Here is the outline:
At a BDSM weekend event a little while ago, victoria lashes and I were discussing that Wwe couldn't tell easily who were the subs and who were the Doms. 5 or 10 years ago, the code of conduct was much clearer. This brought up lots of interesting discussion at the workshop and afterwards at the social.
So what is different? 10 years ago, you'd see more submissives showing their submission with their body language and behavior. Now, you can barely tell who the submissives are unless you actually see them play. What specific differences do you see between then and now? Are the differences for the better or worse?
Why are things different? The audience came up with numerous reasons: Now that our lifestyle is much more open, there's more diversity (people into mental 24/7 D/s vs. people who enjoy spanking as play, for example). There are more casual players and there is less social/peer pressure to conform to a set of standards for D/s behavior. (Not a judgment, just a fact.) Because there is more diversity, ironically, the traditional posturing is less politically correct -- those who are traditional may not feel comfortable being out any more. There are more switches out there. In fact, someone said that he thought most folks in the community these days were some degree of switch. There was some debate over this. Some of it is cultural -- every major geographical area seems to have its own flavor and code of BDSM. When folks first become involved in this lifestyle, they tend to focus on the physical aspects, then learn about and appreciate the mental aspects (there are exceptions, of course). Since we have so many folks who are new to the scene, there's more emphasis on the physical, which is mostly confined to the play areas, than the mental control. New folks don't have role models.Doms are willing to lower their standards to get a date.
Doms are too accommodating and not strict enough.
Smart-assed masochists (SAMs) are enabled and encouraged, rather than taken in hand.
Society in general is less formal now.
The online community has had a tremendous impact, for better or worse.
Prevalence of the belief that acting submissively is the same as submitting to everyone in the room or that it means being a doormat. Some misinterpretations of Safe, Sane, Consensual (SSC) have gone to such an extreme that subs are essentially topping from the bottom.If you have any questions or your group would like for Me to give them this presentation, email: SirBamm!
© 2008 SirBamm!