I thought in the spirit of launching this as a community space, we might try to have some discussion prompts and share thoughts and experiences.

This seemed like an excellent place to start - we can all vent a bit about what really gets our goat.

For me, this could turn into a very long list, so I will just throw a few out there to get started: * the idea that dominant means 'bossy' or 'bitchy' etc. - being dominant and being domineering are not the same thing; * the idea that being dominant means you want to control the world at large (kind of related to the above, I guess); * the idea that female dominance can be described as 'gentle' or 'harsh' and there really isn't an in between - either you fit the 'gentle mommy-dom' stereotype, or the latex-clad men are worms dominatrix vibe. It's basically the 'mommy' / 'whore' thing, just applied to kink. * 'femdom' being called 'a kink' - femdom is just anything involving a female dominant. Whatever she's doing that's the kink. Or you know, the power exchange, etc. To call femdom itself a kink feels like a weird fetishisation of what for me is a very natural part of my identity / self-expression.

How about you guys? What are some of the common stereotypes which drive you up the wall? And how do you handle them?