Erotic humiliation: Encyclopedia II - Erotic humiliation - Terminology and overview

Erotic humiliation - Terminology and overview

The person being humiliated is often called a bottom, and the person who humiliates them is often called the top. Other common names are slave or sub/submissive for the bottom, and Master/Mistress or dom/dominant for the top. A professional dominant who specializes in humiliation play is sometimes known as a humiliatrix.

Humiliation is not the same as domination as the devotee is not necessarily seeking to be ordered about. Humiliation comes into its own as a sexual force when the devotee seeks the humiliation over and above the means, for example when being spanked is primarily valued because of the belittlement involved. As such, it encompasses a range of fetish types, in particular fetishes such as foot fetish or shoe fetish, body worship, spanking, bondage and most BDSM styles. It can be as basic as the desire to kiss and massage feet as a precursor to sex, or it can be complex, involving roleplay or public displays of subservience. It can also be for a set period of time (a "scene") or as an ongoing facet of a relationship.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Terminology and overview", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki