A submissives journey

Chapter 1
The Asj Community

Chapter 2
Resource Information

Chapter 3
Subbie's Couch

Chapter 4
The Dom's Lounge

Chapter 5

The Library

Chapter 6
BDSM

Chapter 7

Useful Links

Chapter 8
Members share their thoughts

Chapter 9

Members Only

Chapter 10
Asj's Site Index

Chapter 11
Asj's Book Store

Chapter 12
Recommended Reading List

A slaves right...

 Recently, a friend stated that understanding the "hard wiring"

 of a slave, compared to a submissive, was giving her some

 difficulty, and she asked the interesting question of whether

 a slave would EVER feel it is their "right" (a very loaded word

 for a slave) to leave their Owner... perhaps if: circumstances

 became so "different" that the slave became miserably

 unhappy; or if the slave felt their emotional or physical well

 being was at risk?.

 my reply was--and still is! -- as follows:

Firstly, i think you're correct, with your use of the term

"hardwiring". i've used it myself, and by hardwiring, in

this case, i mean a genetic or predisposed disposition

towards a certain type of living condition that most others

not only don't need in order to be happy, but couldn't

exist happily within. And whereas a slave's thought

process allows them to understand and experience this

type of living condition as having a need met, others--not

having this need--cannot quite see it in this light. So while

submissives and slaves have a great deal in common,

where they diverge, they become rather foreign to one

another.

Speaking, from this point on, in broad generalities... You

are correct in saying that slaves find the word "right" to be

loaded, because a slave exists with the understanding

that once owned, they no longer have rights within their

Master / slave relationship, but only whatever privileges

their Owners might allow them to have. This is a

necessary component of slavery, and meets a need for

both the Owner and the slave... one to have control, and

the other to relinquish it. It is then the Owner's

prerogative to return to the slave whatever privileges they

desire the slave to have, and the abilities the slave

needs, in order to be of service and to be content within

their enslavement. So, no: without the Owner giving the

slave the ability, by either release, or a direct order; or the

slave having a standing order to do so if certain

predetermined criteria are met; the slave does not have

the right to leave.

Also--and something which is a bit different--many slaves

do not have the ability to leave, either. And this is

precisely why slavery, or the enslavement of another, is a

dangerous thing in which to become involved. Sometimes, one does not grasp all the implications until it

is too late.

This can be a bit of a touchy subject, since most people,

even submissives, don't understand the mindset, and

sometimes when slaves voice these thingsm which are

their truths, they are looked upon as being mentally

incompetent, or as if they are aliens set down amongst

you. It is also part of why so many slaves will tell you

that they did not want to be a slave, and why so many,

myself included, have tried so hard to be something else.

i have been told multiple times that "everyone can leave",

and i have refuted that statement as best i am able. my

explanations often aren't understood, however, because

they deal with a particular way of thinking that seems

individual to slaves. It is simply assumed that if someone

is physically able to do so, at a certain point they will

remove them self from a relationship that is "bad" or

"dangerous", and this just isn't true.

The "ability to leave" is a misleading statement, as it is

quite often dependent upon the perceptions of the

individual. Having the physical ability does not mean that

the mental/emotional capability to follow through with the

action exists, nor does it consider any psychological

conditioning prohibiting this action that may be in place

within the slave's mind. Many, many slaves do not have

the mental/emotional capacity--after years of training and

psychological modification to accept a different life and

reality--that would allow them the ability to "just leave". It

isn't that simple. Regardless that this mindset is

considered, in general, to be mentally/emotionally

unsound and psychologically unhealthy, that doesn't

negate it's actual existence. (Most people accept the

conventional wisdom of "mind over matter" only when it

suits them to do so; but because someone does not

believe a thing, that doesn't make it any less the truth.)

slaves simply know, in their hearts, and in their heads,

that they are owned property and cannot do anything

without the permission of their Owner; and having lived,

sometimes for decades--as a slave, their lives, as well as

their Owners' actions, condition them until this mindset

becomes an irrefutable truth.

There is also the very real possibility that a slave, once

released or having left their Owner, will no longer be

capable of functioning properly on their own in society

and the greater world. Sudden withdrawal of the control

and structure they have become used to existing within

can very easily overwhelm a slave who has not been

"prepared" and de- and/or re-conditioned. Much as a wild

animal that has been tamed and become dependent on

man, a slave becomes dependent upon their Owner; and

much as that wild animal must be taught how to care for

itself again in the wild, so must a slave be re-taught what

was once "normal" behavior. This is a very scary

realization.

Another of the arguments i often hear is that someone

cannot be held against their will, as it is illegal. Because

something is illegal, it doesn't necessarily follow that it

doesn't happen... just that it isn't enforceable by law.

Murder isn't legal, either, and i'm afraid it happens on an

all-too-regular basis. Something can also be enforced by

conditions that have nothing to do with the law, as well;

the Mafia does it all the time.

my final point is the matter of a slave's honor, which

should never be written off too lightly. While i realize that

it may not be true for the majority of people these days,

many people--including some people of the slave

variety--believe that their word and honor is a greater

bond than any chain made in this world, and they would,

quite literally, die before breaking their given vow, or sully

the honor of either their Owners, or themselves. This

would, once again, negate the physical ability to leave,

and such slaves are therefore bound for the duration of

their commitment... even if that to which they committed

proves to be undeserving.

So, without painting all slaves the same with a single

broad brush, i have now given you an answer, and some

of the reasoning for it, from one slave's POV. We all

realize that there will be different opinions from other

slaves, different answers and reasoning, and so i will add

the caveat that all such differing opinions are as valid and

true for those who make them, as these i have stated

here are for myself; furthermore, i hope others will post

some of those different opinions.

posted here with permission of the author

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