|
jthaddeus -> RE: Master is Servant (7/17/2010 4:26:05 PM)
|
Hello,
This thread seems to be rather well timed for me, I just finished a journal entry on comparing the roles of Uke and Nage in Aikido to Doms and Subs, or Tops and Bottoms, trying to examine who is really in control, who is doing the teaching, and where the center of attention is. One thing I had not considered was who was "doing the work". In the military, there's a saying amongst NCO's, that's become almost a trope "Don't call me Sir, I work for a living!" Where the enlisted soldier tries to imply that he does more work than the Officer. In any normal metric, he might. He's the one doing the dishes, servicing the aircraft, shooting people, and trying to disarm IEDs, depending on his MOS. But what of the Officer? The officer is faced with a number of much greater questions. He must decide what to do and how and when. He must decide how to best lead his men. He must understand the nature of people, and be able to work with it to comfort and sustain his soldiers, through strong leadership and rigid discipline. Another common, if aging saying of the enlisted was coined by Lord Alfred Tennyson in "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "Theirs is not to reason why, theirs is just to do or die."
To compare these two is silly. They are different things, both demanding, both of which one can do well, or do poorly, and both of which require great sacrifice, great courage, and great character. Neither is effective, or even complete without the other, and as others have stated, the art is in the interaction betwixt them.
The question I found more interesting was one the OP twigged on to for just a second, asking who is serving who? Who is the teacher and who is the student? Who initiates, and who is in control?
I find the use of safewords to be really interesting. In the "textbook" usage of safewords, it is the sub or slave who really holds the most totalitarian control over a situation. I've known Masters, however, who attach consequence to safeword usage. "you use a safeword, that's fine, that's your right. But then scenes over, no second chance, and no more play for a month" or in one case a far more severe "The safeword is yours to use, but the first time you use it, you have removed yourself from my power, so our relationship is over, and you go home" Years into a relationship, well, the power is still in the "s"'s hands to some degree, but it is the Master or Dom who has really established the control and the bounds of the environment.
Now, I don't think the above is necessary, practical, or even advantageous for any but a few very specific situations. It would have little effect for play dates and scenes which will be over at the end of the night anyway, and it would be impractical for a dedicated couple who may have a similar rule in place under normal circumstances to use it in a situation where the "s"'s life is dependent on clear and immediate feedback, but it served as a great tool for me to reexamine the nature of a Power Exchange relationship.
I have a number of other similar observations, which I believe DO relate to this post, but I've already posted them to a journal entry, which I'd like to paste in here, but I'm not sure if that's proper netiquette, so if someone could advise me, I would appreciate it.
Thanks.
- j.
|
|
|
|
