Weekly Deep Dive: Revisiting Total Power Exchange Relationships

7 months ago, I wrote a post about Total Power Exchange relationships. I didn’t write the post to educate anyone. I wrote to process how I was feeling about that type of relationship for me at the time. So much has changed since that post, I felt the need to revisit it, both to offer education and to refresh my perspective.

A lot of people automatically equate Total Power Exchange (TPE) relationships with a Master/slave dynamic, but the words that you are using to label your side of the slash are much less important than the energy and intention you put into your relationship. TPE is a BDSM relationship dynamic where all involved partners have agreed that the Dominant has total power over the submissive with in the agreed upon limits.

Let’s break that down a bit. D/s is an exchange of power on a base level. The submissive willingly gives up their power to the Dominant in areas that have been previously discussed between them. Many dynamics exist only in certain realms, like in the bedroom or at the dungeon. The submissive retains a great deal of control in the dynamic beyond safe words and boundaries.

Part of the major difference to me between a D/s dynamic and a TPE dynamic is the intention of the members of the dynamic. I find that a complete TPE/24/7 relationship is hot on paper, but difficult to maintain. There are factors that occur in our everyday lives where the submissive must be able to function on their own, without being able to message…