You cannot effectively shame me for engaging in a dynamic relationship with my partner.
It's quite the conundrum when somebody whose opinion could not possibly matter less to me attempts to shame me for the way that I experience love with my partner. You can sure try, and maybe that will make you feel better about yourself, your situation, or your experiences, but it has no bearing on me or how I live my life.
There is nothing inherently wrong with being in a relationship that both recognizes and embraces a power exchange. For a power imbalance exists in most relationships, and pretending it does not only serves to cause conflict. Many relationships would benefit from understanding the power dynamic within and working with it instead of against it.
PRDom and I met at a time when I was steadfastly not searching for a relationship. I was, in fact, adamant that I was in no way, shape, or form ready for one. I debated for a couple of weeks before I said yes to hanging out. My sister gave me the push I needed, telling me to just have fun. While I knew before I met PRDom that I was drawn to D/s, I certainly was not searching for a Dom when we met in the office that fall. He just happened to be one, and we just happened to enjoy each other's company, and then we fell for eachother.
When it comes to kink, there aren't many things that he has done to me that I have not experienced before in some fashion. Well, besides making me have fireworks on purpose because he asked for feedback until he got me there. The difference? We do kink safely. Consent is king. We started it safe and keep it safe by asking for, understanding, and respecting boundaries and limits.
Unlike my prior relationship, this one is incredibly healthy. The level of communication we have is unmatched in literally any relationship I have seen modeled in front of me in my life. We do not argue, we do not let things go unsaid, we do not raise our voices at each other, we are not unkind to each other. We support each other, we push each other to new heights, we celebrate each other's successes.
Our relationship started with learning each other's boundaries, needs, wants, likes, and dislikes. As it has unfolded, we continue to stay curious about each other. Becoming more vulnerable, open, and forthcoming as time goes on. We have found an easy cadence with each other, an understanding of the nuance of each other's needs, and how we can fulfill them for each other. We are committed to continual improvement in how we interact with each other.
To discount all of that because sometimes he calls me his whore? To tell me that all of this is wrong because I enjoy being helpless every once in a while? To tell me I'm gross or disgusting because find catharsis in some form or another when he spanks me? To tell me that all of the good I have experienced in this relationship don't matter because I allow him to lead me?
To that I say: Get. Fucked.
The nature of our relationship and our commitment to do it right has expanded the depths of our emotional and mental intimacy beyond what I ever thought was possible. D/s gave us the language we needed to truly communicate and a reason to keep doing so. It's not just "spank me harder," it's also "I know you didn't mean it, but when you use xyz word it really hurt me and you need to remove it from your vocabulary when speaking to me." Then we follow through and respect the boundary. It's not just "tell me what to do and punish me when I'm bad," it's "help me hold myself accountable for the goals I'm striving for in a way that works for me and for us." Then he helps me stay on track towards those goals.
Hypocrisy runs deep in many people who want to shout from the rooftops that engaging in D/s specifically makes one an objectively bad person. That allowing someone to have power over you makes you "weak" or "childish." That allowing somebody to submit to you makes you "manipulative" or a "failure." They don't consider that there is already a power imbalance when one person makes more money, when one person is passive in decision making, when one person is saddled with household responsibilities, etc. Somehow, because I chose it, embraced it, and live by it, it's wrong, but when it just happens, it's right? Somehow, because I choose to recognize a power exchange and communicate effectively about it, to let it guide us to a healthy place instead of allowing it to become a point of contention that makes me a bad person? Those thought processes are flawed at best.
Furthermore, some of the same people that demonize power exchange revel in "owning" their partners, romanticize tying up them up and having their way with them, boast about degrading them because it's expected that they are a whore for them but God forbid they have any fantasies of their own. They cherry pick their own kinks as perfectly acceptable, all that is right, and expect to have them catered to, but when mine are done safely inside of a D/s context theose kinks are suddenly gross?
They cannot explain how being spanked in a way that doesn't leave severe marks for an agreed upon offense is "wrong" while they will beat you black and blue, but only for fun and that makes it "right." They cannot explain why having a fantasy about being forced is "wrong" when later they will tell you that you are going to take it whether you want it or not and somehow they think that's "right." They cannot explain why choosing to have rules in predefined, consented to areas is "wrong" but will fight like hell to show the power they hold over a person that was never earned and somehow that is "right."
You cannot shame me for choosing this dynamic when it has brought me the healthiest, most constructive, growth filled relationship I have ever had, or even seen. Just because you don't understand it or don't like it doesn't make it bad or wrong, it's just different.