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What do you call yourself in this lifestyle, (Master, Mistress, submissive, slave, switch, etc…), and why? Define your role and if possible, tell why or how you came to this definition.

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ORIGINAL: BitaTruble
I wonder if those who speak these words would ever utter such things like.. 'you don't have to pray five times a day' to a devout Muslim. Or, 'have a ham sandwich, it's not illegal' to one of the Jewish persuasion. Such would not only be rude, but disrespectful of their chosen faith. Wars have been started for less insult. Not praying and ham sandwiches are fine for some, but for those of certain faiths they 'are' illegal actions and inactions and their faith decrees that such is something which they must do or not do. Shall the Jewish man commit a sin for a slice of bacon because to suggest to him he have that for breakfast is exactly what you are asking him to do. To suggest to this collared slave that she has such a power to dictate the terms of her slavery is no different. You are intruding into her faith and beliefs. My spirituality is very much a part of my S/m M/s life.. it's power cannot be separated. My faith in what slavery means to me and how I practice it's rituals and how those effect my spiritual well-being is as much a part of me as my motherhood and both are sacrosanct. To offer me a choice is to offer the Jewish man bacon. Such offers are politely declined by the laws under which I have chosen to live. I choose S/m as a way of expression and D/s as a method of interaction ... Master choose M/s as a way of life.

Power and faith in BDSM are the hallmarks of my strength to serve and please Master. The power he holds is power he took. There was no tacit agreement, no consent between the capture of my power and his ability to take such from me. He wanted such for his own then set about the taking of it through his stability and consistent action. I do not have the power to walk away unless there comes a time when Master returns that power to me.. such is my faith in him, my belief in slavery and my devotion to the life I have chosen to live. I do not hold others or expect others to believe as I believe any more than the Jewish man expects others to give up bacon thus, I am called slave by the only one whose opinions count ... and that is Master.

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ORIGINAL: Cloudz

To quote Ms. Morrisette;

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And that's fine misty, W/we like the way you think. I don't know many who really do want a doormat. I consider it a fine trait, no matter what you identify as, to have a thought process capable of formulating original ideas. This to me has little to do with submission, being a slave, a top, a bottom, a Dominant or anything else, it is necessary to create that individualism that sets you apart from everyone else.

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Not to split hairs here, but before you go telling people that they are not "literal* slaves, I could point out that, if you live in the United States and many other countries in the world, you too are not a literal slave. You can wrap it and contract it and legal verbiage it any way you want, but at the end of the day, you can walk away and no court in the land will return you to your master if you decide you want out. It's still consensual, any way you swing it.

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ORIGINAL: twicehappy
Before I get an overload of irate responses, no one is stopping people in other types of relationship calling themselves anything they like. However, if they're not literal slaves then i do not see how they can reasonably claim to be such (rather than making perfectly accurate statements that they like to be treated as a slave, to serve as a slave, to roleplay life as a slave or whatever other aspect of the idea of slavery they enjoy.)

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ORIGINAL: BitaTruble

To suggest to this collared slave that she has such a power to dictate the terms of her slavery is no different. You are intruding into her faith and beliefs. My spirituality is very much a part of my S/m M/s life.. it's power cannot be separated. My faith in what slavery means to me and how I practice it's rituals and how those effect my spiritual well-being is as much a part of me as my motherhood and both are sacrosanct.

Celeste

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. As for myself, i'm the furthest thing from a slave that there can be. I think to much, I speak to much, I feel to much, I want to much, I need to much.

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ORIGINAL: LadyMorgynn
Not to split hairs here, but before you go telling people that they are not "literal* slaves, I could point out that, if you live in the United States and many other countries in the world, you too are not a literal slave. You can wrap it and contract it and legal verbiage it any way you want, but at the end of the day, you can walk away and no court in the land will return you to your master if you decide you want out. It's still consensual, any way you swing it.

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My Karma Account is huge, but I just can't seem to make a withdrawal!!

http://cinful.wordpress.com

(in reply to twicehappy)

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I do not have the power to walk away unless there comes a time when Master returns that power to me.

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To address the form of slavery as it applies to some here, there are definitions which do fit—specfically the existence of slavery that isn't relegated to chattel definition. In short, a human being who, by entering upon initial consent, is made to be excessively dependant upon, subject to and controlled entirely by another.

But as I pull my head away from all this cold, technical diarrhea of the keyboard, I realize that no matter how needle accurate our litigious and cognitive squabblings inevitably become on this matter, they dismiss an entire world of psychological, physiological and spiritual dimension fathomlessly present in this idealized slave; an experiential essence which transcends the rote mantras argued endlessly and without resolve. That these experiences in unison serve as a bond stronger than chain, that inevitably what is stronger than law or sword are convictions and ideas in one's own mind. One who denies the sincerity of these bonds likewise dismisses the reality of countless souls—be they soldiers, civilians, acolytes, servants or slaves—who have died defending a belief, a conviction, an idea or way of life. That one's inability to comprehend these depths and trappings of the human mind and soul due to their own crassly voluptuous cynicism, cultural brainwashing, frivolity or ignorance does not mean they do not exist.

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I am curious... in what manners so you see that your Master could return that power to you? This of course is an event this not probable.. but possible even if odds are comparable to that of winning the lottery, I hope you never win the lottery *G*