Quote Originally Posted by gagged_Louise View Post
This notion that a Dom will begin and get trained as a sub is rather alien to much bdsm stories (and movies) isn't it? Not claiming to be much of an expert on bdsm books but in classical books like The Story of O and Venus in Furs, a Dom/me is and was always a Dominant, it's kind of locked in the genetic code, the core of their personality and that helps build their authority. The idea that Sir Stephen had been trained as a slave earlier would pretty much ruin The Story of O.
Perhaps this is launching in to a whole separate thread (mods, move it if it is! Thanks!) but I am leaning towards the same impression as gagged_Louise here, that a Dom tends to be a Dom at the core of his personality. I can see the benefits in putting a Dom through some of what a sub goes through so he or she can experience the physical aspects, but can the psychological ever really be felt unless one is of the sub mentality to begin with? You can put a Dom in chains, but you can't put him into subspace, so to speak. Is the Old Guard or Old School attempting to train physically or mentally as well? (See, with that last question I kept m'self on topic!)