What is Roleplay? Sexual & Erotic Roleplay Information

Roleplaying has existed for a number of years as a form of sexual enjoyment. It ranges in a vast number of fashions with a seemingly infinite number of scenarios, experiences and activities for couples or groups to engage in. All that is required for a sexual activity to go from a non-roleplay position to one with active roleplay in it is for one or more of the people involved to start acting as if they are not themselves.

Roleplay is often practiced by individuals within the BDSM community in a variety of fashions, but it is also readily available to vanilla couples as well. For instance, some women might pretend to be a nurse, police officer or other uniformed individual to appease their partner’s desire for a sexual fantasy to be fulfilled. Typical roleplay models include schoolgirls, cheerleaders and secretaries. Some may also find sexual pleasure from the pursuit of stranger roleplay, where they may meet up in a club or bar pretending to not know each other and then continue on with the night as if they are planning to have a one night stand.

Roleplay activities typically include uniforms or objects pertaining to the individual’s desires. Sexual roleplay from a historical standpoint is possible, with couples dressing in elaborate costumes from themes of years gone by. Tools and instruments are also common, with cheerleaders donning pompoms and nurses using stethoscopes to further enhance and legitimize the roleplay activity.

One important aspect required for roleplay to be sexually enjoyable is the suspension of disbelief. Put simply, suspension of disbelief is the willingness for an individual to suspend their initially critical judgment of an activity or narrative for the purposes of sexual gratification. While many people realize on an ultimate level that the sexual roleplay they are engaging in is not ‘real’, a proximate analysis can contain a willingness to suspend disbelief to make the experience more enjoyable. That is to say that ‘pretending’ to be within the scene of a roleplay is important for it to be as sexually pleasurable as possible.

Within the BDSM movement, the most common form of sexual roleplay is a master and slave relationship with a submissive individual needing to comply and follow the orders of their dominant counterpart. Some people choose to engage in a master and slave relationship dynamic on a permanent timescale, with their sexual roleplay spanning through a 24/7 lived experience, a process that many would believe actually turns the fantasy roleplay aspect of the scenario into a real, tangible exchange. Most other sexual roleplay scenarios categorized within BDSM also share this common power exchange dynamic where one person is in power and the other in submission.