undergroundsea
Posts: 2400
Joined: 6/27/2004 From: Austin, TX Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: thetammyjo If it is good for one person to experience another role so that they gain insight why isn't it just as valid for the other person to reverse roles? Why isn't it common to tell bottoms/subs to top/dom? What does the fact that as a community was not common to tell bottoms to top but it was promoted as as LadyHugs has revealed required in some circles for tops to bottom even submit first, reveal about the attitudes toward the roles? Thank you for elaborating. I feel I have not conveyed the essence of my question, to which I will return later in this post. Regarding your questions above, I expect that switches or major domos would say that having to top or dominate others has given insights for their role as a submissive. I think subs or bottoms could gain insights about the other role if they experienced the other role but here also it is not necessary to do so. I am not sure why as a community it was or is not common to tell bottoms to top. Here are two ideas. In older days, there was a difference in social status between subs and dominants, and for a bottom to assume the role of a top without going through what was considered a process to earn the status might have conflicted with the culture. This culture derived many of its principles from the heirarchies in the military where one starts at the bottom and earns the higher ranks. Even within the tops there were heirarchies based on seniority. Thus, that bottoms were not expected to top may have stemmed from the culture then. Also, what would a sub or bottom learn by experiencing the opposite role? I think the insights would mostly be an appreciation or understanding of what a dominant faces: the burden of creativity, responsibility, energy required, techniques required, effects of whining, what it is like to be served, what it is like to be served too much, what information does the dominant need from the submissive, etc. Perhaps such insights can be had more easily through communication and everyday life experiences alone. In any case, I do not suggest it is required for tops/doms to do the opposite role. If that idea--that it is required--frustrates you, fair enough. I oppose it as well. I also say if someone wants to try the opposite role to learn, they will likely gain insights and it is fair enough for them to do so. Some people think the whole idea of trying to gain insights this way is BS, with which I disagree. In this discussion, the OP bottomed to a bondage experience to gain insights towards topping. There is potential to acquire new insights, which is a potential benefit. If she chose to do it, what harm is there to be had from her experience that will outweigh this potential for benefit? To clarify my question to which I said I would return, I understand it is uncommon to suggest that bottoms should top. What exactly does it mean to say that bottoms are not asked to top? Are you saying that bottoms should also be asked to top? I expect not. If I am correct then are you saying the reason that tops should not bottom is because bottoms are not asked to top? Are you saying that because bottoms are not asked to top there must be no benefit in experiencing the role of the other? If so, I don't see the strength of argument there. I don't see how one convincingly leads to the other. Why not judge the idea on its own merit--whether a top can gain any insight from a bottoming experience--rather than ask why bottoms are not asked to do it? There are reasons I and others have presented for what benefit a top might have by experiencing the other role. Why not discuss the merit or not of those reasons as the basis of the discussion? To me, the question is not that if bottoms are not asked to top, should tops be asked to bottom? To me, the question is whether any benefit is to be had by understanding more or gaining insights about the experience of the other side. To me, the answer to this question is yes. To me, experiencing the role of the other--however briefly or not--is one way to gain such insights. Thus, to me having such an experience can bring value. Cheers, Sea
< Message edited by undergroundsea -- 12/18/2007 4:35:27 PM >
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