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It's not a Dominant thing. I don't even think it's a woman thing.

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ORIGINAL: FelineRanger
The academic analysis of the word is here and there are several other definitions here. Personally, I think the term is highly unnecessary and i agree with one of the comments under the Collins Dictionary entry that says "What's wrong with saying you're attracted to intelligence?" Beyond that, by specifically mentioning female dominants and male submissives, the OP comes off like an attempt at a subtle personal ad.

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ORIGINAL: betataster
Didn't mean to imply that you personally thought it was a silly made up word, that was just something I came across online when I researched the term.

Okay, you're getting into the meat of the matter, at least part of it being male vs female wiring. Another part of it, and you could addresses this as a Domme, has to do with what a Domme vs a vanilla female is looking for in a man. I see profiles where the Domme makes a point that they're not all that interested in appearance, and not just the ones that are looking to extract cash, while many non-professional Dommes have strict appearance requirements, perhaps because they so outnumber prospective subs that they can afford to be very selective.

I'm more of the mind that it's important to remember that Dominant women are still women first. We aren't terribly different than our vanilla counterparts in most areas of life. You're not usually going to find vanilla women looking for qualities like obedience, surrender, and compliance in potential mates but common characteristics like intelligence, empathy, and trustworthiness are going to be important to most people no matter how they classify themselves.

I don't have a strict appearance requirement because I do place certain personality characteristics above that. You could take all of the avatars of people away from this site and I'd still be able to tell you who I thought were the top ten submissive males that I thought were attractive based on everything but their physical appearance. On a good day, I'll even flirt.

On a site like this, yes. I would tell you that you are absolutely in competition with other male subs because the Fem Dom to male sub ratio is very skewed in the favor of women. As you are here longer, you will see this evidenced on the forums. How that competition translates to any individual Dominant woman has to do with how she prioritizes what qualities are important to her. It's a matter of getting to know people.

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ORIGINAL: betataster

Are dominant females often sapiosexual? Are they attracted very much to an intelligent submissive?

None of us can speak for all or most Dominant women. Like LadyPact stated, "it's important to remember that Dominant women are still women first." Ironically, this is what many submissive males forget (mostly newbies, but it isn't just relegated to them), in that they tend to see us as being different than vanilla women since we're kinky, as if this were a mutually exclusive condition. This mainly applies to those men who put their kinks & fetishes first, those who are accustomed to sexually objectifying women in general.

I know I'm a sapiosexual, and I'll tell you what that means to me. It means that this is THE MOST IMPORTANT quality I seek in a mate, not just one quality among many. In fact, I am unable to feel sexual attraction for a man who doesn't stimulate me intellectually and who isn't verbally expressive in a gentlemanly/courtly manner.

Btw, this doesn't mean he has to be cerebral, an academic or a member of the intelligentsia, or formally highly educated. Book learning can only take you so far, and for whatever reason in my experience, I tend to be drawn to autodidactics (those who are self-taught). Besides, there are many categories of intelligence, including emotional intelligence and being socially adroit, a cultivated sort of cultured intelligence. He has to also be interesting and well-rounded, perceptive and responsive. In fact, the physical is secondary, even a tertiary consideration, since sexual chemistry doesn't rely upon physical appearance.

Another relevant component when it comes to sapiosexuality (which used to be called sapiophilia, as a fetish), is that sapiosexuals are highly attracted to other sapiosexuals, which makes sense if you stop to think about it.

There's also another term, which is "sapioromantic," defined as being romantically attracted to intelligence or human minds. Yep, I'm one of those, too. As well as a demisexual (must be emotionally involved/bonded in order to feel sexual attraction).

As you can imagine, my dating pool is about the size of a small puddle, once you factor in age range, location, and the usual stuff.