The adrenalin liberated by the fear-and-pain-producting stimulus stiffens every muscle in his body and his strength is doubled.
This is why frightened animals or insane people in a panic can perform feats of strength of which they would be absolutely incapable in a normal state.
Masochism is much more, however, than an organic attempt at compensating for glandular inferiority and acquiring in a morbid way increased sexual potency. It is a neurotic expedient whereby an inferior man or woman compensates for his or her weakness thru more weakness.
By belittling themselves, by disparaging their own ability, masochist lovers can take advantage of their mate, let him bear all responsibilities.
Shoe Fetishism. We understand from that point of view the meaning of the shoe fetishism which Krafft-Ebing has noticed in male masochists. In fact Hirschfeld states that every male shoe fetish is a masochist.
To the masochist, the shoe, especially the high buttoned shoe, is symbolical of woman's power, of her ruthless cruelty. He sees himself trod on by that shoe, he imagines that shoe pressing on his neck, pinning his head to the ground.
Curiously enough, long gloves seem to arouse the same ideas in the mind of the male masochist. Both shoes and gloves are found in the dreams or visions of neurotics, symbolizing the female organs.
A masochist wrote once: "The gloved hand of a woman, altho like her foot, smaller and prettier than a man's, can wield the whip powerfully over her slave whose greatest joy consists then in kissing his mistress's shoes while submitting to that punishment."
Craving for Humiliation. The masochist welcomes every form of humiliation and not infrequently derives great pride from his "patience," "tolerance," "self-sacrifice," "martyrlike resignation" etc.