin and his will is infused into her soul. She is possessed by him, forever.

At least demons can be exorcised but some men remain permanently. It starts out simple enough; he meets her, takes her on a few dates and spends a lot of time with her. She loves the attention that she has craved for so long but caveat emptor, for that attention often comes with a condition that impacts her freedom.

Suddenly she is his and his alone, forbidden from communicating with anyone else, especially any male friends from the past or present. She can’t even look at another man in public or call another man’s name.

Sometimes he even tells her to cut off all contact with her female friends and family. “You don’t need anybody else in your life; you are mine now and I will give you everything that you want.”

At first some women may not mind, and even welcome this new attention for it makes them feel wanted.

“He says that I’m his woman, and I love to hear that — his woman.”

I recently learned that some women actually love it when a man treats them badly, then makes up for it by treating them extremely well. This was outlined in a book written by a successful pimp in the USA. That was his way of controlling his women.

“That’s the best way to keep those hos in check, give them a good beating then reward them with some great gifts afterwards. It makes them grateful for the good treatment and protected by the power shown by the beating.”

Is there any merit to that, even on a less violent scale? Do some women actually feel protected, loved, wanted, by the sort of pimp-like behaviour of some men? The fact is there is the Stockholm Syndrome, where a kidnapped victim will actually fall in love with her captor as she feels protected by him.

You may recall heiress Patty Hearst who was kidnapped by the revolutionary group the Symbionese Liberation Army, in the USA. She ended up not only joining them in their exploits but also falling in love with the leader. Do some women love their men, their husbands [their captors] for that same reason?

Is that how some men treat their women, girlfriends, wives? For that same reason, many people who are in abusive relationships — men and women — refuse to leave, preferring instead to endure the treatment.

There is some truth to it for a woman often falls under the category of ‘possession’ to some men, and is treated accordingly.

“My house, my car, my wife.”

And that’s why some men behave so violently when their woman is encroached upon, for she is his property.

Once he has her, she dare not leave, cannot leave, will not leave, not even think of leaving nor mentioning leaving to him, for the consequences will be dire. Even life imprisonment will offer freedom by way of parole, but no such privilege for some women who are possessed by their men.

Many men would rather kill the woman than have her leave. That life sentence turns into a death sentence, for possession is nine-tenths of his law.

And guess what? The most prized possession that a man can have is his woman’s vagina. As far as he’s concerned, it is his for life and no other man dare enter those portals of pleasure, for death is the consequence. We have seen the grisly murder/suicide statistics.

That prized possession means so much to some men that there is actually a story of a man who told his family that when he dies they’re to list that the cause of death was due to HIV/AIDS, for by doing so no other man would want to have sex with his wife.

That’s how far some men will go — even after death, his most-prized vaginal possession must not be touched.

And it’s not new, for chastity belts have been around for centuries wherein the woman’s vagina is locked away by leather and metal, only opened by a key. The locksmith was the most sought after man back in those days.

Possession may be nine-tenths of the law but there should be a law against that sort of warped behaviour. But guess what? Women possess too, or is it that they are simply possessive, clingy, jealous, needy, but lacking the strength to actually possess a man in the same way that a man possesses them?

There is no physical chastity belt made for men but women still have a way of emotionally castrating men. She can’t brand the man in the way that he brands her but she can restrict his movement by putting time constraints on him.

“Make sure that you come home by 10 o’clock.”

“Yes dear.”

So women have their ways to possess too, but it’s more discrete, subtle, and the man doesn’t even know that he’s possessed until his friends ask him out and he says, “I have to ask my wife first.”

More time.

seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: I have always contended that eating well and maintaining a proper diet are privileges of the wealthy. Well maybe not the wealthy but it takes money to achieve those goals. All those diets such as being vegetarian, and taking it even further to being vegan, cannot be afforded by poor people. I had vegan friends visiting a while back and it was most challenging to feed them. Not even bread, butter, cheese, eggs or honey they would consume, and their choice of food was scarce and expensive. I don’t know any poor person who is a vegan, instead they try to make ends meet by consuming what basic food they can afford.

“I eat what I can find, boss, I can’t pick and choose.”