Domination & submission _ the BDSM relationship handbook ( PDFDrive )

Role reversal is characterized by a polar shift from Dominant to submissive, or
vice versa. It occurs for many of the same reasons as role shift and role
abandonment, but the starkly contrasting consequences of such a complete
reversal of roles can be jarring or even traumatic to the other partner in a D/s
relationship. The depth of the emotional impact that this kind of sudden
metamorphosis can have on one’s partners may be difficult to comprehend for
anyone who is not, himself, defined primarily by D/s roles and traits. In some
ways, it could be compared to how a typical person might react if he came home
from work one day to discover that his spouse had undergone a sex-change
operation, or had switched her sexual orientation. Yes, it’s that big of a deal.
Like any other lifestyle, the D/s lifestyle is defined by what we think is
important. Unsurprisingly, we believe that Domination and submission are
central to our way of life, our way of relating to one another, and our sense of
purpose and self-worth. Assuming either character trait as a part of one’s role
play activity may be a perfectly legitimate and entertaining thing for many
people to do, but it makes a terrible foundation upon which to build a lasting and
meaningful D/s relationship.
Religion
Here we go again, talking about that thing no one likes to talk about - religion.
In the previous chapter, we discussed how religion, for the most part, should not
be an obstacle to a healthy D/s relationship or for most BDSM activities. In this
section, we’re going to explore some of the ways it can be. In the vanilla world,
religion typically becomes a stumbling block to relationships in one of two
ways. The first occurs when one partner in a relationship is religious and the
other is not. The other occurs when both partners are religious, but their
religious views are incompatible. As unpleasant and complicated as those two
scenarios can be, they can’t hold a candle to the absurdity and magnitude of the
potential mess that can sometimes result from mixing kink and religion.
You probably don’t need to be told that couples in D/s relationships are just as
prone, if not more so, as anyone to the two scenarios we just mentioned. Having
different religious beliefs can be hard on any relationship, but this is a problem
that has been around for as long as religions and relationships have existed.
Exercising a little tolerance and the ability to moderate your natural desire to
share your beliefs can go a long way to reducing any potential for religious
friction in this regard. It starts to get just a little more complicated, however,