Switch (BDSM)

Switch (BDSM)

In BDSM, a switch is someone who participates in BDSM activities sometimes as a top and other times as a bottom or (in the case of dominance and submission) sometimes as a dominant and other times as a submissive. Partners may switch roles based on mood, desire, or to allow each partner to experience their preferred activity. For example, a switch may be in a relationship with someone of the same primary BDSM orientation (e.g., two dominants), but enjoys participating as either orientation, so switching provides each partner with an opportunity to realize his or her BDSM needs.

It is also common for people to switch with different partners, such as when a person acts exclusively as a top with one partner and exclusively as a bottom with another.

The act of "switching" may also refer to a spontaneous reversal of roles, initiated by either the bottom or the top.

A person who engages in self-bondage can be viewed as taking both roles simultaneously.

There can sometimes be found a lingering prejudice in some local BDSM communities against switches and switching, while at the same time it gains increased acceptance in other local communities. Like bisexuality, identification as a switch is sometimes erroneously construed as "sitting on the fence," or being indecisive about one's kink orientation. Fetlife, a kink-related social networking site, says there are many people who enjoy satisfying both the Dominant and submissive (or Top and bottom) facets of their personal make-up, and who refuse to sacrifice one for the other.