Praise

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of transgender discrimination, emotional abuse, and sexual content.

In Praise, Charlie’s journey toward confidence and self-worth is intertwined with her sexual awakening and acceptance of her own desires. When the novel opens, she has recently broken up with Beau, realizing that her efforts to help him through his struggles only led to his disrespect and her own declining confidence. Beau’s cruelty toward Charlie stemmed out of his own self-loathing since he sees her kindness and help as a reminder of his own failures. However, this does not diminish the damage that his behavior has inflicted on Charlie. It is only when she learns to embrace her sexual identity, particularly through her dynamic with Emerson, that she is able to recover her sense of self.

Initially, Charlie experiences significant doubt about her preferences for a praise kink dynamic. She treats her intense desire for Emerson’s praise as a pathological response to past trauma, particularly her father’s abandonment. Charlie worries that her desire for a man’s approval and praise conflicts with her feminist ideals. Ultimately, however, as she becomes more involved with the kink community and learns about the psychology behind kink practices, she realizes that her need for praise is not inherently disempowering or a symptom of past trauma.