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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) orhumiliation. A top performs acts such as these upon the bottom.
Someone who's 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.)
This entry is published under the terms of the GFDL. People with profiles on Informed Consent can improve this entry: see the BDSM Dictionary help page for details.
