CHICAGO – Last Saturday (March 16th), MAsT: Greater Chicago held a very unique panel discussion set to explore various Power Exchange Dynamics and how people of different gender identities and sexual orientations could share and relate to each other about their dynamics. The panel was hosted by myself (Master Michael) and slave Angie and consisted of the following participants:
- Daddy Chelle and teal
- Master Sindarian and ciara (Indiana Master & slave 2011/2012)
- Mr. Steve
- Riley (GLLA Bootblack 2007) and Rachel
- Sir Bear Abbott (GLLA Leather Sir 2010)
- Zarius and talina from Indianapolis
The dynamics represented ranged from Daddy/girl, to Gorean, to Master/slave and Sir/boy. There were transgendered, cis-male and cis-female, gay, lesbian and straight panelists.
For two hours, the panelists shared their histories, their path to their dynamic and some of the ways that gender and sexual orientation affected their dynamic. Questions from the moderators ranged from “How did you learn about your dynamic” to “How did your gender identification/sexual orientation affect or influence how you learned about your dynamic?” to “How do you establish a dialog with others of different gender identities or sexual orientations about your power exchange dynamic”.
What became quickly apparent is that while there was a wide variety of experiences leading up to their chosen dynamic, it was easy for the panelists to relate to each other by the simple fact of two or more people sharing in a relationship that features trust, communication and a willingness to grow and learn. This was very apparent when the audience was invited to ask questions – the panelists all had encouraging answers for various problems posed by the audience, and they were all very similar answers despite coming from different dynamics.
As one of the moderators, I am deeply grateful to the panelists for coming out to share a bit of themselves and their relationships. It was a wonderful event.
The next MAsT: Greater Chicago meeting is set for April 21st on Sunday, at a downtown location. More details will be released closer to the event. Those interested in learning more about the Master/slave, or other Power Exchange dynamics with the intent on moving towards an M/s lifestyle are encouraged to attend – contact greaterchicagomast@gmail.com for details.
