I’ve been in the BDSM community most of my adult life. I’ve seen so many different forms of the lifestyle, with many different protocols. But the one constant I see is the balance of power and control. The dominant has control of what happens and the submissive has the power to not participate. This balance is one of the most important aspects of BDSM. To those outside the community the world of BDSM can seem scary. The parallels to an abusive relationship are easy to make. But the one thing that protects the submissive is the Safe Word. Consent is the foundation of any relationship. And in this article I will cover the myths of the Safe Word and how to spot a bad dominant. The Reason for the Word. BDSM revolves a lot around role playing. Often in the course of play, the appearance of non consent is important. The feeling of danger is part of the fun. But the feeling is not reality. And to make sure of that we use safe words. A word that can be spoken in place of normal protests. ...