Dunce cap

From "Final Exam", a film by User:Jameslovebirch. Video clip.

The Dunce, drawing by Julian Guile.

A dunce cap or dunce's hat is a tall, pointed hat, traditionally worn as a mark of shame by children in school who have done poorly in their schoolwork, or have misbehaved, as a form of psychological punishment. The word dunce originated in the 16th century as term of abuse; it is a synonym for one incapable of learning.

Design and use[edit]

Externally hosted image on Boyz Being Boyz Warning:

Dunce cap being used by C. of Sweden

Dunce caps are traditionally white cone-shaped paper hats with the word "Dunce" or just the letter "D" written on the front. They were usually improvised by the teacher by folding a large sheet of white construction paper or even a newspaper.

A student made to wear a dunce cap was usually required to sit on a special punishment stool (often a high stool, like a barstool), in a form of corner time. Another common variant was to make the student stand, instead of sit, on a bench, stool or chair, so that they will be better seen (and thus more shamed).

In Europe (e.g., Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands) and Mexico, the common 18th and 19th century variant of the dunce cap was the donkey cap – a cap with donkey's ears to symbolize stupidity -.

Roleplay and fetish films[edit]

Dunce caps are now very rarely used in actual schools, but may be used in school-based roleplay scenes, and in spanking stories with historical settings. The cap is also used as a costume item in underground fetish films about schoolgirls who receive corporal punishment.

The mainstream comedy film The House Bunny (2008) uses the cap in a fetish fantasy context. During a photo-shoot for a sexy sorority girl calendar, a semi-nude Rumor Willis strikes a "naughty schoolgirl" pose on a stool wearing the cap and holding a ruler. A bonus feature included on the DVD release shows some spanking poses not seen in the film. (See photo.)

Various pin-up artists in the 1940s and '50s such as Gil Elvgren have also used the cap in a playfully risque manner. (See illustration.)

Spanking videos[edit]

2 Class Idiots (Spank My Bottom/Fetish Flixx), Elizabeth Simpson, photos

Adriana's Paperbag Dunce Cap (Spanking House Productions), Adriana Evans as Miss Elizabeth's stepdaughter, corner time, photos

Behind The Bike Sheds (Northern Spanking), Leia-Ann Woods, Donna Davenport, Lucy McLean, used as set dressing, Part 3 photos, Part 4 photos

Blaire's Long Day Continues (Triple A Spanking, 2021), Blaire Monet, John Osborne, interracial, photos
Cheer Girl Detention (Triple A Spanking); vaulting box, striking the hand, British cheerleader punished at school (photos)

The Class Dunce (BadTushy); a schoolgirl in a dunce cap gets paddled.

The Dunce (Caned On The Bare) (Caned Schoolgirls) - plot & pics on Caned SchoolGirls Blog
- trailers: 31 sec. (WMV) on Caned Schoolgirls, 30 sec. and 54 sec. (FLV) on Spanking Tube, Teen Spanking Tube, and Spanking Library. Also distributed by NaughtyBottom.com (photos).

English Education (Roughman Spank/Nettles Corporation, 2015), photos, video

Final Exam (Sting-Ray Prods.), amateur video of cap-wearing schoolgirl punished in class (video clip).

Halloween Spanking (Spanking Veronica Works), halloween, photos

The Jodhpurs Brat (Triple A Spanking, 2023), Angelica Vee, John Osborne, brat, humiliation (photos)

Lies and Punishment (Triple A Spanking, 2018), student Apricot and Sarah Gregory as the school nurse (photos)

Pop Quiz Punishments (Miss Ruby Marks, 2023), Becky, Marlie, Sally, Miss Victoria, photos

Rubbish Detention (Spank My Bottom), Elizabeth Simpson, detention, photos

School Days in "Paradise" - YouTube video clip ending with dunce cap punishment.

Spanked in Front of the Class (Pacific Force, 2001); college F/F punishments (complete film at SpankBang).

Strictmoor Academy, Year Three, Scene Four (Sarah Gregory Spanking), striking the hand, video at Spankbang

Strictmoor Presents: Annie and Janet's Discipline, Scene 3a (Sarah Gregory Spanking), photos

Strictmoor Presents Annie and Janet's Discipline Scene 4 (Sarah Gregory Spanking), mirror, photos

The Tables Are Turned (Spanking Sarah), used as set decoration, photos

Tawsed, Spanked & Strapped for Cheating (Triple A Spanking, 2022), Miss Mathews, Rachel Adams, cheating, photos

Unknown pornographic film (at PornHub) with a schoolgirl in a dunce cap.

Willow Watson Punished (English Spankers), photos

Gallery 1 (art)[edit]

A dunce cap with the words "Idle Boy".
"The Dunce": Schoolmistress with birch rod, and boy with his hands tied on his back, wearing a dunce cap.
"School" (1810).
"Hogarth's First Sketch", painting by Robert William Buss.
Watercolour painting by John Masey Wright (1777–1866). A schoolboy is punished with a dunce cap and flag, and his teacher has a birch rod ready.
"Cutting off Supplies" by Thomas Webster (1800-1886).
An old woman tries to teach three children the alphabet.
"Unhappy Boy, Are You Ashamed Of Yourself?" by Hugh Thomson (1860–1920).
A boy with a dunce's hat in the background.
Artwork by Drooaygah.

Gallery 2 (photos)[edit]

A dunce cap in a schoolroom ready for use.
Another dunce cap on a stool in the corner.
Pupil (doll) sitting in the corner wearing a dunce cap in St John’s Schoolhouse Museum
Cones and a dunce cap.
Dunce cap in the oldest standing school in Arizona