Roles

Roles

                                                          Switch

What that means, in the simplest terms, is that they are neither 100% dominant nor 100% submissive. Rather, they  have a dominant side, and a submissive side, and at different times they explore different aspects of dominance and submission.

 The term "switch," like the term "bisexual," has a simple, functional definition: You are a switch if you engage at different times in BDSM practices from both a "top" or "dominant" role and from a "bottom" or "submissive" role, just as you are bisexual if you have lovers of both sexes.

Master or Mistress

  Master or "Mistress" is one of the honorifics some people use to describe the dominant partner or "owner" in a Master/slave relationship. Because it is an honorific of the dominant form it is usual for it to be written with a capital letter.
  
  The term "Master" can be gender-independent but is mostly used only in reference to males. There is otherwise no male-specific equivalent. The female equivalent is "Mistress" or possibly dominatrix.

  Some people enjoy the connotations of servitude or submission in calling their partner "Master", or being called "Master". It may also be useful in building roles in which one partner or the other may indulge in sadistic or masochistic desires, although people living as Master and slave are not necessarily sadomasochistic.



Submissive, Slave or Pet.

In BDSM relationships, the bottom or submissive takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role. A bottom can be subjected to acts such as flogging, servitude, or humiliation and can be physically restrained by bondage, which can itself inflict pain.

  The acceptance of a bottom or submissive role in a BDSM relationship is seldom absolute, often operating within a set of defined limits.