It's interesting, but not the correct meaning of S&M

WriteToLive February 13, 2021 3:24 am

Little BDSM lesson here: The SM in BDSM doesn't stand for the dom and sub (I suspect the author thought it was Slave/Master), it's actually for the term sadomasochism (or Sadism/Masochism). The BDSM acronym represents the main categories of BDSM play: Bondage and Discipline (BD), Dominance and Submission (DS), Sadism and Masochism (SM). And from the context, it should really be noted that the dynamic between the doms and subs in this manga is actually more of a Master/slave one, not a Dom/sub one. Someone can be a Dom without being a Master and someone can be a sub without being a slave. The main difference is that you usually see this "orders are absolute" aspect in a Master/slave relationship, whereas in a D/s relationship, the sub has all of the control and chooses to submit/obey, and what's allowed between the two is thoroughly negotiated and agreed upon, and safe words are established and used. The Dom can't tell the sub to do anything they want and expect to be obeyed, and the sub can refuse to obey an order and end the play whenever they want, which any decent and normal Dom would immediately comply with. In a Master/slave relationship though, the slave usually gives up full control to the Master and the slave is expected to obey their Master completely, with the expectation that the Master will act with their slave's wellbeing as their top priority. So even if the slave doesn't necessarily want to obey an order, they would be expected to because they agreed to giving up their control when they entered the relationship. In real-life BDSM relationships though, the complete rule of the Master isn't really an absolute part of the relationship, it's just typical. An M/s relationship could still have limits imposed by the slave or the option to negotiate if something comes up; everyone has to be happy in these relationships or they don't survive, so the details of the relationship are defined by the people taking part in it, and there's no law that says it can't be customized to fit the Master AND slave's needs. The entire foundation of BDSM is built upon clear and open communication between all parties and the necessity of all participants giving their informed consent prior to anything happening. Something like "the dom's orders are absolute and even if the sub hates it they can't disobey" is purely a fictional concept. Which is fine, it's fiction, we can indulge in the taboo of it while understanding that it's only a fantasy and in reality it would not be healthy or sane. There's nothing wrong with enjoying the manga, just don't read it and think it's an accurate depiction of the Dom/sub dynamic. Okay, BDSM lesson over, i'm hopping off my soap box now.

Responses
    Roy February 13, 2021 5:18 pm

    This is accurate for the real world/real life.

    For Dom/sub universe stories though (which honestly is just similar to omegaverse sans commands) the sub physically cannot resist the dom's commands. While the universe uses real word everyday terms from BDSM, it is still very much encased in nonrealistic fictional elements such as needing to take suppressants, glares, not being able to hold off on release for too long, etc.

    mao February 15, 2021 11:00 am

    thank you for explaining it nicely!! when I saw that it was dom/sub universe, I got really confused because I know that's not how bdsm works and that the story seems to be making d/s seem a bit ,, forced(?) and was vv similar to omegaverse stories