Some term clarifications

Those just entering the BDSM world will find the abundant usage of both of these words by members of the online community. Thanks to the rapid growth of access and the restrained attainability of quality texts that will correctly interpret what these words mean within the community itself. Until a few years ago the BDSM world was a tightly closed and almost secret society. Membership in this society was kept completely private and hidden with significant effort. To gain access into the community you'd need a referral and accompaniment. Protocols or rules of conduct were strict and strongly enforced, not from some control standpoint but because those rules became necessity from bitterly hard lessons in survival. 

A Dominant is a person with a dominant aspect in their personality.

A Master is a Dominant with significant real life BDSM experience.

The Dominant...
 
It can be fairly said that all Master/Mistress’s are Dominant. It cannot be said that all Dominant’s have earned the title of Master/Mistress. The Dominant person will range from lightly, moderately and heavily dominant. They may desire to engage in a relationship which is infrequent and strictly scening. These light Dominant’s will generally have a very limited desire to have a significant D/s relationship, this is sometimes due to conflicting life events and other times due to being ‘barely dominant’.

The moderate Dominant is the most common Dominant and will characteristically be interested in a ‘relationship’, though often they may not desire a full time relationship when they are fairly new to the community. They tend to have a broader range and more committed style than the light Dominant and the submissive will find them to be more stable. They will tend to be decently educated and interested in their outer world. They may tend to control through a blending of thought and the traditional type disciplines.

The heavy Dominant can be distinguished primarily by a clear, strong and compelling desire to live in a 24/7 relationship. This Dominant will generally have been in the community for a long time or be seasoned, will have explored the ‘abundance’ of many D/s events, meetings, scenes and partners. They can be more tolerant as well as more strict than any other Dominant. A high percentage of heavy Dominant’s will have spent some portion of their BDSM life as a submissive, learning from the inside. These Dominant’s often allow few limits and believe that their submissive must trust in them to direct them in a safe, sane manner. They are generally well rounded and quite stable. Holding to simple, firm rules with a strong desire to maintain the health and well-being of their chosen.

One of the most significant traits which distinguishes a member of this community is the basic desire to serve for the pleasure of another. This aspect trait is shared by both Dominant and submissive though manifested in entirely different ways.  The Dominant is serving the needs of the submissive by giving and directing that submissive in a manner which is pleasurable to the core being of the submissive. In that way the Dominant is the giver, the submissive the receiver. In a good or well rounded relationship this flows back and forth between both Dominant and submissive. The submissive is giving obedience and consent to the Dominant, the Dominant is giving direction and control to the submissive.

Additionally, you have those who go by the name of Top. This person is generally an individual who enjoys scening from the Top position. S/he may or may not have a strong dominant aspect. Many Top’s will openly indicate that they do not consider themselves to be a Dominant, they generally have little desire to be in a controlling position of another person’s life. Many see themselves in dual roles and may identify themselves as switches, or having the ability to switch from Top to bottom role.

 I also need to mention the Sadist here. A Sadist may or may not be a Dominant, in much the same way as a Top. Often a true Sadist will openly identify themselves as a Sadist. They scene because the inflicting of pain upon another being brings them pleasure. In many cases the Sadist has no desire to live in a controlling position over another person. Also the true Sadist is very attuned to ‘scene limits’, they can and may be a stickler for very precise identification of what is permissible and what is not. In general terms they are not oriented toward ‘serving the pleasure’ of the person they scene with though often they are very skilled, very intelligent and very careful.
A Dominant may be sadistic and will often have a strong sadistic side which allows them the ability or range to interact with the submissive in an intense sensory stimulation way.

THE MASTER/MISTRESS...

The Master/Mistress is beyond the last level of the Dominant. They are generally well experienced, often having lived as a full time slave as part of their training. This title used to be given within the local communities in a ceremonial way when the individual had earned this title by the estimation of a majority consensus agreement of the Dominant’s within that local community. It was considered to be a high honor and carried with it a measure of instant respect by all those so encountering it. In addition there is a further title of Grand Master/Mistress. This title is awarded even more rarely and should you encounter any individual with this title, you should offer extreme respect and understand that this title was awarded for demonstrable and long term consistent actions.

 Many Dominant’s have no desire to assume the identity of a Master and require their submissives to call them Sir to be used as the reverent title of choice. This also holds true for Ma’am.

Also, a submissive is not allowed to address an individual as Master or Mistress unless they are within the collaring process with that Dominant.