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BDSM Dictionary : Slavery: history
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This entry is part of the BDSM Dictionary hosted by Informed Consent.
As it pertains to the BDSM lifestyle, slavery is the act of a Dominant owning a submissive, or a Master owning a slave, as their property. It is an exchange of power between two individuals, where the Dominant holds controlling power over the submissive, and the submissive equally gives themselves to their Dominant.
Often, this situation will be agreed upon with the use of a contract, where both partners sign a list of agreements which have been thoroughly negotiated. In many ways, even if in a completely non-sexual manner, entering into a contractual slavery agreement is much like a vanilla marriage situation; both partners are committing themselves to each other as Master and slave.
There are many different levels of slavery, whether it be a roleplay taking place within predefined scenes, or as a lifestyle encompassing a 24/7 situation. No matter what the level, it is widely accepted in the BDSM community at large that any level of slavery must be safe, sane, and consensual between two adults, just as any other activity or lifestyle choice would be.
Slavery, in adult or erotic fiction, (such as Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty Trilogy) is often portrayed as a non-consensual act of forced ownership. This is not only taboo and discouraged, but illegal in civilized society and bears no reflection on the term as used in the BDSM lifestyle.
The definition of slavery from "The American HeritageĀ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition":
(This entry in the BDSM Dictionary incorporates text from the Slavery article in Wipipedia.)
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