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How To Be A Dom

It’s possible to enjoy your kinks in a way that not only makes you a gentleman but makes you more desirable to women.

Everyone has their own kinks, fetishes, fantasies, and desires. The degree in which you push these is the main thing that separates the freaks from the vanilla. The first step in all of this is to accept the kinks you have and begin to be honest and mature about them. If you are unable to have an open discussion about your fetishes, it’s almost certain you are not capable of exploring them safely.

I use the terms kink and fetish often in this article, and figure I should take a second to explain the subtle difference in the terms. A fetish is an abnormal desire (and that doesn’t have to be sexual). Fetish is always specific, while kink in general. Your kink encompasses all of your fetishes, but not the other way around. At the same time, a single fetish can be referred to as a kink.

While kink can come in any form or function, the vast majority of all kinks will either be something you do to someone else or something someone else does to you. Almost all of these scenarios involve a form of power play: someone is in control of the scene, making choices, and ensuring results.

This article is about being a Dom. A Dominant, also known as a Top, is always in control. Make no mistake, being a Dom is a lot of work and responsibility.

Why would any woman want to submit?

When examined on their own, a lot of the specific elements of kink are wrong, offensive, degrading, and/or humiliating. It’s common for people to question the motives and reasons behind doing these things, and these challenges should be encouraged. If you can’t explain why what you are doing is right, and rooted in respect, then you have no business doing these things in the first place.

The concept behind a power-exchange relationship is based on respect and the earnest desire to be a positive, healthy, mate. Pain, degradation, and humiliation are all tools used for emotional manipulation. When and how you use these tools depends on the reaction and result you intend from your sub.

A true Dom will degrade a sub because he respects them. A Dom sadist will hurt a sub because he loves them. At no point is it about anger, hate, or disgust.

By taking control, you are taking responsibility for the quality of the sex you are having. It is entirely on you for her to have a good time. If you are good at what you do, taking on this burden frees her up to do nothing more than experience and enjoy. She can entirely shut off her brain, and submit.

The truth of submission is in her submitting to herself, letting her need for control go and becoming entirely free. This amount of trust is not something to take lightly, if it scares you you should consider doing kinky things with your partner, but not going as far as to think of yourself as a Dom.

The power paradox

The fundamental concept around a Dominant & submissive relationship (D/s) is that the dominant is in control. They make the choices, they give the orders, and they deliver the punishments when appropriate.

The paradox is that even in the most extreme D/s relationships, the sub has the ultimate power. It is always up to her what is unacceptable, she always has the final say as to what you can or cannot do with or to her. The only choice a sub has to make in a full power exchange relationship is continuing to choose to give away her control and power. Make no mistake, no matter what the dynamics of your relationship this ultimate control must always be willfully given.

Mistakes are unacceptable

As a Dom, it is your job to be confidently in control of the situation at all times. You need to adopt the ideology that mistakes are unacceptable. This seems a contradiction, as no one ever intends to make a mistake, but somethings should not be done in practice until you are confident you can accomplish them with skill and precision. For example, you do not learn how to land an airplane through trial and error.

The job of a good Dom is to be pushing the limits and boundaries of his sub, without ever going too far and breaking them. You want to push them as hard as you can, with them yearning to come back and see you again when you are finished. If they don’t want to come back, you did not do your job well.

Just about every aspect of D/s and kink is dangerous, either physically or mentally. Just because you see something hot in a video doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to pull it out in the middle of a scene. The best way to ensure you don’t make any mistakes is to have an honest and open line of communication with your sub, long before playtime ever starts.

Honesty is not optional

When I say honestly, I don’t mean you don’t tell any big lies, I mean brutal, stark, brazen honesty.

You need to be honest with yourself: You need to know who you are, what you want, what you need, and what you don’t.

You need to be honest with your sub: You need to accurately relay what you want and need from them, and what you are capable of giving to them in return. It is never okay to tell them what you think they want to hear, you need to tell them only the truth, no matter how difficult it may be.

You need to ensure your sub is honest with you: It’s not enough to hear your sub tell you something, and then go on your merry way. You need to be sure what they are telling you is the truth. Breaking a sub’s limits by doing only what they said they wanted will leave them as hurt and broken as if you did what they said they didn’t.

It’s up to you to ensure you are working with accurate information.
I am not trying to say that a sub will lie to you, sure some may, but more often than not the sub will simply be ignorant of their own limits, needs, and desires. This isn’t an insult, it’s often impossible to know how you will react to a situation until you are in it. It’s not their fault, but it is always up to you to get it correct, regardless of what they might believe or have said.

When something does go wrong, it’s on you to handle it like a man. It’s your job to make sure they are calm, safe, and healthy and to discuss what just happened. You need to accept and own up to any of your own faults, and you need to provide boundless support and compassion. You should not expect to continue having fun that night, or possibly longer, depending on what she needs. This is your penance for the mistake, and you are never allowed to forget what is most important in all of this:

Everything is about her

Have no illusions: a Dom man should always be a gentleman first. While it is you making all choices and holding all control, you need to understand that everything you do is for and about her. Every choice you make needs to be the best choice for her, often this requires you to be selfless if you can’t handle that this dynamic is not for you.

For a sub to give away all control and power, they need to trust you and your choices implicitly. To gain this level of trust you need to prove, with every choice you make, that she will be rewarded for putting her trust in you. Everything you do should be done for a reason, and that reason should always be positive for your pet.

Have pride and show no regrets

At the onset of this article, I claimed that your kinks can make you more attractive to women. The key in this is you first have to be a good man, and good at what you do. If you are a Dom you need to be confident you are a good Dom, you need to be proud of who you are and what you can do.

If this is true, you are capable of showing pride and confidence in your ability as a Dom, and through that gain inherit respect as a man and a lover. You should never hide from your perversions, you should always be proud. This doesn’t mean you should advertise it, but when the topic comes up, or the moment is correct to bring it up, you have the ability to ooze confidence along with intrigue and appeal.

Most men are too afraid to talk about sex, at all. By you saying, earnestly, “I am sexually dominant” you have created a line of conversation too appealing to ignore. By having the ability to answer any of her questions (when in doubt, be honest) you will become irresistible to a woman who shares your kinks.

If a woman can describe you as intriguing, exciting, and confident, you are doing very well. Obviously your kink will deter some women, but this shouldn’t bother you. Any woman who is turned off by your honest self is clearly not a fit for you. Be polite, do not attack or offend, and move on.

Final Random Toy Tips

If you start to take your kink seriously, you are going to end up with an assortment of toys, tools, and props. Treat this with respect, and follow these tips:

Know how to use your toys properly, their limits, and all applicable safety measures.

Clean all toys before and after every use.

Keep toys organized and stored properly, like a mechanic’s tools. They are not all thrown into a pile somewhere.

Keep all locks locked (including handcuffs) at all times. This way you will always be sure you have the keys before using the item.

Don’t hide your toys away. If you are proud of what you do, you will have no reason to hide your tools. At the same time, you don’t see a mechanic storing his wrenches on the mantle. Have pride, but don’t flaunt.

A final note: if you are doing anything kinky or even remotely dangerous, be sure to have a safe word. The majority of the kink community uses Yellow (for slow down, ease off) and Red (for stop right now, this is bad).

Submission comes in many forms. The sexual submissive, the SAM, (Smart Ass Masochist) the slave, the bottom that thinks they are a submissive, and the submissive that thinks they are a slave. No matter what one calls themselves or what brand of submission they practice, there is one thing that remains a constant within the great circle of Dominance and submission; it’s the submissive’s bottom which lay bared and blushed for all the world to see. It is the submissive who is tied to the bed, cuffed to the St. Andrews cross, suspended from the ceiling, and at the business end of the single tail. Hence, it is the submissive that suffers whenever there is inexperience, negligence, incompetence, skullduggery, or just a freak accident.

Furthermore, it is this vulnerability that many submissives crave. Given the aforementioned facts and the need for submissives to be happy, healthy, and safe, I pose this question: What can a submissive do to satisfy their need to submit while also addressing the need for physical, emotional, and intellectual security?

Just as my previous article, Standards For Dominance, speaks to the fact that there are no established guidelines for dominant behavior on which the majority of “safe sane” members of our community agree, neither are there guidelines for submissives to refer to before agreeing to submit.

I am in no position to prescribe methods by which to submit as I have yet to submit myself. I offer these humble suggestions with my only credential being that I have been and ever shall be a Dominant advocate for submissives. I have saved submissives from dangerous scenes in dungeons (and been thanked profusely for it) I have defended submissives in chat rooms, and I have written numerous articles about submissive rights. While I have never “submitted,” I have bottomed on countless occasions, garnering respect and empathy for those without whom dominance is moot.

I would like to preface the following comments by acknowledging the submissive whose sole goal in life is to please and obey their Mistress/Master/Dominant with no regard for their personal choices, needs, or feelings. With all respect for that choice, this article is written for the submissive who requires the terms of their submission to include provisions for his or her mental, physical, and emotional health, well-being, and happiness.

In my humble opinion, the tenets of safe submission are these:

Know yourself and articulate what you want
Don’t settle
Have a formal agreement
Get out of the relationship if your agreement is breached.

The reason what we do is referred to as power “exchange” is because each party should get something out of the arrangement. To know yourself and be able to articulate what you want is the first step to ensuring that you are happy with what you get, assuming that is your goal. A submissive must know what makes them want to submit, under what terms they will submit, and what qualities they look for in a Dominant to whom they will submit.

The submissive who has not asked and answered the questions why, under what terms, and to whom is not yet ready to be in a D/s relationship. This submissive is destined to be a victim of their ignorance of themselves. Furthermore, if you ask yourself why you want to submit, and the answer is that you don’t like yourself, you have low self-esteem, or you need to be punished for wrongs you have committed in your past, this does not constitute a need to submit. These answers are indicative of someone who requires professional therapy before they are ready to consider the D/s lifestyle.

It is important to know what to look for in and expect from a Dominant. In the article Standards For Dominance, I cite the tenets of Dominance as these:

Honor (and respect)
Knowledge, both of the lifestyle and of any submissives
Responsibility

Detailed explanations of these qualities as they refer to Dominants are offered in the aforementioned article. In my opinion, these are the bare minimum personality traits required to be a good Dominant. If a potential Dominant is weak in any or all of these essential Dominant traits, no amount of love, service, devotion, or nurturing can change this. If a submissive settles for a Dominant lacking in these areas, they are jeopardizing their physical and emotional well-being to do so.

Many of the submissives with whom I am acquainted express a need, a hunger to submit to another’s will, to serve, to please, and to acquiesce to domination. These are fine qualities in a submissive, to be sure, unless this need drives them to pursue being dominated beyond reason and intuition. When Dominants and submissives meet, there is a tendency for them to assume their natural roles. Many submissives start to submit right from the beginning. If the submissive has begun to submit before there is an agreement in place, it becomes difficult for the submissive to advocate for themselves when building the parameters for their D/s relationship.

Submission is an extremely fluid concept. The submissive who simply submits without knowing what constitutes submission in the mind of the potential Dominant and does not define boundaries and limitations that ensure their physical and emotional well-being has given away their power and is left with nothing to exchange.

Dominants, like most humans, value that which is earned, and possessions obtained easily are deemed of lesser value. The mistake many submissives make is believing that submission equals powerlessness in the eyes of a Dominant. There is a difference between being powerless and having a power exchange.

It is the insecure or nefarious Dominant that wants their submissives to be powerless. As a Dominant, I want my submissives to be as powerful as they can be. This makes the gift of their power more valuable and makes us formidable as a unit. A Dominant’s “job” is to give a submissive a secure place to express themselves as a submissive. A truly fine Dominant will help their submissive be more powerful in the other sections of his or her life.

A submissive needs to remember that they are not a Dominant’s submissive, subject to their will, until they have agreed to be so. BEFORE a submissive agrees to submit, they need to know exactly what they are getting into. The parameters of the relationship need to be defined, and the submissive’s needs, wants, hopes, desires, and hard and soft limits must be clearly stated.

Somehow, the rumor got started that when things are “right,” the other person “just knows” what someone wants. This is bullshit of the first order! If you have not told someone what you need and you don’t get it…It’s your fault. There is no need for this to be a confrontational or adversarial process. A submissive can express their requirements with respectful passion, and a good Dominant understands their responsibilities for a submissive’s safety, well-being, training, and pleasure (See Standards for Dominance for details on the responsibilities of Dominants). They need this information to execute these responsibilities.

Many D/s couples negotiate terms and sign a formal written contract to formalize the process. This contract has no “legal” bearing whatsoever. It is in place to remind the partners of what they agreed to do. Done correctly, this can be a bonding experience as it symbolizes a commitment.

Many forms of D/s relationships are less formal. Certainly, partners can deepen and strengthen their commitment in stages or not at all. Whatever partners expect from one another, whether it is for a single scene or a lifetime commitment, must have defined parameters. It is these parameters that give a submissives the power to choose the general direction of their submission. Once an agreement is struck, the submissive can submit freely, leaving the details of how they arrive at a destination to their honorable, knowledgeable, and responsible Dominant.

I see the words “A submissive is not a doormat” constantly. But only when submissives don’t act like doormats do these high-minded words have teeth. If a “Dominant” is not honorable, knowledgeable, and responsible, if they do not respect your agreements and you remain in that situation, you are acting like a doormat, and you will continue to be treated as such.

The great circle that is Dominance and submission requires both in tandem to be more than just an idea, but a lifestyle. When D/s players work in tandem, they can build a healthy, happy existence for all concerned. The good Dominant respects and values the submissive, who respects and values themselves. It is this respect and value of your submission that is the essence of the power that you exchange. Cherish and nurture your submissive power and give it only to those who earn this precious gift.


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