Lots of slaves/subs complain about Doms/Masters who write "one -liners" or messages that say only "hi", and I understand their frustration. It is difficult to know how to respond when you have nothing to go on. It's much like trying to write something to a sub/slave whose profile shows only that she is a female and is looking for a Master. "To receive you first must give" is lesson one in dealing with others.

Are you a slave because you say you are a slave? If onions could talk, and one offbeat little onion said, “I am a banana”, is that odd little onion really a banana?

  spotted a statement in a supposed slave’s profile: (Her Master/slave relationship) “…ended because I realized I wasn’t physically attracted to him and it prevented me from enjoying being a slave.” That raises questions in my mind. Why did she agree to the relationship in the first place if there was no physical attraction, which apparently is her selection criterion?

 Contrast that “slave’s” statement with another slave’s view. “…Once you have accepted slavery as your life position, you give up all. The ONLY thing you are to hold important is the pleasure of Your Owner. There is nothing else that matters…”

 Two views of slavery with nothing in common except the word itself. Is one correct and the other in error? I went to the The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), considered the most authoritative source of definitions in the English language. The OED describes the word "slave" as referring to "One who is the property of, and entirely subject to another person… ” Further, the OED states, a slave is a servant completely divested of freedom and personal rights."

 Nope, not a word, not even an implication that physical attraction might be connected somehow to being a slave. There is no language czar that we must obey, so no one will be prosecuted for redefining a word, but why do it? “Slave” has a perfectly clear and acceptable meaning, and that meaning applies very well to most slaves throughout the world we live in. Does it make sense to use it differently in our little corner of the world? Not to me.

 As I read profiles, the way “slave” is used is more akin to submissive male or female, or perhaps to “kinky girlfriend” or “kinky boyfriend”, than to what practically everyone in the world means by “slave”. Tanos is right: we would be well advised to drop the terms, Master and slave, and replace them with Owner and property. At the same time, we should face the fact that most lifestyle slaves actually are submissives.

 If you think it’s okay to use slave in the almost meaningless manner we use it, let me know what your banana split tastes like, but don’t bother offering me a bite.

What is a pig? And why are some girls called pigs? Several girls recently have raised those questions, and the answers of course depend on who you ask. Here is my answer.

 When I was a kid, a female or a male who was ugly, fat, dirty, or all those, often was called a pig. Within our BDSM life the meaning is more akin to comparing a girl to a four-legged pig. Pigs are intelligent animals that will eat almost anything offered to them but they do have preferences. Wild pigs are lean, muscular creatures; domesticated pigs are fattened by their owners because they sell the pigs by the pound. Pigs are very clean animals by choice, but wallow in muck because of a need, much like we humans need to put insect repellent on our bodies at times.

 Human pigs may or may not be intelligent. They, like domestic pigs, eat what their owners allow or, if their Owners don’t control their diets, they eat what they like or what they can get. I, as an Owner, prefer clean, healthy pigs—most of the time—but they perform the “dirtiest” of the household chores. I expect them to do anything I want done domestically or sexually. They must accept intense humiliation, degradation and pain eagerly because they feel strong needs. They often see themselves as the bottom creature in the household, but they hardly are worthless, at least I find value in their uses.