Female submission

1921 illustration of female submission by Georges Topfer from Le Rêve d’un flagellant ("The dream of a flagellant").

Female submission describes a relationship in which a female submits to the will of another person. The submission can be voluntary and consensual or may be obtained as a result of duress. The dominant partner is usually a man, but sometimes it is another woman, or more than one person. The term female submission is most commonly used in a sexual context and connotes that submission to a sexual activity is without pleasure to the woman, which is not necessarily the case in practice.

Submission can take the form of passivity or obedience in relation to any aspect of conduct and behaviour. Submission can be to a partner in an interpersonal relationship, or as part of some sexual activity such as in a BDSM or sexual roleplay. Some sex positions, such as doggy style, require for a woman to be passive and submissive while an active sex partner performs sex acts on her. Obedience may be a part of a sexual roleplay or activity, and can also be in the relation to the style of dress, if any, or behavior or any other manner.

A 1985 study suggests that about 30% of participants in BDSM activities are females. A 1995 study indicates that 89% of heterosexual females who are active in BDSM expressed a preference for a submissive-recipient role in sexual bondage, suggesting also a preference for a dominant male, and 71% of heterosexual males preferred a dominant-initiator role.

Submission may be manifested in a multitude of ways whereby a woman relinquishes sexual or personal control to another, such as acts of servitude, submission to humiliation or punishment such as erotic spanking, or other activities, at times in association with bondage. The level and type of submission can vary from person to person, and from one time to another. Some women choose to include occasional sexual submission in an otherwise conventional sex life. For example, a woman may adopt a submissive role during a sexual activity to overcome a sexual inhibition she may have. A woman may choose to submit full time, becoming a lifestyle slave.

Some people derive erotic pleasure from the submissiveness of a sex partner, which they may regard as a turn-on; and some people regard obvious passivity as a form of feminine flirting or seduction. Some women sexually submit to the sexual wishes of their partner for the pleasure of the partner, which may itself result in sexual pleasure for the submissive woman. Some feminist writers argue that female sexual submission can amount to sexual objectification.

When female subservience occurs as a consequence of a social system in which males, either as fathers or husbands, hold legal or de facto authority and power over related women, children, and household property, the arrangement is generally known as patriarchy.

See also

• Bottom (BDSM)
• Dominance & submission (BDSM)
• Female dominance
• Male dominance
• Male submission
• Nyotaimori
• Patriarchy