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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).
1 week ago. Friday, February 20, 2026 at 1:48 PM

Sexual gratification is not always an essential element of BDSM.

Sex is a common motivator for engaging in BDSM.

However, BDSM can also provide non-sexual fulfillment, serving as a form of play or leisure.

The more heavily involved one is in the BDSM scene, the more likely one is to say that BDSM is non-sexual.

When we see BDSM discussed or mentioned in the popular media, it is often referenced as a sexual activity. In other words, it’s largely seen as something that people only do for sexual arousal or pleasure, a la Fifty Shades of Grey.

But is BDSM always sexual? Not necessarily.

BDSM Can Be Fulfilling in Non-Sexual Ways

People sometimes engage in BDSM activities for non-sexual fulfillment. One example of this is ‘pup play,’ a form of role-playing in which an adult human adopts the appearance and characteristics of a dog. This often involves a dominant-submissive dynamic where the ‘pup’ plays a submissive role to a dominant ‘owner’ or ‘master.’ Research on people who engage in this activity finds that, while it often leads to sexual gratification, it can also be a form of play, leisure, and relaxation in and of itself.

But what proportion of the time is BDSM in general sexual versus non-sexual? That question was the subject of a recent paper published in the journal Sexualities. This study involved a survey of 1,642 pansexual BDSM practitioners (a group that often refers to themselves as kinksters) who were asked about the relationship they see between BDSM and sex in their own lives.

Participants were asked about their reasons for engaging in BDSM, including whether they do it for purposes of sexual arousal and pleasure. Overall, 92 percent reported sex as one of their motivations for engaging in this activity; however, those who were the least involved in the BDSM scene were more likely to report this motive than those who were the most involved (94 percent vs. 88 percent, respectively).

How Much of the Time Is BDSM Sexual Vs. Non-Sexual?

Participants were also asked about the amount of time that BDSM activities are sexual vs. non-sexual for them. Again, the answer depended on how involved they were in the BDSM scene:

For those with low involvement, 83 percent said that BDSM is mostly sexual, 15 percent said it was mostly non-sexual, and 2 percent said it’s equally sexual and non-sexual.

For those with moderate involvement, 73 percent said that BDSM is mostly sexual, 24 percent said it was mostly non-sexual, and 3 percent said it’s equally sexual and non-sexual.'

For those with high involvement, 61 percent said that BDSM is mostly sexual, 35 percent said it was mostly non-sexual, and 4 percent said it’s equally sexual and non-sexual.

While a majority of all participants said that BDSM is sexual more often than not, the more involved people were in the BDSM scene, the more likely they were to practice non-sexual forms of BDSM.

Why is that? “The scene encourages kinksters to view BDSM as less sexual and to filter for the kinds of people who view BDSM less sexually.” It is important to note that BDSM playspaces often have formal rules and informal norms that de-sexualize them to some degree.

This may be due, in part, to a desire by some to remove the “dirty” connotations that are associated with sex in general and show that BDSM, in and of itself, has social value. However, it may also be because, over time, people engaged in BDSM learn to draw other personal meaning from it.

Of course, there’s also a possible selection effect: maybe those who get most involved in the scene saw BDSM as less sexual to begin with. For example, these individuals may have always drawn more personal meaning from BDSM.

It’s also worth mentioning that it is possible to be asexual and into BDSM, and research has shown that some asexual people form non-sexual relationships through BDSM participation. If people who are drawn to BDSM for more non-sexual reasons are disproportionately likely to get highly involved in the scene, this could help to explain the effect.

Takeaways

It is important to reiterate that the findings from this study come specifically from the pansexual BDSM scene, which is not the only BDSM scene that exists. It is therefore important to explore whether the same pattern would emerge, for example, in the gay and lesbian BDSM scenes.

While we shouldn’t generalize broadly to all BDSM practitioners from these findings, the key takeaway is really that while BDSM participation seems to have sexual elements more often than not, BDSM is a non-sexual experience for at least some individuals. As a result, future research on BDSM would benefit from more consideration of the factors that draw people to it and how this may evolve and change over time.


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