Our recent Salon at DSF raised the following topic: While no one gets to define your submission but you, there are general categories within the lifestyle. We will explore those of servant and slave.
The conversation that followed opened up a whole host of issues and, as usually, every left with lots of new questions to explore!
The issue has become important at DSF with the addition of the role of “servant” in addition to slave and property.
Because DSF is a high protocol environment with a 100% power differential, there is not much room for a sense of submission that can be turned on and turned off. Once you enter the space, you have surrendered yourself 100% (or at least your pixels) to the women who are in the role of The Divine.
One element that was discussed was the distinction between submissive as an adjective (“a submissive male”) and submission as a noun (“a male submissive”). Withing DSF, all men are “submissive” (adjective) in the sense that they defer to and obey the Divine. But the men of DSF are not necessarily submissives in the traditional sense of what you might find in other Femdoms.
The roles of servant, slave, and property convey something different.
The role of servant in DSF conveys a commitment to the spirit, rules, and context of the group. Servants are in service to the community and because the community is built on a 100% power differential and obedience to the Divine, that is also something included in the role of being a servant. Servants are, in that sense, owned by DSF and therefore owned by the Divine.
The role of slave is very similar, but has the priorities of deference and obedience ordered in a slightly different way. Slaves are owned by The Divine and part of that is serving DSF in a broader sense as well.
In practical terms, these two roles play out differently in terms of what a servant or slave may be asked to do or expected to do. Servants may contribute in practical ways to the community (leading events, doing tasks, coding or graphics, etc.). They are valued for their contributions and their participation. Slaves serve at the pleasure of the Divine and, in that way, their participation is highly valued. Whether that be through play, entertainment, or other forms of service, their primary purpose is to please the Divine. They may also contribute and be of service in other ways, but their role is slightly different.
It may be difficult to see the distinction at first, but watching how DSF operates and how servants and slaves participate as well as what is asked of them, can clarify the difference in how each adds to the community and the pleasure of the Divine.
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