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BDSM Dictionary : Bottom: history
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This entry is part of the BDSM Dictionary hosted by Informed Consent.
A bottom may be male or female. Within BDSM, the bottom is the partner who is the recipient of such acts as bondage, discipline (e.g. flogging) or humiliation. A top performs acts such as these upon the bottom.
Someone whose partner has more power in general over them and might obey orders would usually be termed a submissive (or sub) or possibly a slave.
It is also possible for two partners to switch roles to the other during the same encounter, in a relationship or in another relationship, depending on mood and preference. See switch. The top is also sometimes the partner who is following instructions from the bottom. A person who applies sensation or control to the bottom, but does so to the bottom's explicit instruction is a "service top".
In Japanese bondage, a bottom is referred to as "uke", a term from martial arts.
In the context of human sexual behaviour, especially anal sex among gay
men, the bottom is the receiving partner, or a person who prefers the
receiving role. However, the activities between a top and bottom need
not include the sex act.See Also
(This entry in the BDSM Dictionary incorporates text from the Bottom article in Wipipedia.)
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