Switch
RolesAlso known as: versatile, switcher
A switch is someone in BDSM who identifies with both roles, dominant and submissive, and alternates between them depending on the partner, the moment or their mood.
In BDSM a switch is a person who doesn’t identify with just one role: sometimes they like to lead, other times to let go. They may dominate with one partner and submit with another, change from one evening to the next or even during the same scene.
How it’s experienced
Every switch has their own balance. Some spend most of their time in one role and only occasionally move to the other, while others divide their time equally. As a couple, two switches can take turns, making the relationship very varied; with a partner who has a fixed role, the switch will simply take the complementary role. There’s no right way: everyone discovers their own through experience.
Why people enjoy it
Knowing both sides of play helps you understand your partner better: someone who has been tied up knows how it feels and ties with more care, someone who has led knows how demanding it is and lets go with more awareness. Many switches also speak of the pleasure of variety, of not feeling boxed into a label.
Consent and communication
Precisely because roles change, it’s important to make clear at the start of every encounter who will do what. Negotiation and the safeword apply in the same way in any role, and a person’s limits don’t change just because their position does.
On Corda Rossa there’s a category for people who identify as switch: saying so in your ad helps you find partners open to swapping roles.