quote:

ORIGINAL: plushiecat

Gift:
Noun
something given voluntarily without payment in return as to show favour towards someone, honour an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance.

Let's go with that definition for the moment.  When I submit to someone, I don't know about the rest of you, but I definitely expect at least a few things in return.  I expect that I will be treated well, that I can trust my dominant, and many other things that may seem obvious, but they are things given in return.  I would not submit to someone blindly or without the assured knowledge that I would be getting something out of it.

D/s is something (as DesFIP and others have said) that works BOTH ways.  I don't want a user, I want a shared experience.

LatexBaby64 said:
>>well then i guess you do not understand value. everything has a value. If you do not value  you >>something your right it is not a gift. Have you ever heard the term someone is gifted shrugs

I will take this on twofold.  First off, not everything has a value to everyone. For example, there are some folks out there that would pay thousands of dollars for a silly piece of cardstock (a baseball card).  To me, it means nothing.  It is all in the eyes of the beholder.  Value is a very subjective thing, as are most things in life.  What I hold as valuable, someone else might not, and that's fine.  It would be utterly dull if we all thought alike. 

As for the term 'gifted', that is different that something 'being a gift'.    Being 'gifted' in the way you are using it means 'having great special talent or ability'.

A second definition of 'gift':
something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned

Frankly, when I choose to submit to another, I most definitely put effort into it.  I suppose it goes back to the saying of 'If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right'.  I doubt a dominant would want someone that didn't put effort into the service. 

Then there is the whole question that I've always had: IF submission is a socalled 'gift', why then is dominance never referred to as such?  Not that I see submission as a 'gift', in fact I find the term ludicrous.  I just wonder why it's never stated the other way around.

No, submission and dominance are not gifts.  They are exchanges, and hopefully *mutually* beneficial ones at that.

1. Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation.
   
2. The act, right, or power of giving.
   
3. A talent, endowment, aptitude, or inclination.

1. To present something as a gift to.
   
2. To endow with.