Roles
In BDSM, roles refer to the distinct identities or power positions that participants take on during play or relationships. Roles can help to create a framework where everyone understands their responsibilities in a relationship or scene. They can also help people escape everyday identities and explore desires or power imbalances in a controlled, consensual way. Roles also help people find others like them and create a shared vocabulary that people can use as a shorthand for what they're like and what they're into.
And if all that sounds really serious, some roles are just for fun, too!
FetLife users can identify themselves using more than 600 different roles. Some of these roles—like Dominant and submissive—have existed nearly as long as the BDSM community. Others are more recent, or were coined by FetLife users.
Some roles are commonly associated with honorifics, but roles and honorifics are not the same thing. A role describes a position or identity within a dynamic, while an honorific is a consensual title used to address someone. It may or may not be part of that role.
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