Editing Dominance and submission (section)

== Overview ==
Dominance and submission have a long history in human [[culture]] and [[civilization]]. In human sexuality, this has broadened to include voluntarily chosen roles and activities that express dominance and submission. The proportion of the population which partakes in D/s activities is difficult to ascertain as the statistics vary widely depending on the particular study, date of publication, and country where the research has taken place.

A 1985 study suggested that about 30 percent of participants in [[BDSM]] activities are females, and the rest are males.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Breslow |first1=N |last2=Evans |first2=L |last3=Langley |first3=J |date=August 1985 |title=On the prevalence and roles of females in the sadomasochistic subculture: report of an empirical study |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=303–17 |pmid=4051718 |doi=10.1007/BF01550846|s2cid=31730499 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Levitt |first1=Eugene E. |last2=Moser |first2=Charles |last3=Jamison |first3=Karen V. |title=The prevalence and some attributes of females in the sadomasochistic subculture: A second report |journal=[[Archives of Sexual Behavior]] |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=465–73 |doi=10.1007/BF01541410 |pmid=7993186 |date=August 1994|s2cid=28743901 }}</ref> A study by the California Graduate Institute in 2008 found that 61 percent of men were exclusively or mainly dominant (26 percent were exclusively or mainly submissive), while 69 percent of women were exclusively or mainly submissive (30 percent were exclusively or mainly dominant).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Connolly |first=Pamela H. |date=2006-07-24 |title=Psychological Functioning of Bondage/Domination/Sado-Masochism (BDSM) Practitioners |url=https://doi.org/10.1300/J056v18n01_05 |journal=Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=79–120 |doi=10.1300/J056v18n01_05 |s2cid=145015160 |issn=0890-7064|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

A study in 2008 found that only 2.2% of men and 1.3% of women had participated in a BDSM activity in the previous year.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Richters |first1=Juliet |last2=De Visser |first2=Richard O. |last3=Rissel |first3=Chris E. |last4=Grulich |first4=Andrew E. |last5=Smith |first5=Anthony M.A. |date=July 2008 |title=Demographic and Psychosocial Features of Participants in Bondage and Discipline, "Sadomasochism" or Dominance and Submission (BDSM): Data from a National Survey |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1743609515320804 |journal=The Journal of Sexual Medicine |language=en |volume=5 |issue=7 |pages=1660–1668 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.00795.x |pmid=18331257 |access-date=2022-11-06 |archive-date=2022-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030035525/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1743609515320804 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>  In 2017, a Belgian study of BDSM interest in the general population, with a sample size of 1,027, found that 46.8% of the total sample had ever performed at least one BDSM-related activity. An additional 22% had fantasized about it, and 12.5% performed at least one BDSM-related activity on a regular basis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Holvoet |first1=Lien |last2=Huys |first2=Wim |last3=Coppens |first3=Violette |last4=Seeuws |first4=Jantien |last5=Goethals |first5=Kris |last6=Morrens |first6=Manuel |date=2017-09-01 |title=Fifty Shades of Belgian Gray: The Prevalence of BDSM-Related Fantasies and Activities in the General Population |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743609517313188 |journal=The Journal of Sexual Medicine |language=en |volume=14 |issue=9 |pages=1152–1159 |doi=10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.07.003 |pmid=28781214 |hdl=10067/1450920151162165141 |issn=1743-6095 |hdl-access=free |access-date=2022-11-06 |archive-date=2018-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102200054/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743609517313188 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A 2019 publication states that a minority of the population engages or fantasizes about BDSM activity.<ref name=":0" /> A national study with 2,800 participants showed that about 14% of men and 11% of women had participated in some sort of BDSM related activity and from those results, it was concluded that approximately 10% of adults have joined in some part of the sexual behavior.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Submissive BDSM poses.jpg|thumb|400px|Different types of submissive poses]]

A ''[[safeword]]'' is usually given to the submissive partner to prevent the dominant from overstepping physical and emotional boundaries. It is usually a code word, series of code words or other signal used to communicate physical or emotional state, typically when approaching, or crossing, a boundary. Safewords can have differing levels of urgency - some may bring a scene to an outright stop, whereas others may indicate that a boundary is being approached. A safeword may be used by the Dominant as well as the Submissive if they feel things have gone too far and are uncomfortable continuing.

D/s may be ritualized or freeform. It is usually a negotiated lifestyle, with people discussing their wishes, [[Limits (BDSM)|limits]], and needs in order to find commonality. A D/s relationship may be sexual or non-sexual, long- or short-term, and intimate or anonymous. Most adherents search for the essential intensity, trust, and intimacy that are required to make any deep relationship possible.

Based on gender (of the dominant or submissive), D/s can be divided into the following sub-types:
* [[Dominatrix|Female dominance]]
* [[Female submission]]
* [[Male dominance (BDSM)|Male dominance]]
* [[Male submission]]