Safewords

There’s more debate about safewords than one might anticipate.

Some tops feel they have such harmony with their bottoms they can always safely judge the latter’s condition. A few clearly think it violates what they see as their right to omnipotence in M/s relationships and scenes.

Some bottoms hate they because it spoils the illusion of being truly helpless and subjugated. There are probably those who forgo them to please or placate their dominant.

For others the lack of a safeword violates the limits of risk aware sadomasochistic play.

And some of us - having found ourselves in dangerous situations that couldn’t have been known in advance - adopt them with reluctant acceptance of the need to play in a manner than minimizes the possibility of trauma or serious injury.

Do you require a safeword? Did you always? Would you refuse to play with someone who refused to either adopt or allow one?