Collar

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Collar

The traditional collar is a neck band, normally in leather, metal or rubber. Collars can vary widely - from the decorative to the purely function and although often removable, some are a permanent fixture. It is normally chosen, designed or even crafted by the Dominant partner.

In BDSM the wearing of a collar generally signifies that the wearer is a submissive. Many submissives and slaves wear a collar to denote their status and commitment. It can be used to represent the relationship in much the same way a wedding band does, especially if the submissive is owned. Some subs wear a "symbolic collar", often a bracelet or ankle chain, which is more subdued than the traditional collar and can pass in vanilla situations. It is not uncommon for a sub to have several collars for special occasions.

There was once a tradition that wearing a collar with an open padlock indicated that one was seeking a partner, a closed lock indicated that one was in a relationship. This symbolism is less common after 1995 or so.

Detail of a collar buckle

It is important to remember that the punk rock and goth scenes have also adopted collars as a purely fashion item, so one cannot assume that all people wearing collars are into D/s or BDSM.

Collars are also used in bondage, although care must be taken as there is always the risk that the submissive might develop breathing problems and therefore should not be left alone whilst bound. Most collars have D-ring attachments so the neck can be either bound to another part of the body or to a fixed object. A collar can also incorporate additional straps and buckles to form a head harness. The effectiveness of using a collar in a bondage scene should not be underestimated, as well as being very effective in holding the submissive immobile it also reinforces the victims sense of helplessness and loss of control.

Collars are often used in role-playing games involving humiliation because they have connotations of control and pet-like or animalistic status, especially when worn with a leash. They may also be useful during play as a physical tethering restraint.

History: IRON COLLARS

Originally, collars for slaves where not made of leather but of metal, mostly iron. They were either used seperate, or as part of a set of metal restraints, including fetters and/or manacles. In Roman times seperate iron collard were often used to identify slaves by way of an inscription with his name or/and that of his owner, sometimes even giving instructions for their return:

I am Asellus, a slave of Praeiectus an official of the prefect of the grain harvest. I have gone outdoors, beyond the walls. Hold me fast, because I have run away. Return me to the barber's shop near the temple of Flora. (CIL 15.7172)

Collars were also used in the 18th century to identify slaves in Britain (even though the legality of slavery on English soil, at least, was hotly disputed during this period), in France uptill the ninetenth century for convicts, and to some extent in American plantation slavery. In the well-known tv-film Roots (1977), after the roman of Alexander Haley, the new black slave Kunta Kinte after being sold is taken away while wearing an iron collar, connected to a long slavechain to keep him under controll.

Iron collars could weight several kilos, They usual existed of two thick bands in the form of semicircles, connected by a hinge on one end, and, after placing the collar around the neck of the victim, simply welded or rivited together at the other end. Only in modern times padlocks or inserted locks came into use.

Iron collars have three advantages above other kind of shackles: 1. The neck is much smaller than the head, so escape by just slipping out (a risk not totally absent with manacles and fetters) was totally impossible. 2. As the neck is one of the most sensitive part of the body, if the collar is connected to a lead-chain the victim will be more easy maneagable than othrwise, especially because serious resistance very quickly will make him gasping. 3. For that reason also the psychological aspect of a collar in case of slaves is much stronger, as a collar leaps at the eye immediately, and controll by the neck reminds the victim to dogs and other non-human beings. That this regularly was intended, is clear from the fact that in Roman triumphal processions the male prisoners of war, who all where to be sold as slaves later, often had to wear heavy iron collars, their beaten leaders sometimes in addition chained extra by the neck to the carriage of the victorious general, thus forced to stumble behind.

The intended psychological effect of this becomes also evident when looking at the special attention sometimes paid in the past to the the collaring as such, that often was stiled like a kind of ritual. This was the case with galley-slaves in France, who marched chained together from several prisons in the country southwards to the bagnos in Toulon. They often had to wait months till the socalled 'Chain' had arrived and it became their turn. Being connected to the Chain by becoming collared with a solid iron neckring mut have been a very intimidating experience for the future slaves, reducing them to just a number (that indeed was branded in their upper arm).

Foucault describes the scene in his book


(For example, the well-preserved iron coffle or "chain for six slaves" on display in the Manchester Museum from the 1st century BC.)

It is likely that these historical precedents led to the association of slavery with collars in subcultures like Old Guard leather and in BDSM fiction, such as the Story of O and the Gor series.

See Also


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