BDSM is many different typically erotic techniques or roleplaying involving bondage, willpower, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, along with other relevant interpersonal dynamics. Presented the wide selection of procedures, a number of which may be engaged in by people that usually do not contemplate on their own to become practising BDSM, inclusion inside the BDSM Neighborhood or subculture frequently is alleged to count on self-identification and shared experience.

The initialism BDSM is to start with recorded inside of a Usenet write-up from 1991, which is interpreted as a combination of the abbreviations B/D (Bondage and Discipline), D/s (Dominance and submission), and S/M (Sadism and Masochism). BDSM has become applied being a catch-all phrase masking a wide array of routines, forms of interpersonal interactions, and unique subcultures. BDSM communities typically welcome anybody which has a non-normative streak who identifies Along with the Neighborhood; this may include things like cross-dressers, human body modification enthusiasts, animal roleplayers, rubber fetishists, and Many others.

Pursuits and relationships in BDSM in many cases are characterized via the individuals' taking over roles which might be complementary and include inequality of ability; Hence, the thought of knowledgeable consent of both of those the companions is critical. The phrases submissive and dominant will often be employed to distinguish these roles: the dominant lover ("dom") requires psychological Regulate more than the submissive ("sub"). The phrases top and bottom are utilized; the highest is the instigator of an motion while the bottom could be the receiver from the action. The 2 sets of conditions are subtly various: one example is, someone may possibly opt to work as bottom to another man or woman, such as, by becoming whipped, purely recreationally, with no implication of staying psychologically dominated, and submissives may be ordered to massage their dominant companions. Even though the base carries out the motion and the best receives it, they've not always switched roles.

The abbreviations sub and dom are usually made use of instead of submissive and dominant. At times the female-distinct phrases mistress, domme, and dominatrix are applied to explain a dominant female, in lieu of the occasionally gender-neutral term dom. Individuals who alter among prime/dominant and bottom/submissive roles—no matter if from marriage to relationship or within a given partnership—are known as switches. The precise definition of roles and self-identification is a common topic of debate among BDSM contributors.