BDSM is a number of frequently erotic procedures or roleplaying involving bondage, self-control, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and various similar interpersonal dynamics. Specified the big selection of tactics, many of which can be engaged in by folks who never take into consideration by themselves to get practising BDSM, inclusion while in the BDSM Neighborhood or subculture frequently is said to depend on self-identification and shared experience.

The initialism BDSM is to start with recorded inside of a Usenet article from 1991, which is interpreted as a combination of the abbreviations B/D (Bondage and Willpower), D/s (Dominance and submission), and S/M (Sadism and Masochism). BDSM has become utilised as being a capture-all phrase masking an array of activities, varieties of interpersonal associations, and distinct subcultures. BDSM communities frequently welcome everyone using a non-normative streak who identifies Using the Group; this might consist of cross-dressers, system modification lovers, animal roleplayers, rubber fetishists, and Other people.

Things to do and associations in BDSM tend to be characterised from the contributors' taking on roles which have been complementary and entail inequality of power; Consequently, the idea of knowledgeable consent of both the companions is essential. The phrases submissive and dominant are often applied to distinguish these roles: the dominant lover ("dom") requires psychological Regulate more than the submissive ("sub"). The phrases top and bottom also are utilized; the highest is the instigator of an motion though the bottom would be the receiver of the action. The two sets of conditions are subtly different: as an example, anyone might elect to work as base to another individual, one example is, by remaining whipped, purely recreationally, without any implication of getting psychologically dominated, and submissives can be purchased to massage their dominant partners. Although the bottom carries out the action and the highest gets it, they may have not essentially switched roles.

The abbreviations sub and dom are often employed as an alternative to submissive and dominant. In some cases the feminine-specific terms mistress, domme, and dominatrix are utilized to describe a dominant lady, as opposed to the often gender-neutral expression dom. People who transform involving major/dominant and base/submissive roles—whether from partnership to connection or inside a provided connection—are referred to as switches. The exact definition of roles and self-identification is a typical topic of debate amongst BDSM participants.