Variations

Specially psychologically oriented practices include educational games in which the dominant partner demands certain behaviors from the submissive partner. Special forms here are erotic role-playing games such as ageplay - in which a pretended age difference acts as the background - or petplay as well as game forms based on cosplay. Targeted sexual rejection of the partner can also be part of dominance and submission. The best-known and probably most clichéd form of dominance and submission is that of "domination and slavery". This can be implemented for the short duration of a "game" among partners who are otherwise equal, but it can also be permanently integrated into everyday life and then extends to the complete submission of a partner in the sense of a total power exchange. Balancing elements for domination and submission are caring and devotion, which complement each other and thus enable stable relationships.

Symbols

The sub's submission is sometimes outwardly demonstrated by symbols such as a collar, special tattoos, intimate jewellery, or very short hair or bald heads. Occasionally, in long-term relationships, the balance of power is fixed in writing in so-called “slave contracts”. This symbolic action is intended to capture the close connection between the partners and their common ideas. Legally, these “slave contracts” are in no way binding. In the past, the existence of such documents in various contexts has repeatedly led to drastic headlines in the tabloid press, as they detail the internal relationship and agreed practices. In the case of uninformed third parties, such information, which has been removed from its original context, regularly leads to strong rejection and a condemnation of the relationship on which the document is based.