From Submissive Journal Prompts:
How do you feel about the idea of ‘breaking a slave’?
For me, the idea of breaking a slave goes against the natural progression of a submissive/slave. I perceive it as a forced breakdown of someone’s own will, their own attitude and sometimes their own thought process.
What generally results is a blank canvas upon which the Master can apply behaviors, attitudes and reactions that would please them. In many broken slave cases I’ve read about; the submissive/slave doesn’t even remember how to think for themselves anymore. They have no dependence, they have no limits where they used to have limits and in very rare cases I’ve seen fear of the unknown where things once were known.
I really don’t like the idea of training just to break a slave into their base role. It can be very damaging to the person emotionally and mentally. You could wind up with someone that is no where near the person you started with. Do they then get discarded?
I guess it boils down to the fact that I don’t like people to be treated as chattel. We are human beings and while playing as animals or temporary treatment as animals can be beneficial to a D/s dynamic I don’t see it improving a person’s life to be treated such all the time.
Now I’ve seen and read about submissives and slaves that consider themselves broken but I see them in a different view. They have willingly become powerfully subservient, brainwashed (for lack of a better word), and live solely for the rule of the Master of the house. I find these relationships challenging and hard yet beautiful and very moving. It’s like these people move as one person. I don’t believe that the process has hurt the persons involved.
My choice would be to keep the submissive intact and work other ways into stopping or changing behaviors that are not appreciated. I know my Master is very good at working into my mind and helping me change my attitude and behavior.
For example I used to be a very nosy gossip. I loved a juicy rumor and would have no problem spreading it around where ever I could. Master found that very distasteful and worked it out of me. I’m now a better person because of it.
I am not broken, I really don’t like the idea of breaking a slave, but I can’t say that those that are, are any worse off (when successful).
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I think you’ve hit on the key point. Breaking someone to the point of creating a blank canvass on which to draw your own idea of what they should be is to remove the submissive’s personality. It’s purely Orwellian in its nature. When, in 1984, O’Brien has Winston Smith in the Ministry of Love, and ultimately takes him to Room 101, his aim is not to create a human being it is to create an empty vessel. Winston is not the willing participant in this transformation from non-conformist, free-thinking dissident into the empty shell ready to be filled with party dogma, he fights until the end. Even if a submissive submits willingly to the process their reasons for doing so, and those of the Master wanting to orchestrate and carry out such a life–changing process, are a mystery to me. Would such complete submission indicate a complete self-loathing on the part of the submissive? Does the Master find the thought of his sub having a distinct personality threatening or objectionable? I ask these questions as an outsider to the BDSM community and D/s relationships. Conversely I do believe I understand (at least in part) the relationship you and the vast majority of Master/slave partnerships enjoy. It’s the emotional/intellectual interplay and the tensions this creates for both Master and Slave that add the colour. I can only see a reconstructed slave however as grey. Once the Master’s personality/will has overwhelmed the slave, what next? Perpetual domination without variation seems grey and uninteresting. But as I say perhaps I simply don’t understand.
I am no longer a submissive…and in part it is because I had a Master that tried to do this to me. When you say it is hurtful emotionally and mentally, I would have to agree….I actually started hearing voices. I still do…very different sided voices-one telling me that I am supposed to be a Christian, blah blah blah dumb ideals that I do not agree with…and one telling me that it is my Master and I am supposed to be his submissive… along with all this scary stuff that I obviously can not handle as I started to hear my subconscious thoughts. I would hope that all Master’s around would refrain from breaking us down so much…as I was interested and am now running as far away as I can possibly get – not to mention my health is apparently less than par. That was no kidding seven years ago and I still hear them today.
I’m sorry to hear you had such a horrible experience that left you so changed. Thank you for sharing it with me.