Living with a strict Sir is one of the easiest ways of living and one of the most difficult. Sirs may be of different types: the Bear, the Leatherman, the more dominant partner in a relationship, or perhaps the more traditionally minded father-figure or schoolmaster. Whatever the type though, those who live under their authority will know that obedience and submission to Sirās will is expected at all times and disobedience or failure will be swiftly and firmly punished.
Regardless of what age he is, the fellow who finds himself living with a strict Sir of the schoolmaster or old-fashioned Daddy type will soon come to understand himself as a boy; a youth to be guided and corrected by Daddy, obliged to follow a strict set of rules, and denied even the opportunities to make choices about what he eats, how he dresses, and how he is presented in public. Such a boy will probably be subject to rules that would seem childish even to a seven year-old.
It is probable that a strict Sir will insist on his boys wearing short trousers at all times other than for bed, and those shorts will be of a kind that no self-respecting teenager would choose. Instead, the boy will wear shorts that are cut well above the knee, and possibly of the kind worn in the more traditional schools: grey, cotton-lined, lacking rear pockets, and having elasticated waists. Shorts like these convey quickly and reliably to any onlooker Ā that here is a boy who is wearing what he has been told to wear rather than what he would choose to wear.
A strict Sir is also likely to have other ways of ensuring that his boy looks as juvenile as possible. Creams that remove hair from the legs and body are easily available or a razor may be skillfully applied. However it is done the one thing that is certain is that a boy will be denuded of any of the hair that is associated with bodily maturity. Even if he is allowed to wear more casual shorts in public, and we can assume that he will not be allowed long trousers of any kind whatever the weather or circumstances, the boy will have the constant suspicion that anyone who sees him will notice his hairless legs and know him for the boy that he is. If the removal of the hair on his legs and around his boyish privates is not sufficient in itself to remind him of his child-like status, the boy will also suffer the regular indignity of visits to the barbers for an old-fashioned āshort back and sidesā. Nothing about his appearance is beyond Sirās control.
At home the boy will soon become used to many little indignities that underline his status as a boy under the authority of a traditionally-minded Sir. The bed in his room is a small single bed, the other furnishing is simple. Perhaps an old school desk with a chair occupies one corner, and a chest of drawers is set against a wall. The absence of a wardrobe is hardly a surprise given the fact that the boy does not have long trousers that need to be hung properly and his one jacket, more than likely a school blazer, can hang on a hook on the door. If he has adult clothing that will be kept locked away in Sirās room. The bed itself may have a plastic or rubber under-sheet. It is not there because the boy actually wets his bed still but because Sir likes the way in which the crinkling noise of the sheet is a reminder to the boy that even asleep he is regarded as a child and subject to the things of childhood.
The bedroom provides a whole range of scenarios that emphasise the authority of Sir over his boy. Adults go to bed when they feel tired and have concluded the affairs of the day. A boy is sent to bed at a set time regardless of what other activities he may have in mind. If he is lucky his bedtime might be late enough to be almost normal for his actual age but it is more likely that Sir will insist that the boy is in pyjamas and tucked up in bed ready for lights out at a time that is appropriate for a child. Visitors to the house will know that the boy is subject to strict discipline, after all, they seem him dressed in school uniform with short grey shorts and correctly aligned kneesocks. They hear him address Sir as āSirā or possibly as āDaddyā, and they watch as he is sent to make tea or get drinks for the assembled company. The guests may even be treated to the sight of Sir smacking the back of the boyās legs as an immediate response to some perceived fault. All the same, the boy will feel keenly the embarrassment of the announcement that it is ātime for bedā.
Juvenile clothing, early bedtimes, supervised bathing, and even lessons based on the requirements of the Common Entrance Examination, could be part of the daily life of a boy living with a strict Sir, but nothing emphasises the reality of his boyish status as the methods by which he is punished for failure to meet Sirās high expectations. It may be rare for a teenage boy nowadays to experience corporal punishment at home, and the cane is no longer an instrument of pain and fear in the classroom, but in the home of a strict Sir punishment is always applied in the old ways. The boy who lives with a strict Sir knows that it is unlikely that a day will pass when his backside does not feel the pain of the application of an instrument of discipline, be that the hairbrush, ancient and well-used leather strap, or one of Sirās many school canes. Such a boy is used to bending over for his punishment and knows that it is futile to plea for mercy. Whether his shorts stay up or come down, whether the strap is applied to backside or inner thigh, whether the cane is a junior one or a heavier senior cane, the boy knows that once punishment has been decided upon it will be followed through and the only thing for the boy to do is to submit and accept the discipline that Sir has decided is appropriate for his boy.
Following a particularly painful thrashing, the boy who lives with a strict Sir will appreciate his childish bedtime, for curled up with a teddy bear in his little bed, the boy knows that he is safe from punishment for at least a few hours. Safe so long as Sir does not find his boy engaged in naughty nocturnal activities, and with a throbbing backside as a reminder, the boy is once again glad to obey and behave.
