Domination and Submission
This is a set of behaviors, customs and rituals relating to the giving and accepting of dominance of one individual over another in a sexual or lifestyle context. It is sometimes referred to as master or mistress/slave.
In Domination and Submission (DS), there is pleasure (which may be erotic) in either dominating another person or being dominated. In the broader sense, DS has been a continuing theme in human nature and in almost every culture, over time there are examples of DS at work as part of the very fabric of society. This is true of the current day as well as of history.
The play of DS in a relationship is virtually limitless and the activities take many forms. These may include:
- sexual slavery
- verbal humiliation
- cross dressing
- de-humanisation (pony play, dog play)
- domestic servitude or consensual slavery
- cuckoldry
- humiliating acts (foot worship) etc
Some DS relationships are sexual, others completely chaste and may be acted out over the telephone, by e-mail etc. In some DS relationships a partner only submits occasionally perhaps for an evening or the duration of a party, whereas in other relationships, there may be an ongoing contract to the point where it becomes continuous ’24/7′.
Fantasy role play can also be a part, with partners taking classic DS, or classic authority figure roles such as teacher/student, police officer/suspect, priest/acolyte or parent/child.
Martin Hellawell
Tags: consensual, dominance, erotic, play, pleasure, relationship, sexual, submission
