Submissive vs. Slave Revisited

     I've had a conversation recently with young bill about the difference in a submissive and slave.   It's such a blurred line in many circles that many who have been in the lifestyle for longer than I have are even confused at times.  I've blogged about this before but I feel the need to revisit the topic for that reason.  

A slave differs from a submissive in pretty significant ways.  Let's look at a few today, shall we?!

    The word 'submissive' can mean to an individual practically anything they want it to mean.  There is a wide spectrum a submissive may fall in... At one end is one who submits very little or only in scene-delimited context; at the other, one who submits as a constant in a lifestyle context and is very controlled, and everyone else falls somewhere in between. They make the decision to submit every day in every instance.  They have power to stop, to say no to something they don't want to participate in or be privy to. 

     The word 'slave' however doesn't have such a wide range in meaning like many think it does.  The slave doesn't have the option to submit in an instance by instance manner but rather they submit once to their Owner and then are required simply to obey. It's a big mistake when people assume that a slave is simply another point on the submissive spectrum. A slave is not an ubber-sub, someone more submissive than the "ordinary" submissive. For that matter, a slave may not even be submissive at all. Slavery is not about submission or submissive behaviors. It is about obedience.

      Slavery hinges on a commitment to obedience. When a Dominant orders an issue the slave doesn't revisit 'should I submit?', 'how do i feel about that?', or 'will I say yes or no?'.  Much like a soldier in the Army they simply obey.  There is no room for questions or hesitation.  If a soldier said no to an order given he'd be putting himself in a very dreadful situation with dire consequences.  (I've often heard the M/s described much like a military type of dynamic. The military cannot function if command authority is questioned, and neither can a Master/slave relationship.).  For the slave a 'no' is likely to derail the entire dynamic and might very possibly result in termination.

     Not only do slaves give a high degree of obedience they also give themselves over to the control of another as much as humanly possible; in essence they are contextually 'property' in their dynamic.  While both submissive and slave are often referred to fondly as property, in the sense of consensual slavery, the slave becomes actual property of the Owner.

    Submissives and slaves are as different as oil and vinegar in the BDSM realm.