Current mood brought to you in part by: that fanfic Karen directed me to.

Lately (read: the past month) I've been toying with the idea of domination and submission. Yes, this includes the act of BDSM, but also spills further into life outside of the leather strap. There are other forms of domination and submission which can be as subtle as attending public school. But... damn, I need to structure this better if I want to make sense.

I'm intrigued by people who are willingly submissive. There is an immense amount of trust involved in allowing others to dominate you. Yes, some people become submissive during sex play because they feel a need to be controlled. Evident by the many bondage clubs throughout the country. But there are those who are submissive against their will, and those who allow themselves to be dominated as a form of self-punishment.

Children are inheritly under the control of their parents, unless they are not disciplined to be so. From the moment which they are born, children are an adult's inferior if only due to physical abilities and mental capacity. It is a disadvantage that is not noticed until the child has become more self aware.

Then what of people who can think for themselves? To bring up this topic, I'll use several of the characters from the Utena series (which deals directly with this subject). Anthy, due to her status as the Rose Bride, must be very submissive to whomever wins her in a duel. She does so by playing the supportive role in life as much as possible; she makes lunches, cleans the room she shares with her owner, prepares the dueling champion for a match, occasionally gets slapped around due to her "disobedience", etc. In truth, she plays the part of the Rose Bride in order to keep the memory of the Prince she betrayed; she took the Prince away from the rest of the world and therefore perpetuates the Dueling Game which replaces the Prince's role. (Confused much? Think of it as a sort of Pandora's Box; the Prince is chivalry which cannot survive in the personalities of all people, and the Dueling Game is mere ceremony masking as the actual act.)

In this sense, it is not the will of one imposed onto another, but the submissive person's own mentality which causes them to be submissive.

...I guess you could call it conscience.

Not making any sense. Tried to keep focused, but then SG-1 came on the tv, and it was a good episode too!