sexyshadylady - I had a interesting conversation in the chat room regarding the topic of blind obedience.

The conversation was with me and came about through a comment I made that people, in all warps of life, should honor commitments they make. SSL said but what if a subbie doesn't agree with or want to obey a dom's order and what if the order is simply wrong. She said that would be tantamount to blind obedience.

I have since had a private chat with SSL to clarify my position. Keeping our word and honoring commitments is the basis for contract law. The whole world revolves around people doing what they said they would do. To challenge this fundamental concept would result in virtual chaos and anarchy.

We then talked about these principles as applicable to bdsm relationships and the blind obedience subject. I explained that the problem really was submissives giving blind submission or doms expecting it. People all to often just meet a dom and within days say "I submit and will do anything you say" without establishing limits or any kind of framework to define the nature of instructions and obedience deemed acceptable in the relationship, I'm not suggesting people draw up a lengthy quasi legal document here, just verbally agree on the basic ground rules, purpose, spirit and scope of the relationship. So if I as dom say, "I will not require you to do anything that may unduly affect your real life health, safety and welfare" then if I order her to walk down the high street naked she would be perfectly within her rights to point out how this would contravene the commitment I had made.

Bottom line is if you give a blind commitment then blind obedience may be justifiably expected. I would argue however that if you promised to do 'absolutely anything" then its not really blind is it, you know what you have agreed to do, In practical terms therefore the problem is not blind obedience being demanded it blind commitments being given or expected.

Offtopic - There is a maxim used in establishing effective business controls systems.

- Say what you do
- Do what you say
- Prove it
- Improve it

Seems to me this maxim could maybe also apply to bdsm relationships.