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Najakcharmer -> RE: slaves being broken (5/16/2006 10:59:55 AM)
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ORIGINAL: KittenWithaTwist
I've never heard of "breaking" being used successfully in my community. I first heard of the term online, and only online people pushed the concept. To my knowledge, not a single one of my D/s friends (some who have been participating in D/s relationships for upwards of 10 or 15 years) has ever seen or done a "breaking" as part of their relationships.
I have seen "slave breaking" attempted several times, and I have also seen a number of public collaring/branding/piercing/cutting enslavement ceremonies that I believe were inspired by this underlying psychological theme. The belief, whether consciously stated or not, seems to be that the "violent rite of heirarchical initiation", the intensity of the SM experience, will flip a switch of sorts in the submissive's mind and make him or her more profoundly submissive, more profoundly enslaved.
Does it work? Yes and no. Again let us return to our primate origins for insight, and look to our parallels and counterparts among primate troops and youth gangs. A newly submissive member of a chimpanzee troop who is "taught his place" will be effectively cowed for a time, but it is rare that he will be a permanent omega in status unless that is his basic nature to begin with. A "gang banged" inductee into a youth gang may well be its dominant leader in a few years, after proving himself with suitably bold deeds that are disapproved of by the outside world. The violent rite of heirarchical initiation is highly effective among primates as a fluid social dynamic, but not as a permanent on or off switch for any specific behavior. The "violent heirarchical initiation" is a useful induction tool, but it is not a realistic expectation that its effects will persist in the absence of consistent day to day reinforcement, or in the presence of a basically non submissive personality.
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I'm not sure why you keep thinking that being harshly abused until past the point where you cannot handle it is a good thing. Perhaps you've never felt abuse before on a physical or mental level. It isn't fun. It isn't romantic. It isn't prideful. I've been pushed past a comfortable limit in play with my partner. It makes me sad. It's hard to stand up and it's hard to say "Stop" and it's hard to stop crying fitfully. I can't even turn to my partner and say "Help me" because I'm so far gone.
For some, this "space beyond subspace" becomes a transcendant experience that they specifically seek for various personal reasons. I have "service topped" a number of people into this extreme place, generally at their request. In two cases it was to help them integrate a negative life experience into a positive lifestyle choice; these were former Vietnam veterans who had experienced nonconsensual captivity. In another case it was more of a spiritual or shamanic initiation, and the bottom was seeking an "out of body" experience to help them gain spiritual perspective. This theme can also be seen in a number of primitive societies, such as the fakirs of India with skewers through their cheeks that transport them to an ecstatic state, or the Native American pole dance where braves seeking to break through the barriers between flesh and the spirit world hung themselves from piercings by hooks and pulled them free, dancing.
Make no mistake: this is highly, highly advanced play, and it is NOT RECOMMENDED for everyone. One of my recurring nightmares is to have somebody turn to me and say brightly, "But what could possibly go wrong with this red-hot branding iron scene with inverted nipple ring suspension? I've read three whole books by John Norman...." I don't want to sound like an elitist, but I get worried when I hear about people playing on this level unless I am confident that they have an extremely high level of competence with the human body and psyche. And even then, confidence is not always enough.
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Does that sound fun? It isn't. Trust me. You're not taking something for your dominant. You're being hurt and abused.
Depends on the individual and the situation. I've agreed to take people to that "space beyond subspace" several times, but only once was it for the purpose of deepening my D/s relationship. The other times I was acting as a service top, a shaman, a healer, a priest, a guide to someone else's inner space. It really depends on the individuals involved and their goals and agendas.
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