The issue of wants and needs is often discussed in terms of those on the right side of the slash, /s. It is often said that it is the submissive’s or slave’s responsibility to expose to their Dominant/Master/Owner all their perceived wants and needs (not necessarily an easy introspection) and it is the Dominant’s or Master’s responsibility to decide which are in actuality a want even if perceived by the sub/slave as a need and vise versa.
It is also important for an equal or greater introspection on the part of the Dominant/Master/Owner to understand Their wants and needs, also a difficult task. From people I respect it is generally thought to have an order of priority:
- submissive’s needs
- Dominant’s needs
- Dominant’s wants
- submissive’s wants
It is important to note, thought not the point of this post, that the submissive’s needs come first. Get used to it.
Another firmly held belief of mine is that while the submissive is responsible to the Dominant, the Dominant is responsible to the relationship, and this takes me to the point of my post. While it is lovely to have the authority to structure a relationship where you are totally in charge, your sub always does what you want, and if there is any variance you have the right to be that gloriously firm and commanding presence who can punish to your hearts content. There are times when as much as you and your loving submissive wants them to do as you wish, there are things about their physical or emotional history, condition, or experience that make that impossible. Their Abilities.
So what is one to do? As is usually the case, you are not told about these things in advance. You discover them through a series of failures. After a long, possibly painful series of minor or major disasters, constantly questioning whether or not your submissive truly wants this relationship, you are continually presented with a choice. Possibly a long series of repeatedly seeing this choice, perhaps only once. Is this inability something I can live with? Is it outside of My needs? Is it permanent, will it ever change, or with care and help, will the ability grow as maturity evolves?
Because this is not something that responds well to “Dominance” however much you want to respond with, “I say to do it, so do it”. It responds to care, patience, and a responsibility to the relationship. This is why the submissive’s needs come first and your needs might have to wait.
But, and to make this so incredibly more difficult, you have to continually respond to that choice. Is this something I can live with, is it truly an inability or is it an easy out and a form of topping from the bottom. There I can give you no help. It is a question you much continually face and answer, moment to moment. Such is the life.
The Eroticist