Power Exchange in Code d' Odalisque

Question: How is Code d’ Ode different to the rest of BDSM?

Answer: It is part of BDSM, by any definition, but it is a distinct system of consensual slavery. It is different and distinct in many ways. For example, it does nopt include sado-masochism and it is not based – first and foremost - on “power exchange”. It is not about “power exchange”, as such.

Question: Isn’t all consensual slavery about power exchange? Person A surrenders power to Person B. So Code d’ Ode is no different, is it?

Answer: That is true. By definition slavery is a power exchange. Necessarily so. So there is power exchange, of course. But in Code d’ Ode, power exchange is not the point of or the focus of play. It is about pleasure, not power. There is an exchange of power in order to facilitate pleasure and the pursuit of pleasure. The real dynamic is “fantasy projection” – the sharing of sexual fantasy. Power itself is not the enjoyment. And in that regard Code d’ Ode is different to much of what we might call mainstream BDSM, which is about power exchange. People enjoy power. People get off on power. But Code d’ Ode is not about the enjoyment of power – not primarily.

This follows from Code d’ Ode being non-violent, hedonistic and non-sado-masochistic. Because violence, inflicting pain, sado-masochism – these are about power. Power exchange – where it is an end in itself – naturally extends to that exercise of power we call violence. In BDSM people explore power exchange, including dabbling in controlled and consensual violence. Spanking, whipping, torture – these things are about power, obviously. The thrill is in the power. The thrill of wielding it and the thrill of surrendering it. This is why some people argue that BDSM is not essentially sexual. It is not about sex. It is about power.

Play in Code d’ Ode is not primarily about power. Of course, there is power exchange. The slave surrenders power and the Slavekeeper wields it. And that may be enjoyable in itself, but it is not thrill of it. Power exchange – slave to Master – is only a function necessary to the main game: the pursuit of sexual pleasure and sexual exploration. Code d’ Odalisque is hedonistic. It is not about power. It is about pleasure. It is about sex. It uses power – of course. But it is about pleasure. There is the pleasure of power too – we do not deny it! But the focus is upon sexual pleasure and sexual fantasy.

The exact psychology of Code d’ Odalisque is as follows:

Power exchange facilitates fantasy projection. Person A surrenders power to Person B so that fantasy projection may occur. Power exchange is not an end in itself. Power exchange is not the thrill. The thrill is fantasy projection.

That is different than in most BDSM.

Fantasy projection is a different modus operandi. It involves the projection of sexual fantasy – a sexual energy – between Master and slave. There is power exchange, yes, but only in order to allow a situation in which fantasy projection can occur. This is where the female slave becomes an “image” (simulacra) of her Master’s inner “fantasy female”.

Another consequence of this is summed up in the slogan ‘Man is her Master. Cock is her god.’ The slave in Code d’ Odalisque is not centred upon the personality of her Master. She is a sex slave. Cock is her god. In standard BDSM slave-play the slave will often be consumed by the dominant personality of her Master. He will be regarded like a demigod. The slave worships her Master. This is because of the power exchange between them. There is a concentration of power in the Master; he becomes a little god, a guru.

Code d’ Ode has a different emphasis. The odalisque is phallocentric. She obeys her Master, but it is cock she worships. It is an important distinction. There are no personality cults in Code d’ Odalisque. The slave is less wrapped up in the personality of her Master. Her surrender, finally, is to cock, not to him. Accordingly, a Slavemaster in Code d’ Ode need not be an alpha-male with a powerful personality. He need not embody authority and power in himself. Code d’ Ode does not empower the Slavemaster to the same degree as much BDSM power exchange. There is limited power exchange. Beyond that the dynamics of Code d’ Ode is through the projection of sexual fantasy.

The distinction is plain in practice: In “power exchange” a woman will enjoy being tied up and the Master will enjoy tying her up. That is the point of the play. Often there is no sex involved. Often the bondage will extend to controlled violence – paddling, spanking, whipping. All “power exchange”.

In Code d’ Ode, while the tying up might be enjoyable in itself, it is really just a preparation for the main event: the sexual enjoyment of the bound slave. The emphasis is on the sex, not on the bondage. Power exchange is not an end in itself.