Minimum Entrance Requirements

The Gay slave Academy exists to help slaves have the experiences they want—namely, the experience of a long-term Master/slave relationship.

Sometimes in the midst of all the fantasies associated with M/s people can lose sight of the fact that Master/slave relationships are relationships. There’s much to be said about this topic, but here we seek to outline a minimum baseline slaves should have when entering the M/s world.

These are some basic understandings one must have in order to explore and engage in Master/slave relationships successfully.

Basic presuppositions for successful M/s:

1. What most people are referring to when they use the word “slavery” is  wrong and illegal.
2. What We (and others in the M/s community) mean when we talk about “slavery” is always and only consensual BDSM-style slavery (whether that’s slavery play for a single scene or a slave’s lifestyle within a Master/slave relationship or any of the variations in between).
3. This means consent and communication are key.
4. Every Master/slave relationship is a unique creation between two or more individuals. This means there is no one “right way” to do M/s.  

Taken together, these facts constitute a kind of “you must be at least this tall to ride this ride” notice, the kind you find outside a rollercoaster barring people from entry unless they meet the minimum requirements. They’re not the fun sexy rollercoaster—they’re the minimum requirements that allow people to ride the rollercoaster in the first place.

One has to always be able to look at one’s own M/s dynamic and clearly differentiate between fantasy and fact and between abuse and consensual agreement. As one GsA slave put it:

…while a BDSM slave does serve, they are still a person, and negotiations must always take place so that a slave does not find themselves in a situation where their emotional and physical needs are ignored. It is still a relationship and both partners must be satisfied.

you must be properly grounded in this reality in order to skillfully navigate finding, forming, and maintaining a healthy Master/slave relationship.

Both Masters and slaves must meet these requirements

It bears stating that all of this applies to Masters as well as slaves. slaves should be very aware that not everyone you meet who calls Himself “Master” actually meets these prerequisites. you will have to discern whether or not He is in fact “tall enough to ride this ride.” And if it seems to you that He is not, DO NOT attempt to ride the ride of M/s with Him.  

It’s when both you and a Master meet the minimum entrance requirements that things get interesting… when you pass beyond the threshold of the sign and approach the rollercoaster to begin your ride together… 

Relationship is the overlap of what we both want

We find this simple model of relationship to be very useful:

For any relationship to work there has to be sufficient overlap. If the overlap is not there, the relationship won’t work.

Navigating and negotiating relationships is difficult enough when they’re egalitarian. Adding Master/slave dynamics in can seem to complicate the picture. To the extent that Master/slave relationships are based on principles of consensual non-consent, the exact shape and details of the overlap must be worked out over time between Master and slave. That takes thoughtfulness and good communication.

For example, how does this principle that “relationship is the overlap of what we both want” work when part of "what i want as a slave" is for Master’s wants to take precedence over mine? you have to think about, and communicate about, things like: What does it really mean for Master’s wants to take precedence over the slave’s? In all cases (really?) or just some? Which kinds of cases? Where are the boundaries?

How does this principle work when part of what i want as a slave is for my choices to be constrained or controlled by Master? you have to think about, and communicate about, things like: Which choices does Master control? In what contexts? What happens if Master doesn’t want to control certain choices?

Navigating step by step

This doesn’t mean you have to negotiate everything up front. It’s possible to agree on a set of general principles and navigate the specifics together as you encounter them.

How the principles of your M/s relationship are articulated depend on which side of the “you must be this tall” sign you’re looking from— whether you’re looking at things from inside the dynamic or outside of it. 

Here are some examples:

Viewed from the inner side of the sign — from inside the dynamic:

• slave is Master’s property.
• Master makes the rules; slave obeys.
• slave has no rights and no way out.

These are examples of the hot, sexy rollercoaster. These describe some of the kinds of experiences Masters and slaves want to have together.

Here are these same example principles viewed from outside the sign — from outside the dynamic:

• Master & slave agree that both want slave to be treated as if slave were Master’s property as much as possible… within the limits of what is possible and desirable for them, to be determined and discovered together.
• Master & slave agree that both want Master to make the rules and slave to obey those rules… within the limits of what is possible and desirable for them, to be determined and discovered together.
• Master & slave agree that both want to share a kind of experience they call “slave has no rights and no way out”… within the limits of what is possible and desirable for them, to be determined and discovered together.

These also describe the kinds of experiences the Master and slave want to have, just in a different way than before. This is the “you must be this tall to ride this ride” version that makes it possible for both Master and slave to experience the hot sexy version in a healthy way.

Expectations

Outside of the sign, We often have to be explicit. Outside of the sign, We have to say that not all Master/slave relationships will be based on all or any of these principles. That’s between each Master and slave.

Inside of the sign, inside the Academy, We expect you to understand these things even when We don’t explicitly say them. We expect you to be at least this tall to ride this ride.

In the course of GsA slave trainings there are times when We find it valuable to work with outside-the-sign perspectives and talk about things in that way. Most of the time We leave these presuppositions in the background so we can get down to the business of training slaves to serve Men.