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Power or control - 2/13/2005 11:10:23 AM

willing2serve

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Is there a difference of having power over a submissive versus control over a submissive?

Thank you for your insight in advance.

Respectfully,
Willing2serve1

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RE: Power or control - 2/13/2005 12:14:14 PM

ShiftedJewel

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I believe that having power is the ability from which you gain the control, the two go hand in hand.

Jewel

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RE: Power or control - 2/13/2005 12:24:15 PM

panthergoddess

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In my mind..

Power....the ability to gain what service you wish form the submissive through their minds and own willingness often not needing to even speak to them.
Control....the more forceful and often verbal directing of a submissive.

Power...developed over time in the relationship
Control..can be immediately exerted

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RE: Power or control - 2/13/2005 3:13:57 PM

domtimothy46176

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quote:

ORIGINAL: willing2serve

Is there a difference of having power over a submissive versus control over a submissive?

Thank you for your insight in advance.

Respectfully,
Willing2serve1

I think they're just two ways of saying the same thing, although they may have very different meanings to some individuals, much like many of the common terms. I could say I control my girls actions because she granted me that power over her when she chose to serve me but I could reverse the placement of power and control and not lose the meaning. The real question, I think, is what they mean to you.
Timothy

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RE: Power or control - 2/13/2005 4:00:21 PM

MrThorns

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Interesting question.
If I remember correctly, power is a real or perceived ability to affect a persons existence. Power is based in knowledge, the ability to reward or punish, (there are some other power bases, but I forget what they are.)

Control is how that power is used. You can swing a bat at a ball as hard as you want to, but that doesn't mean you will connect with the ball. To connect, requires control of that power.

The same analogy can be applied to a master/slave relationship. I can yell and scream at my slave, drag her to the dungeon for a thorough, "discussion", and exert as much power as I want to. Does that mean I have control over my slave...or myself, for that matter?

Just my 2 cents.

~Thorns

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RE: Power or control - 2/13/2005 6:33:12 PM

RealityFix

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Power is a force.

Control is an application of force.

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RE: Power or control - 2/16/2005 5:09:55 AM

Leonidas

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Hello willing2serve,

Dominance (power) isn't an interpersonal dynamic, it's a quality possessed by some people. Thorn's definition: "power is a real or perceived ability to affect a persons existence" is right on. Our leaders have power, but so do our enemies. Our perception of their power alters our behavior profoundly. We ally ourselves with, or submit to (they aren't the same thing) our leaders because of our perception of their power. We build walls and other defenses to keep our enemies at bay because of our perception of theirs.

While folks in this lifestyle like to think that dominance and submission is a personal kink, it really isn't. It's a fundamental organizing principal of human existance. People give their allegence to, or submit to (they aren't the same thing) people that they percieve to be more powerful (dominant) than they are. They do that because it is their perception that their personal fortunes, or some greater good to which they are committed, will be furthered by doing so. This, of course, isn't the same thing as "power play" where two people set up a scenario in which one plays at submitting to the power of the other for mutual sexual gratification, but where no real power differential exists outside that play scenario.

Control isn't really the same thing, as american business is learning slowly. You can give a manager control, but you can't really give him or her power by fiat. He or she is either possessed of dominance, or they are not. A high profile example of this from recent news is Carly Fiorino's sudden firing at HP. She had great vision, and she was and could be ruthless in business, but in the final analysis, she did not get those over whom she had been given control to rally behind her. She had control, but not sufficient power to do that very difficult job.

< Message edited by Leonidas -- 2/16/2005 3:58:44 PM >

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RE: Power or control - 2/16/2005 8:03:00 AM

MsSilvie

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I'd imagine that the two terms "power" and "control" often get used more or less interchangably. I think there is some differences. Control implies that you have the ability to limit the responses or actions in a situation. Power, to me, suggests that you influence the behavior, not just in a limiting sense.

An analogy would be, someone walking their 5 lb toy poodle on a leash. If the poodle sees another dog and goes wild, the owner may still have control (the dog is leashed and can't act on it's impulses). But the owner isn't demonstrating power over the dog (such as being able to make it listen, heel, sit, etc.)

< Message edited by MsSilvie -- 2/16/2005 8:04:03 AM >

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RE: Power or control - 2/16/2005 9:22:13 AM

Alexander

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As a member of the blue state gun club some of Leonidas descriptions of submission to power make my blood boil. Accurate though they may be. Submit to dishonorable leaders because of their power? To put it in Gorean terms, the minions of Cos are having a field day.-end rant

How does this fit in with the power a rich man has over women which causes seemingly vanilla women to throw themselves at his feet for his money behaving like little sluts and subs though they would deny it ever being so?

Alex.

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RE: Power or control - 2/16/2005 9:45:34 AM

TallDarkAndWitty

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quote:

ORIGINAL: MsSilvie
An analogy would be, someone walking their 5 lb toy poodle on a leash. If the poodle sees another dog and goes wild, the owner may still have control (the dog is leashed and can't act on it's impulses). But the owner isn't demonstrating power over the dog (such as being able to make it listen, heel, sit, etc.)

Or, to put it in another light, the owner still has power over the dog (preventing it to chase), but lacks control over the dog to make it behave in a way the owner deems proper.

I think those two words have lost any significant difference they may have once had.

Taggard

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RE: Power or control - 2/16/2005 4:43:35 PM

aliljaded1

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quote:

The same analogy can be applied to a master/slave relationship. I can yell and scream at my slave, drag her to the dungeon for a thorough, "discussion", and exert as much power as I want to. Does that mean I have control over my slave...or myself, for that matter?

respectfully ........... Hell NO!
regards, jade

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RE: Power or control - 2/16/2005 6:33:17 PM

MsSilvie

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TallDarkAndWitty

quote:

ORIGINAL: MsSilvie
An analogy would be, someone walking their 5 lb toy poodle on a leash. If the poodle sees another dog and goes wild, the owner may still have control (the dog is leashed and can't act on it's impulses). But the owner isn't demonstrating power over the dog (such as being able to make it listen, heel, sit, etc.)

Or, to put it in another light, the owner still has power over the dog (preventing it to chase), but lacks control over the dog to make it behave in a way the owner deems proper.

I think those two words have lost any significant difference they may have once had.

Taggard

I agree, the words do get used more or less interchangably. There is a can be an implied difference, but you probably have to make someone explain what the words mean to them before you can understand what they are trying to communicate.

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RE: Power or control - 2/17/2005 10:47:29 AM

ProtagonistLily

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quote:

As a member of the blue state gun club some of Leonidas descriptions of submission to power make my blood boil. Accurate though they may be. Submit to dishonorable leaders because of their power? To put it in Gorean terms, the minions of Cos are having a field day.-end rant

How does this fit in with the power a rich man has over women which causes seemingly vanilla women to throw themselves at his feet for his money behaving like little sluts and subs though they would deny it ever being so?

Alex.

Thanks for saving me the keystrokes, Alex. A resounding Ditto from me.

L

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