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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Dom/sub relationships

262 replies

Difflifestyle · 10/01/2020 10:03

Hi

Myself and my partner are in a D/S relationship, Male Dom, female sub.

This is a lifestyle choice, not just the bedroom antics, harks back to early traditions, men being men, women being women etc. We are both committed and consenting to this.

We are interested to know, if one of your family or friends told you they were doing this what would your reaction be?

OP posts:
naughtycherub2015 · 11/01/2020 20:00

Coming to the end of my divorce, in Court early December and got Financial Dispute Resolution (FDR) order, directing joint conduct of sale of family home amongst other things. Ex has already breached order. Going back to court to apply for sole conduct of sale so that I can sort out without him. Anyone know how to get court to expedite quickly and what court to go to?

CodenameVillanelle · 11/01/2020 20:03

You need to start a new thread cherub

LemonPrism · 11/01/2020 21:36

I hope none of my family members would tell me about their fetishes

Bluntness100 · 11/01/2020 22:00

I think people are focusing heavily on the sexual element, but the op lives more than that, she lives her life outside the bedroom like it, as do others, one poster has even told us she doesn't like to even choose what she wishes to eat. A kink in the bedroom is one thing, living your entire life like this is something else entirely.

As per many others, I'd also be hugely concerned if my Daughter told me this was how she wished to live, that she didn't even like to chose what she ate, she wished to be controlled to this extent. Fortunately I can't imagine such a scenario.

Luckystar777 · 12/01/2020 00:56

It just sounds stupid, and I'd wonder why you want to live like that.

Nuttyfellalovesnutella · 12/01/2020 01:05

Haven’t read the replies but a woman who says it’s her choice to be sub is like an Islamic woman who says it’s her choice to cover up and wear a full veil while her husband doesn’t have to cover his hair/face.

IvinghoeBeacon · 12/01/2020 07:08

“ I think people are focusing heavily on the sexual element, but the op lives more than that, she lives her life outside the bedroom like it”

IME it is the other way around - you are failing to realise that the “life outside the bedroom” all feeds into the sexual element. The whole point is that it doesnt just stay in the bedroom. That’s why it is so unpleasant for other people to be drawn into it. It’s played out frequently enough by “D/s” OPs started threads on here for kicks, and there are people on this thread who are part of the scene who have acknowledged that the OP overstepped the mark (perhaps deliberately). The onus is on people who want to have relationships like this to be very honest with themselves about their motives wrt discussing/exposing people outside the relationship. The posters who are minimising this concern really need to have a good think

TheFoxAndTheMole · 12/01/2020 09:38

Nuttyfellalovesnutella

Haven’t read the replies but a woman who says it’s her choice to be sub is like an Islamic woman who says it’s her choice to cover up and wear a full veil while her husband doesn’t have to cover his hair/face

Oh for goodness sake no it's not.

solpetyie · 12/01/2020 21:19

@TheBlueStocking having control over your life including relatively minor decisions such as what to eat is a pre requisite to being psychologically healthy. That is obviously a simple way of putting it, but if you don't accept that you could look into it yourself, look into why it is thought that, look into the significance of choices, what it is considered to mean to be psychologically healthy.

I wonder whether for some subs who have powerful jobs it roots back to childhood, being given the narrative that one could not be a powerful person who makes "high profile" decisions all the time - ALL the time - and so though some subs have fallen naturally into a career where they have control and power, they feel they need to offset it a bit in their private life by being sub in their private life. I have no idea whether this applies to you, obviously, but your phrase "ugh that is disgusting" does sound childlike to me as though this is part of harking back. I may have gone over the line in saying that though, if so apologies.

The women I know who have teetered on the edge of sub have done so because they were sexually abused as children and they associated sex and relationships with being sub. Some then broke through that by changing how they thought about things consciously - setting new pathways meaning that they went on to see sex as an equal thing, getting rid of the d/s narrative entirely.

I wonder if any kind of kink is to do with avoiding emotional intimacy as I cannot see how you can have both at the same time, in any genuine sense - how can you deeply love someone and want the best for them and still enjoy subjugating them? Or people who have been brought up to not even know what emotional intimacy is, like a pp said, being attracted to this lifestyle because of its familiarity, not realising what they are missing out on.

I don't think that this is about feminism, it is about humanity, free will, respect for ourselves and others. Many adults make unhealthy choices - smoking, alchohol, too much food - and i am not going to judge at all if both are consenting adults. If someone told me eating something bad for me is not healthy choice I would ignore them. Though not every unhealthy choice is born equal obviously.

As for the past - men being men, women being women - up until relatively recently in our culture women could not do certain jobs, own property, vote, be educated beyond a certain level - back in the day when you think it was not taboo - and you are wrong, historically, I feel - you would have had no choice but to be subjugated to some extent - in fact, instead it was taboo to question that and want an education and a high pressure career.

So bottom line - it is your choice, it may be something to do with you wanting control even, same as your choice of career. But I would die a thousand deaths if my dc chose either d or s, I would see it as my fault and that i had failed them. Maybe I am more judgemental than I thought I was.

TheBlueStocking · 13/01/2020 13:28

@solpetyie

I certainly am aware that some people fall into patterns of wanting to be submissive because it helps them deal with previous sexual assault in a way they feel in control of. Again, it's very important to understand that the submissive does have the higher level of control in the situation, which is why it provides that feeling of safety and reassurance. But for myself personally, I didn't experience that type of abuse in childhood. I think it's a sexual preference. I think it's one that is often condemned by people. But I don't consider it to be harmful, unless there are other issues in the relationship.

LexMitior · 13/01/2020 14:18

I think there are a few name changers on this thread. And I also think there is bug in the software so that I can see your more commonly used name if you are posting from the same IP.

While it’s interesting to link two posting names, it’s not very private so perhaps that needs to be checked with MN admin?

solpetyie · 13/01/2020 14:57

@lexmitior can you see my usual name? thanks

@TheBlueStocking thanks for your reply.

LexMitior · 13/01/2020 15:08

@solpetyie

I get messages confirming another name has posted on the thread. They haven’t so I think the code is buggy and telling me your other name. May be worth checking with MN to maintain privacy.

solpetyie · 13/01/2020 15:17

Thanks - would you mind PMing me with the other name? Thanks!

BlueRussianCat · 13/01/2020 15:30

Subs do have more power in a healthy BDSM relationship, as they are the ones who timately get to set "the rules" of the relationship - they set the parameters for what they are comfortable with, and what is off the table. Subs have codes they discuss with their Dom, and when the code is spoken then whatever activity that is taking place that has made the Sub uncomfortable ends. Doms only get power to do what the Sub allows them to, what the Sub wants.

Amaretto · 13/01/2020 15:32

@LexMitior, can you see that people have name changed and what their 'real name' is?!?

Bloddy hell that's a massive issue!!

BlueRussianCat · 13/01/2020 15:33

Please note I said "healthy", obviously if the Sub has power taken away from then it becomes sexual and emotional abuse, not a D/S relationship.

solpetyie · 13/01/2020 16:51

@bluerussiancat I think that where a couple of posters have described a d/s dynamic where the sub has control and are enjoying it, other posters who have experience of the scene have said is that that is rare/not always, that it is more common that there is hidden abuse or grooming. It partly comes down to what people see as abusive, I guess. To me, as an outsider, the dynamic described at the party upthread sounds like abuse.

@lexmitior thank you for the email @ameretto it wasn't my username so it sounds like mix ups generally. A bit worrying!

TheBlueStocking · 13/01/2020 17:27

@solpetyie

The issue is that you can see examples of abusive behaviour on almost every single thread raised on the relationships board. If someone wants to be abusive, they will be.

The fortunate thing about being willing to be open minded and knowledgeable about these sorts of relationships means that you are in a position to say to your friend when you feel something has gone into abusive territory. A lot of people here have said they would laugh at or cut a friend off. That's a potential support network removed because of prejudice.

RLEOM · 13/01/2020 23:45

How would your partner feel if you didn't want to live like this anymore? Would he be OK and live a "normal", equal life?

Please don't have children with this man. This is not a healthy environment for a child.

As for your original question: I would be very concerned if my sister was being controlled in ever aspect of her life. I would question both of their mental health.

Interestedwoman · 14/01/2020 08:48

'Subs have codes they discuss with their Dom, and when the code is spoken then whatever activity that is taking place that has made the Sub uncomfortable ends.'

If they're lucky.

I don't like that some people are claiming someone shouldn't have kids if they have this preference. It wouldn't effect someone's ability to parent.

Sarahlou63 · 14/01/2020 09:36

But I would die a thousand deaths if my dc chose either d or s, I would see it as my fault and that i had failed them.

That's crazy! Being 'kinky' or having a fetish is something that's hardwired into you and not a choice. You can chose to explore the lifestyle or not but you can't change the fundamentals of who you are.

CodenameVillanelle · 14/01/2020 10:33

I don't like that some people are claiming someone shouldn't have kids if they have this preference. It wouldn't effect someone's ability to parent.

It would be highly irresponsible to bring children into a relationship where the man makes all the decisions for the woman as part of a BDSM dynamic. It's a lifestyle that is fuelled by sexual kink.

CodenameVillanelle · 14/01/2020 10:36

That's crazy! Being 'kinky' or having a fetish is something that's hardwired into you and not a choice.

That's by no means accepted fact. I would hypothesise, from my extensive understanding of human psychology and emotional development, that sexual fetishes develop throughout the life course rather than anything innate.

TheBlueStocking · 14/01/2020 10:47

That's by no means accepted fact. I would hypothesise, from my extensive understanding of human psychology and emotional development, that sexual fetishes develop throughout the life course rather than anything innate

Still doesn't make it an irrefutable fact.