10 Kinks That Became Popular During COVID-19

Dominant/submissive

Ranking second on our list of pandemic kinks is dominant/submissive behavior. This is one kink that is often misunderstood and confused with sadism/masochism, but it does not have to involve the infliction of pain or humiliation. In the dom/sub dynamic, one individual is in total control and the other must ask for permission to do anything. Touch the dom’s leg. Eat the banana. Whatever. The specifics are up to the couple, but one person (the dom) grants permission and the other (the sub) must ask for it. One doctor discusses the psychology behind it, explaining that much of it pertains to wanting to switch conventional “roles,” wherein women are typically the ones being “mounted” in sex (dominated) and men are doing the mounting (dominating). In the dom/sub role, either person can take on a role that isn’t traditionally theirs.