Roleplay

Roleplay is the act of assuming and playing out a role or persona for the purpose of exploring a sexual fantasy. The aim of the role pay can be as foreplay or to initiate sexual arousal, to heighten or maintain arousal throughout a session, to circumvent the inhibitions one may feel they have in their real-world life, or to enhance intimacy, pleasure, and connection with a partner.

Sexual roleplay scenarios can be acted out in many ways, including in person, over the phone, or via virtual channels such as text messages, internet chat, emails, or video games. 

The terms of a sexual roleplay are typically determined by the participants prior to the scene starting. They can be as simple or as complex as the participants desire. They may involve wearing costumes. Scenes can be crafted to have a realistic feel or to be so far removed from reality, as in the case of assuming the roles of fictional characters, animals, inanimate objects, or supernatural beings, for example. The scene may be limited to the people acting it out or may involve an audience.

Roleplay and BDSM

Sexual roleplay is common in BDSM and kink play. Roles assumed by the involved parties will stress or exaggerate a difference in power dynamic so they may explore the more dominant and submissive polarities in creative ways. This may come in the form of a consistent role in an ongoing relationship, or through different roles for different scenes and/or partners.

Common Roleplay Roles and Scenarios

Roleplay scenes and dynamics vary in their seriousness from the silly to intense. Some common sexual roleplay scenarios and characters include:

- Strangers: Partners may pretend not to know one another, or one or both of them may flirt with an actual stranger.

- Medical Professional / Patient: This dynamic can include medical fetish activities such as enemas and blood play.

- Sex Worker / Client: Variations of the sex worker role can include an escort paid for their services, a stripper providing a performance or lap dance.

- Photographer / Model: This scenario provides the opportunity to take actual erotic photographic footage of the model for another level of erotic excitement.

- Fictional Characters: This can either be acting out relationships as they exist in a given story medium, or by acting out a fanfiction in real time between characters who are not romantically or sexually involved canonically. It can also involve cosplay (i.e. wearing the costumes typical of the characters).

- Animal roleplay: A sexual roleplay where one or more partners assume the role of animals. This may overlap with the furry fandom subculture.

- Age Play: The feigned ages in an age play scene or dynamic can be anywhere from infant to elderly.

- Student / Teacher: This roleplay dynamic can also be a form of age play and/or include the popular “sexy schoolgirl” costume.

- Exaggerated gender stereotypes: This can include stereotypically feminine roles like a cheerleader, french maid, nurse, or typically masculine roles like military men, police officers, and other uniformed roles, which can also satisfy a uniform fetish.

- Gender Play: When someone dresses or behaves in a way that is different from their typical gender expression.

- Owner / Inanimate object: A scenario or BDSM dynamic where one partner assumes the role of an inanimate object such as a piece of furniture.

- Prison Guard / Inmate: A scenario where one person plays the role of a prison guard or warden and the other assumes the more submissive role as the prisoner.

- Interrogator / Torture Victim: A scenario where one person plays the dominant role as an interrogator and the submissive feigns being a torture victim. Pain and edge scene play can be incorporated into a scene like this.

- Tradesperson / House spouse: A scenario where one person plays the role of the tradesperson or laborer entering the home while the other is the homeowner welcoming them in. The dominant and submissive roles can be flipped to suit “traditional” gender roles or subvert them.

- Executive / Assistant: A workplace roleplay scenario where one person plays the role of the boss or higher executive and the other is their subordinate. The dominant and submissive roles can be those traditionally assigned to these positions or flipping them for a shift in power dynamics.