Beginning of Essay
These ritualized behaviors; the strange and blatant acts, some which seem to be cut right from a horror-fiction film; the rigid symbolism in dress, and manner - none of these behaviors should be taken lightly, or ever treated as a mere 'game'. For those who do pos ....

Middle of Essay
.... object - and its opposite, the tendency to seek out and suffer pain from the sexual object, is designated sadism in its active form, and masochism in its passive. In terms more understood in the year 2000, the sadist might now be termed the Dominant: the Master, Dominatrix, or Mistress - or simply "The Top". The masochist is called a Submissive, a Slave, or "The Bottom". 'Top' and 'Bottom' are also used as verbs, as in "I bottomed to her", or "I want him to top me!". Another aspect of modern Sado-Masochism is the psychodramatic development of "The Switchable". That would be a person who consciously, in the sadomasochistic acting-out session, ta ....