{{short description|Fetish lifestyle involving transfer of money}} '''Financial domination''' (also known as '''findom''') is a fetish lifestyle in which a financial submissive gives gifts or money to a financial dominant.
== Overview == In the financial domination lifestyle, in particular a practice of dominance and submission, a financial submissive (''cash piggy'', ''finsub'', ''human ATM'', ''money slave'' or ''paypig'') gives gifts and money to a financial dominant (''findomme/findom'', ''Goddess'', ''money dom/money domme'', ''money master/money mistress'' or ''cashmaster'').<ref name="vice_Fina">{{Cite web| title = Financial Domination Is a Very Expensive Fetish| author = Nick Chester| work = Vice| date = 2013-07-02| access-date = 2016-01-29| url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/financial-domination-is-a-very-expensive-fetish/}}</ref><ref>Dan Savage (2022-01-11): ''[https://www.thestranger.com/savage-love/2022/01/11/64800926/savage-love Savage Love. Hard for the Money]'', theStranger. Retrieved 2022-05-03.</ref><ref>Jenny Haward (2022-02-06): ''[https://www.newsweek.com/ive-made-millions-financial-dominatrix-1674483 I've made millions as a Financial Dominatrix]'', Newsweek. Retrieved 2023-04-20.</ref> Participants in financial domination can be of any gender, but in the financial domination practice, the receiver (also called dominant) is typically a woman, and the submissive is almost always a man.{{Source?|date=November 2024}} Financial domination became more widespread and took on its current form after the introduction of the Internet.<ref>Jyoti Mann (2022-08-13): ''[https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-shadowy-history-of-pay-pigs-and-financial-domination-online-2022-8 A findomme reveals the secrets of financial domination and findom 'wallet drains']'', Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-04-20.</ref> The relationship between the two parties—the dominant, or receiver; and submissive, or the giver—often takes place solely via online communication. Financial dominants often present themselves on their own websites, relevant web portals or social networks to attract the patronage of the submissive.<ref>Jyoti Mann (2022-08-13): ''[https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-shadowy-history-of-pay-pigs-and-financial-domination-online-2022-8 A findomme reveals the secrets of financial domination and findom 'wallet drains']'', Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-04-20.</ref>
In the majority of cases, the two (submissive and dominant) never meet, since findom is primarily a form of "distance domination". In rare exceptions, the submissive may accompany the dominant while the dominant shops with the submissive's money.{{Source?|date=November 2024}} Financial domination is in some cases combined with other BDSM practices.<ref name="obse_Yes,">{{Cite web| title = Yes, There Is Such a Thing as a 'Financial Dominatrix,' and It's as Bizarre as You Think| author = Abby Ellin| work = Observer| date = 2015-02-18| accessdate = 2016-01-29| url = http://observer.com/2015/02/hard-core-money-managers/}}</ref> Such a relationship between individuals may be similar to, yet clearly distinguishable from, relationships based on total power exchange. In the latter, the submissive may grant all their money saved and earned to the dominant in addition to many other aspects of their autonomy; however, it is not uncommon for both partners to have an intimate relationship as well, contrary to the financial domination dynamic. Financial domination can also be distinguished from sugar baby relationships in which a sugar daddy/mama offers gifts and money to the "baby" in return for a relationship, generally without any explicit elements of domination. In financial domination, the submissive has no expectation of sexual contact in return for the money, and often there is no physical contact of any kind between the two parties.<ref>{{cite web|title=I Went to a Class to Learn How to Financially Dominate Men|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-went-to-a-class-to-learn-how-to-financially-dominate-men/|author=Alison Stevenson|work=Vice|date=2013-11-07|access-date=2018-05-22}}</ref>
One element of financial domination is the financial dominant/benefactor oppressing the submissive and establishing superiority over the submissive. Many members of the findom scene are matriarchists who claim that women are superior to men.<ref>Maria Yagoda (2017-02-03). ''[https://www.vice.com/en/article/inside-the-strange-sexual-female-supremacy-movement/ Inside the Strange, Sexual "Female Supremacy" Movement]'', Vice. Retrieved 2022-05-05.</ref><ref name=":0">Dayna McAlpine (2022-10-14). [https://mashable.com/article/financial-domination-findom-cost-of-living ''People can`t afford their findom kink in the cost of living crisis.''], Mashable. Retrieved 2022-12-02</ref>
Submissive members of the community tend to be seen as rich from people outside of the community, but most tend to be people in the lower-middle class.<ref name=":0" />
== Reception == Since 2013, numerous articles about financial domination have appeared in popular print media and online magazines. Some of them are just reports; others subject the phenomenon to a critical examination. Some of these authors question whether financial domination is actually a sexual preference. The majority of submissives have low self-esteem due to the dominant's partial or full control over their decisions. They are insecure in dealing with women.{{Source?|date=November 2024}} The first contact with a dominant typically comes about purely by chance, for example when surfing on BDSM sites or when looking for financial services (by using search terms as ''financial'' or ''money''). Over time, paying becomes an addiction for many, which in the worst case can lead to financial ruin. This in turn has three reasons: the ready availability of financial domination over the Internet; the targeted manipulation by dominants (many of them are not aware of their great responsibility); and the fact that psychological dependence is wanted by both sides and is even essential for financial domination.<ref>N.N. (2008-07-21). ''Financial-Domination-support-group'', LiveJournal. Retrieved 2022-12-02, linked in the german version.</ref><ref>Chuck Petko (2015-10-21). ''[https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-to-stop-being-a-cash-slave-456/ Free Yourself from Cash Slavery]'', Vice. Retrieved. 2022-11-14</ref><ref>N.N. (2019-04-24) ''[https://www.mediavsreality.com/mediavsreality2/2019/4/24/online-findom-and-the-addiction-enablers Online Findom And The Addiction Enablers]'', Mediavsreality. No longer available.</ref><ref>N.N. (2020-06-03) ''[https://cavemancircus.com/2020/06/03/findom-addiction/ Confessions of a Man Addicted To Financial Domination] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120193113/https://cavemancircus.com/2020/06/03/findom-addiction/ |date=2021-11-20 }}'', Cavemancircus, No longer available.</ref>
Other authors do not consider money slavery to be pathological and see it as an inclination that one can live out responsibly.<ref>Mark D. Griffiths (2016-12-08). ''[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-excess/201612/the-psychology-financial-dominatrixes The Psychology of Financial Dominatrixes]'', Psychology Today. Retrieved 2022-11-14.</ref><ref>Susannah Breslin (2017-12-12). [https://www.topic.com/the-hustle-of-financial-domination ''The Hustle of Financial Domination.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221110070812/https://www.topic.com/the-hustle-of-financial-domination |date=2022-11-10 }}, Topic. Retrieved 2022-12-02.</ref><ref>Joe Cort (2019-10-03). ''[https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/understanding-the-erotic-code/201910/the-growing-world-financial-domination The Growing World of Financial Domination]'', Psychology Today. Retrieved 2022-11-14</ref><ref>Jack Ramage (2021-06-18). [https://screenshot-media.com/the-future/business/what-is-findom ''What is findom? We asked a dominatrix and a paypig to explain''], Screenshot-Media. Retrieved 2022-11-14.</ref> However, some{{Who?|date=November 2024}} point to the high risk of deception and fraud. With many moneydom accounts (for example, on Twitter), it is unclear who is really behind it. There are proven cases of fraud.{{Which|date=November 2024}} In addition, many women become money mistresses for purely financial reasons, without having any relation to dominance. Both are subsumed under the term ''fake'' in the findom scene.<ref>Hayley Jade (2018-04-28). ''[https://www.vice.com/en/article/mastering-the-art-of-financial-domination-fetish-is-harder-than-it-looks/ Mastering the Art of Financial Domination Fetish Is Harder Than It Looks]'', Vice. Retrieved 2022-11-14.</ref><ref>N.N. (2018-09-12).''[https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/the-curse-of-the-fake-financial-dominatrix The Curse of the Fake Financial Dominatrix]'', MEL Magazine. Retrieved 2022-11-14.</ref><ref>N.N. (2019-03-05).''[https://www.dazeddigital.com/science-tech/article/43606/1/how-social-media-instagram-is-changing-financial-domination-findoms-subs How social media is changing financial domination]'', Dazed. Retrieved 2022-11-14.</ref><ref>Said Abdelmahmood (2022-08-27). [https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/elaminabdelmahmoud/financial-domination-findoms-sex-work ''She Earned $34.000 In One Month Through Financial Domination.''], BuzzFeed.News. Retrieved 2022- 12-02.</ref> However, some submissives are said to accept the deception or even to be aroused by it.<ref>N.N. (2019-05-29). [https://gizmodo.com/catfish-fetishists-the-men-who-get-off-on-getting-scam-1835001978 ''Catfish Findom: The Fetishists Who Get Off on Getting Scammed''], Gizmodo, Retrieved 2022-11-14.</ref>
Scientific papers about findom were published in 2007 and 2021. For both, relevant websites and social media accounts were observed over a period of several years (see Netnography). In addition to questions regarding self-justification and dealing with social rejection, both articles deal with the general characterization of money slavery. On the whole, the picture drawn in the popular media is confirmed and three things are also highlighted. First, the Internet has fundamentally changed the market for sexual services. Those involved could communicate more easily and, above all, anonymously, and real encounters are no longer necessary in many practices. Second, digital networks offer new (and vastly better) ways for people with dissenting inclinations or views to share, connect, and develop identities as a group. Third, anyone can create an artificial identity on the Internet that has little or nothing to do with the real person. All three of these factors were prerequisites for the emergence of the findom scene. According to the author of the first study, this is a postmodern phenomenon. The authors of the second article compare the appearances of moneydoms with those of influencers.<ref>Keith F. Durkin. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238398865_Show_Me_the_Money_Cybershrews_and_On-Line_Money_Masochists ''Show Me the Money: Cybershrews and On-line Money Masochists''], Deviant Behavior 28,4 (2007), pp. 355–378. Retrieved 2022-11-15.</ref><ref>Rosey McCracken und Belinda Brooks-Gordon. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-021-00609-3 ''Findommes, Cybermediated Sex Work, and Rinsing''], Sexuality Research and Social Policy 18 (2021), pp. 837–854. Retrieved 2022-11-15.</ref>
Financial submission is different because once money is sent, it cannot be taken back. There is no safe word for a bank transfer, like explains Dr. Eleni Nicolaou, art therapist and creative wellness coach at Davincified. It is that irreversible, permanent loss that the submissive is seeking, since it is the only kind of submission in which the loss of control is real.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-04-29 |title=Charlotte Grainger - The psychology behind ‘pay pig’ relationships |url=https://echo.etaira.com/uk/facts-and-figures/paying-for-power-the-psychology-behind-pay-pig-relationships/ |access-date=2026-05-20 |website=Echo by Etaira |language=en}}</ref>
== See also == * Dominatrix * Erotic hypnosis * Erotic sexual denial * Maledom
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Fetish subculture Category:Informal finance