Respect

People put different meanings into the simple word "respect". To me respect usually means to treat someone the way they deserve. Depending on situation I may show my respect to people in many different ways. I usually at least try to be civil with people as long as they have not shown they don't want or deserve that. With dominants I often also kneel before them and try to address them properly since many dominants expect it and I see no real reason to deny them that.

But that initial show of respect is really an invitation to the dominant to prove they also deserve my genuine respect. It doesn't take more than the dominant treating me in a civil way at least to start with. But many calling themselves dominants expect anyone calling themselves submissives to submit to and accept any kind of verbal or other abuse from them immediately. Even if I know there are submissives who like it like that those dominants are the ones that lose my respect because I don't feel they deserve it.

Even if I may continue to follow proper form being civil, kneeling and addressing them properly it just turns into a mechanical charade to me. If they are persistent I usually end up with simply ignoring them until they tire because they don't add anything to my experience.

It's actually only a small fraction of the dominants I meet that gets the cold shoulder from me like that. Most are pleasant and respect the fact that I'm owned and when I tell them I'm not up for play. Many of those who initially don't do it after I have politely explained it to them and some even apologize for the way they've behaved usually out of ignorance or lack of experience. That earns them respect as persons in my eyes not because they apologize but because they are grand enough to recognize they're not flawless despite calling themselves dominants.

In more than one case I've actually had long and pleasant chats even with dominants that started out the wrong way with me. Even if I perhaps shouldn't lecture them I think they may benefit from my hints by more easily earning the respect and trust from other submissives with preferences similar to mine in the future.