More On That Personality Test

Yesterday I posted the results of a personality test I took. You can read all the details of the results in that post, but one item did get Me thinking.

The results showed that I exhibited "low authoritarianism."

That seems a little odd for a Domme. Doesn't it?

Dictionary.com defines authoritarian as follows:

1.	favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom: authoritarian principles; authoritarian attitudes.

2.	of or pertaining to a governmental or political system, principle, or practice in which individual freedom is held as completely subordinate to the power or authority of the state, centered either in one person or a small group that is not constitutionally accountable to the people.

3.	exercising complete or almost complete control over the will of another or of others: an authoritarian parent.

–noun

4.	a person who favors or acts according to authoritarian principles.

OK, toss out #2. But #'s 1 and 3 . . .
"favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom."
"exercising complete or almost complete control over the will of another or of others."

On the face of it, that seems exactly what happens in an archetypal D/s relationship. One "exercises control over the will of another". One "favors complete obedience." "Individual freedom" is not highly valued in a submissive as an abstract goal (and, to be honest, is usually not actively sought by the submissive).

But of course, this isn't Gor or some other idealized existence. In matters of two people, there truly is "no government without the consent of the governed." And while I appreciate the simplicity of simple absolutes, I understand that to Dominate a real person calls for a whole mix of skills and behaviors.

And it turns out that the farther you go along the path with someone, the better you know each other, authoritarianism becomes increasingly less necessary in that mix of skills on a day to day basis. It is of course still needed at that times when the Dominant has to "put the hammer down" but as a rule the submissive over time develops a level of respect for the Dominant suh that His or Her "authority" is just . . . there, always present but rarely if ever mentioned or thought about because it's no longer necessary to invoke it.

And for the submissive, the state I seek to bring about for My girls is the state where the full nature of the paradox becomes not only apparent but the operating principle in their lives: Namely, that the less freedom they aspire to have, the more actual freedom they end up having. This is a very difficult point to get across, but in My experience the most effective way to do so is to rarely talk about it, but rather have them experience it. My "authority," in the end, is difficult to define yet it is unquestionably there. As is their freedom. And the growth of each stimulates the growth of the other.