Leather Families Part Three of Three

If you are petitioning to become a part of a family, keep your eyes open. What does the petition mean? 

Sometimes it means you have to do so much community service. For other houses it may mean that they will not accept you unless both you and your bottom (if you have one) are available for sex and play to the group as a whole. In other words, you consent to this by petitioning in the first place. Sometimes the house doesn’t want any of that, and becoming a part of their house is as easy as simply asking with no further work on your part.

Another way to become a part of a leather family is to let it happen and then one day decide you want to put a name on it. It can be as formal or as informal as you would like. With patches or simply with love that binds.

Now the biggest question. What does having a leather family mean?  Ask 1,000 people, get a 10,000 answers. 

So I can write about what I have seen.

 For some people leather families are a way of putting a marker on someone.  “They are mine.”  For that family structure you are expected to have similar thoughts as the head or heads of the family. You are expected to keep the same friends, hate the same people, and over all “support the family” by group thinking. 

For some it is a group of people that they play or have sex with.  Someone’s ability to join their family is based on their Fuckableness. 

For some people leather family is about what they would consider prestige. They think it makes them look important. “The more people in my family I have from the more places, the cooler I look.” “The more people that wear my patch the more Domly-Dom I appear”. 

For others family is about companionship and finding people that can relate to your space in life, and love and support you through your changes. Even if those changes mean not being as close to the family   as they would like. 

All of these families are valid in their own ways.  Each have something that appeals to different people during different times in their lives. Someone may want a leather family that is all about sex and play.  Then over time they may want or need a leather family that is more about learning and challenging them. 

Nothing is set in stone here. 

Like all parts of BDSM, this is about insight and choice.

What do you want? And this is not a judgment.

Well- out loud judgment anyway.

This brings me to the next thing to think about. Years ago my mother had said that a person is judged by the company they keep.

This is very true do to the reality of a social culture.  So choosing what family you want to join, or when thinking about starting a family that is something to consider.  

How do you want to be viewed? 

These are never easy questions.

So taking time to answer them is crucial to making a good decision when it comes to you, your life, and your path.