Undoubtedly my earlier definitions of the three types of submissive will cause many readers to jump up and down yelling, "No! No! You've got it all wrong!" Let me explain a little.
My idea is that the three types of submissive all give up control and accept PDR from a dominant and then internally "convert" (or transmute) that discomfort into pleasure. The difference between the three types is how this "internalisation" works.
This definition of a submissive tends to leave the dominant out in the cold, minimalising his "role" in the process. In fact, the dominant has two important roles in this. The first is as the one who accepts the control and imposes the necessary PDR from the outside on the submissive. That this is imposed from the outside is very important to the submissive's experience in much the same way as a self-administered backscratch or masturbation is not as pleasurable as when done by a trusted partner. The dominant acts, in fact, as the controller or regulator of the submissive's experience.
The second important dominant role is that of "environmental engineer". The dominant creates and maintains the environment of trust, safety and security in which the submissive can relax and completely immerse herself in the experience.
This second role requires that a level of trust and intimacy exist between the dominant and the submissive.
A possible third role, not as important as the first two, could be that of creator and supporter of the fantasies that some submissives use to enhance their experience.
The immediate submissive
So. All three types of submissive internally convert the transfer of control and the PDR into pleasure. Above, when defining the first type, the immediate submissive, I spoke about sexual arousal and satiation of guilt as the typical "motives" of this type of submissive.
For the immediate submissive the act, or acts, of submission--the pain, the flogging, the whipping, the bondage, etc.--often fulfil a sexual fantasy leading to high sexual arousal followed by extra good sex. These fantasies might have any origin, with childhood or early pubescent experiences being the likely causes. The actual origin of these fantasies is not important here.
Another typical motive, satiation of guilt, occurs mostly when the submissive has left-over guilt feelings, maybe from childhood or maybe from some post-pubescent traumatic experiences. The submissive then feels the need to be punished and flogging or whipping satisfies that need for a time.
Finally, some submissives use pain to achieve an endorphin rush. Endorphins are the natural chemicals released by the body in response to sustained and relatively intense pain. These chemicals act on the brain producing a type of euphoria.
The key to defining an immediate submissive is that they find no satisfaction directly from the act of submission (the flogging, whipping, restraint, etc.) It is the "immediate" consequence of the act, eg. the sexual arousal or satiation of the need for punishment, which is the reward for this type of submissive. Without the reward (eg. the guilt remains, or no hot sex follows) the act of submission will be viewed as "wasted".
The psychological submissive
The psychological submissive finds satisfaction from the act of submission in itself. The act is its own reward. There need not be any other consequence.
This type of submissive is basically a type of masochist and internally converts the pain or discomfort to pleasure, be it through experiencing the high of an endorphin rush, or some other psychological mechanism. This will be discussed further below.
The slave
The act of submission is something that both the immediate and the psychological submissive do for the direct or indirect pleasure that they receive from it. It is something that they choose to do in much the same way as anyone chooses to do any of life's pleasures.
The slave on the other hand has no choice about submitting. Where the other two types of submissive experience the act as a source of pleasure, the slave experiences the act as a way of satisfying a deep and powerful need or craving. The satisfaction, or reward, for the slave comes from the release--for a time--from the need.
Typically the slave experience will be that of a need, slowly growing or building in intensity, until it is so strong that the slave must seek release via her particular act of submission.
Due to this being experienced as a craving-type need passive acts of submission, eg. bondage, are typically not enough to appease the slave's need. Something more "active" is required--typically immediate, hard, physical pain, or tightly-maintained active control.
Because the pleasure aspect, experienced by the immediate and psychological submissives, need not be a part of the slave's makeup, it may be that the slave is not an active participant in other BDSM activities. She is only "there" when her need forces her to be.
A summary
It is important to note, in the descriptions above, that the relationship is between each type of submissive (or slave) and the act, or acts, of submission that lead to her satisfaction. The dominant is not really in the picture. I will get onto Him a little later.
Although I describe three types of submissive, classified according to how they internalise their own individual act(s) of submission, I do not want to imply that these are "steps." Instead I see it as a continuum, with an infinite number of gradations and with each submissive being able to identify herself, or aspects of herself, at one or more positions on the scale.
On combinations of submissive in the one person
By defining the three types of submissive, I am not trying to fit every submissive person into a single one of these "categories." Instead I am trying to identify characteristics of submissives.
I would expect that the only "pure" form of any of these three types would be the immediate submissive, mainly appearing in the guise of the kinky-sex practitioner. In the vast majority of these I doubt whether you would find any elements of the psychological submissive or the slave.
On the other hand I would expect that the psychological submissive would often also have immediate submissive characteristics, maybe finding her act of submission both satisfying on its own and, at the same time, sexually arousing--a double reward for her.
And I think it likely that the slave when not submitting for the sake of satisfying her need or craving, may also submit for a immediate or psychological pleasure.
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