Ownership Icons

Posted by Tanos on Mon 17 Jul 06, 1:36 AM

Today (Sunday) I put a page of ownership icons online on The Slave Register, and added them to the TSR system so people can show them on their web board posts (so far - other places in the system to follow.) I think they might be more generally useful too, since we don't really have symbols for this kind of thing amongst the various flags and signs that BDSM/Leather has acquired.

There are 7 icons in all.

The icons have male and female versions, formed by adding an arrow for male or cross for female to the basic symbol. Arrows and crosses are references to the use of Mars and Venus symbols for sexes in biology.

I've used shields for master / mistress / owner, and that's is an idea lili and I were kicking around this time last year (the shield on the TSR certificates was part of that.) A shield reflects my thinking of a master as head of the household, and the whole set of associations with houses and aristocratic hierarchies. It's also unused within BDSM imagery.

For owned slaves / collared submissives, the basic symbol is a thick circle, surrounding the gender icon. This represents the collar, and is easy to distinguish in outline from the shield, even as a small icon. A collar is so universally part of D/s and M/s imagery that it's the obvious choice.

For free submissives, I had to think a bit harder. A circle with a gap was one option, but its outline is very similar to the symbol for owned slaves: if you're looking at a small icon with details which are just on the edge of your eyesight, then that's not so good.

Instead, I put the gender icons inside broken squares, just consisting of the corners with 4 gaps, one gap in the middle of each side. This represents an unlocked/open cage, and ensures that the outline is different to the previous two types. For me, using a cage in the symbol suggests that a submissive seeking enslavement isn't really free: they're a prisoner of their unwanted freedom in many ways. (And if you want to think of new slaves being dragged out of a holding cage, auctioned off and then collared, you're welcome to that too )

The 7th symbol is the collar ring placed on the shield, and represents the ownership subculture itself. Just as with the BDSM Rights flag, the symbols are copyright but may be freely used for commercial and non-commercial purposes without prior permission.

Edited Fri 4 Aug 06, 10:27 AM by Tanos