Poll Results and a Question

A little over a week ago, I posted a poll in which I asked what subs prefer to call their Doms or what Doms preferred their subs to call them. Voters were asked to choose the name that they used the most or most preferred, although it was possible to choose more than one answer. I would like to thank everyone for their participation - the results are now in and a post is due from yours truly!

The responses were as follows (from most to least popular): Master (54%), Sir (40%), Daddy (36%), a term of endearment such as Dear or Sweetie (6%), or another name altogether (4%). Of the 44 people who voted, no one responded under the “Proper Name” category (I expected as much. I mean, even vanilla couples rarely use proper names to address one another, but I thought there might be one or two of us who preferred it).

Now, more importantly, why would I have conducted this poll in the first place? Great question! ;) Well, it’s like this, see… I follow quite a few blogs and enjoy each of them for different reasons. I read about the exploits of role players, M/s couples, D/s couples, polyamorous folks, spankos, newbies, atheists and agnostics, Christians, veteran and/or searching Doms, confident, bitchy, intelligent, feminist, and/or insecure subs, moms, dads, grandpas and grandmas, and an enormous host of other wonderful people engaging in a kinkster lifestyle that the majority of society would simply not understand or would view as a spectacle or perversion. I enjoy reading these blogs because I love the idea of sharing ideas, thoughts, and feelings with an understanding crowd. I’m not a blogger because I like staring at my own navel; I’m a blogger because, at heart, I’m a student of human nature, constantly searching for more information about how we engage with and love one another.

This being said, and part of what I enjoy about the blogosphere, is that there is a strong tendency within our web of communities to respect each others’ kinks, provided that they are consensual, safe, sane, and don’t involve minors (I have yet to discover a single blog that does not have an age disclaimer, advising those under the age of 18 to look elsewhere for their kicks/kinks). Yet in the past couple of months, I have read a number of blog posts and comments on other blogs from people within the community that react negatively to the Daddy/little girl D/s dynamic. This got me to thinking… Are the people who use “Daddy” to refer to their Masters/Owners, etc. really that few in number? Is there something that makes Daddy/little girl inherently wrong beyond the mere taboo? Is the Daddy/little girl dynamic more problematic than, say, the Master/slave dynamic? *

As a little girl and a slave to my Daddy/Master, I obviously have no problem with any of these terms, but there is definitely something about Daddy/little girl that has people in a huff. (By the way, and as a side note, I love Daddy’s very first post in which he describes perfectly the nature of our relationship…I would never be able to say it any better! But I digress…). I’m convinced that people have passed by our blog solely because of the title (although, of course, I respect everyone’s right to choose!). I have engaged in e-mail exchanges with other kinksters who have registered their disapproval with our dynamic. Ok, ok, I understand that the even the implication of pedophilia can be an extremely sensitive subject, but when those involved are clearly and openly over the age of consent (and then some!), where does the problem lie? I would love to know.

So, according to the poll and from my intensive blog reading, I have proof that Daddy and I are not alone! In fact, “Sir” only outscored “Daddy” by two votes in the poll. Yes, I understand that this “proof” is rather skewed (yeah, it’s like giving the scientific method the middle finger!), considering that those who voted are likely followers of our blog and are perhaps engaging in a similar dynamic to ours, but the question still remains… Why, when there are many of us out there, does the Daddy/little girl lifestyle continue to piss people off?

Any comments, suggestions, and ideas would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance! :)

* I’m aware of the ongoing ideological and terminological struggle within the M/s community about the use of the terms “Master” and “slave”. To my knowledge, “Daddy” and “little girl” haven’t received quite as much attention in recent blog history.