Wow I'm just full of questions today.

[annie]

A woman accepting obviously flawed reasoning for her punishment actually IS sexy to me. What shows more submission than a female throwing her (correct) conclusions out the window and saying "I will accept his way"?

That's just part of the game, as far as I'm concerned. For me, you can boil every action down to this exchange.

DOM: "What is 2+2?"
SUB: "4."
DOM: "From now on, 2+2 is 5."
SUB: "But 2+2 isn't 5..."
DOM: "Heed my words. From now on, 2+2 is 5."
SUB: "Yes, master."
DOM: "Good. Now, what is 2+2?"
SUB: "5!"
DOM: "Wrong. You stupid slut. The calculator shows it is 4. Now I must punish you."

I see no problem with this. The sub says that 2+2 is 5 because she *wants* to be punished. She's throwing away what she knows because that's what her master wishes, and because she wants to feel his firm hand. And that's submission.

- FS

PS: Here's the above conversation with the actual words of your example added in.

DOM: "How do you plan to dress?"
SUB: "Tastefully- subtly. Making the best use of all of my features..."
DOM: "That will never do. I want you to wear this miniskirt, with no panties. Slit it up the side. And no bra."
SUB: "But...that's not a proper way for me to dress in public!"
DOM: "Just do it. I desire it of you."
SUB (hesitant): "Very well, master."

(later)

DOM: "Have you dressed as I instructed?"
SUB: "Yes, master- a short skirt, no bra, no underwear..."
DOM: "What an indecent whore you are! You should be ashamed of yourself. I'm going to slap you around for this!"

I see a HUGE problem with this type of behavior and it ISN'T clear as far as I can tell that the Dom is just playing. The sub doesn't say 2+2=5 because she "wants" to be punished... she says it because she WANTS to please the dominate. Exactly how is a sub supposed to learn to trust you and your word if you are setting her up for failure and punishment. I don't care how the conversation is done this is just wrong wrong WRONG! She does it to please and then basically gets slapped for pleasing? That doesn't fly and will just cause confusion and doubt both in her submission and the dominant she is dealing with.

There is a difference between play and real punishment and that is a clear line that needs to be established. That line, imo, is crossed in the above. This is NOT a game and that type of action can cause hurt and confusion! I would much rather feel a firm hand as a reward then for some trumpet up "punishment" that is designed to trick and set me up for failure. In my mind... bottomline, this type of set up is abuse, pure and simple!