ShaktiSama -> RE: True Submissiion: What does it mean to you? (1/18/2009 2:44:17 PM)
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There are a lot of jokes and mockery on these forums about "twue" submission and how there is no such thing, but I think there is. Just as there is "Twue Love". It's just that the form it takes is variable--True Submission is shaped by the needs and desires of the individual dominant. "True" submission is not defined by acts but by context. It's obedience to another's will for the sake of the other--not yourself. Actions that arise from the desire to make someone else's life better, to serve someone else's needs or desires, to express love by giving or suffering, are very different in both character and effect from actions that are performed to avoid punishment, receive a pre-determined reward, or for self-serving purposes. "I do it because it makes me hard", "I do because it'll get me a sexual or financial reward", "I do it because I will be punished if I don't obey" are the motives of a bottom--not a submissive. Identical actions can be performed by two different people: one will be an act of true submission and the other will not. Sometimes the only way a dominant can really tell the difference is by how she feels on a daily basis--by monitoring her energy levels and her mood. If a domme is receiving quality submission from her partner, she is usually pretty happy in the relationship, feels strong, satisfied and well-served, and has the appetite for play and dominance that is normal and healthy for her personality. If she's not getting the good stuff, she'll feel drained, irritable, frustrated or confused, and her libido and desire for play will drop like a stone. A partner who goes through the motions mechanically does not supply her with energy--the interaction is empty of the fuel she needs and it will leave her listless and unwell. To define "bottoming" or "being a bottom" succinctly--bottoming means that you receive sensations or attention in a scene. Period. Doesn't matter who is "in charge", doesn't matter who is dominant. A dominant receiving a massage from her submissive is still the bottom in the scene, the one receiving energy. One of the most salient signs of "untrue" submission is the man or woman who only wants to bottom. Some people might enjoy such partners, and may be able to deal with the enormity of their selfish needs...personally I cannot, and I find that a narcissistic bottom is deadly poison. I'm genuinely dominant, in that I need control and service in my relationships. I'm not a "service top", or a person whose needs are entirely fulfilled just in the act of binding or beating someone per se. I know that some people believe that "allowing" me to tie them up and invest hours of labor in giving them physical sensations should be all that I need to be happy and satisfied--and who knows, perhaps there are some dominants who really need nothing more than that. I'm not one of them. I need energy to flow into me, to be obeyed and to be served on my own terms. The effects of the long-term drain that a selfish bottom can inflict upon me (and dominants like me, male and female) can be catastrophic. When it comes to giving something back, some bottoms genuinely think they are doing you a favor by performing some sort of "service" that turns them on or represents a favorite fetish--i.e., they'll "serve" you by performing oral sex on your genitals or your shoes, massaging and worshipping your feet, or by performing some other task that arouses them. But really such a person's interest in the dominant's real emotional or physical needs is nil, and their "service" is just another way to suck me dry. These people have no desire to surrender to a dominant's will, make his or her life better, to suffer or sacrifice just to see a smile and heart-felt praise. They have no need and no desire to be a "good boy" or a "good girl". A bottom without any submissive tendencies usually wants to be the object of attention and the receiver of energy, without having to give it back. The outward, surface-level of the relationship with such a person can seem fine, at least initially, but the power exchange and energy exchange will be one-way. I can't cope with that and I have never met a dominant who could sustain those losses over any significant length of time. But as with all comments and opinions on BDSM, YMMV.
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