History Main / PropertyOfLove

* The BoysLoveGenre ''AiNoKusabi'' features Elite Blondie Iason Mink who forcibly makes defiant gangster Riki his Pet (a SexSlave) and falls in love with him. Iason wants himself and Riki to be more than Master and Pet but realizes it is the only way they could be together in their [[{{Dystopia}} Dystopian]] society. So he wishes and waits for the day Riki, of his own volition, will become this trope and find HappinessInSlavery. [[spoiler:He gets his wish in the end but tragedy strikes.]]

* Jean-Claude from the ''AnitaBlake'' tends to form these sorts of relationships with his humans and were-creatures, including [[Spoiler: Anita, later in the series]]. Even when the master/servant relationship isn't sexualised ( for example, between Jean-Claude and Jason), it tends to involve high levels of devotion ( and possibly also StockholmSyndrome).

Note that Bob claiming romantic ownership over Alice doesn't make her his property in any way. It can be an expression, or it can indicate that he's a StalkerWithACrush or a JerkAss boyfriend.

->Nobody owns me
->I don't wanna be anybody's fool
->No one can make me do
->What I don't want to do
->No, no, nobody owns me
->Nobody but you

* C. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDSM BDSM]] between ConsentingAdults: It's not about gender or race or class or anything like that, it's about who [[CasualKink happens to be]] dominant and who happens to be submissive.

The InvertedTrope, avoiding relationships out of fear of becoming "owned", is largely a [[GenderedTropes Gendered Trope]]. In old works, it's mostly about men trying to avoid being captured by a woman. In contemporary works the situation is reversed, centering on women striving to be independent from men. Both versions are largely TruthInTelevision, due to changing social structures: A few decades ago, men typically had most to gain and least to lose from being single, these days it's the other way around.

[[AC:{{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]
* ''DearS'' is all about this, the eponymous aliens being a Slave Race, they mean it literally.

Also, please note that justification C is most commonly used when BDSM is played for drama, comedy or similar, or when it's some kind of instruction manual. Actual BDSM fiction usually doesn't feature BDSM at all (for the same reason that vanilla sex stories aren't usually about people pretending to have sex), so if a justification is used at all it's one of the other three. Often the authors prefer a straight unjustified HappinessInSlavery or ForTheEvulz - often with some LampshadeHanging.

Also, please note that justification C is most commonly used when BDSM is played for drama, comedy or similar, or when it's some kind of instruction manual. Actual BDSM fiction usually doesn't feature BDSM at all (for the same reason that vanilla sex stories aren't usually about people pretending to have sex), so if a justification is used at all it's one of the other three. Often the authors prefer a straight unjustified HappinessInSlavery or ForTheEvulz - often with some LampshadeHanging. That BDSM stories usually aren't about people doing BDSM is for the same reason as why computer games are very rarely [[http://www.theonion.com/video/warcraft-sequel-lets-gamers-play-a-character-playi,14240/ about people who play computer games]].

Also, please note that justification C is most commonly used when BDSM is played for drama, comedy or similar, or when it's some kind of instruction manual. Actual BDSM fiction usually doesn't feature BDSM at all, so if a justification is used at all it's one of the other three. Often the authors prefer a straight unjustified HappinessInSlavery or ForTheEvulz - often with some LampshadeHanging. That BDSM stories usually aren't about people doing BDSM is for the same reason as why computer games are very rarely [[http://www.theonion.com/video/warcraft-sequel-lets-gamers-play-a-character-playi,14240/ about people who play computer games]].

* In further evidence that not only are TropesAreNotBad, but modern Western assumptions about gender may not even be that accepted in the West: there are literally ''thousands'' of separate storylines invoking "justification" D, spread throughout shelf after shelf of the romance/erotic-romance sections of bookstores...and written mostly by women.

One common romantic desire is the wish to be owned by one's lover, to be his or her property. Mutual ownership only goes so far, because at the core it is a kind of power dynamic where the "owner" stands for safety and responsibility, while the owned can relax and feel small in a good way.

* In ''TalesOfMU'', the protagonist of which, Mackenzie, is DEEPLY submissive. The ogres in said work also have a strict chain of people-ownership, romantic and otherwise, which leads to Mackenzie being treated like a simple object because she's too far down the chain of sexual dominance.

* ''TrueBlood'' has this as one of it's basic premises. Sookie have given herself to Bill out of love, without being hypnotized like so many other fangbangers. Also, being his makes her off-limits to other vampires.

* B. Supernatural: The reason Sookie keeps pointing out that she belong to Bill is that she is his ''human'', not that she is his ''woman''.

While unproblematically romantic if the owner is a woman and the owned one a man, this dynamic can come across as sexist and unbearably old-fashioned if the owner is a man and the owned is a woman. If they are both the same gender, it instead risks coming across as if the owner is "[[{{Seme}} the man in the relationship]]" and vice versa.

To avoid accusations of promoting unprogressive gender roles, a Property Of Love dynamic is often justified in one of several ways:

* C. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDSM BDSM]] between Consenting Adults: It's not about gender or race or class or anything like that, it's about who happens to be dominant and who happens to be submissive.

* Beautifully parodied in ''WonderWoman'' #600, where Diana and Power Girl have a seemingly ''very'' uncharacteristic conversation about how Karen needs to understand and accept that "you belong to him", before TheReveal that [[spoiler: they're talking about her cat.]]

* Romantic ownership is pervasive in pop music. The phrase "I Belong to You" is the exact title of many different songs by popular artists like Lenny Kravitz, Anastacia, Brian McKnight, Toni Braxton, and Whitney Houston, most of which also mention "you belong to me."

* In ''TalesofMU'', the protagonist of which, Mackenzie, is DEEPLY submissive. The ogres in said work also have a strict chain of people-ownership, romantic and otherwise, which leads to Mackenzie being treated like a simple object because she's too far down the chain of sexual dominance.

* Beautifully parodied in ''WonderWoman'' #700, where Diana and Power Girl have a seemingly ''very'' uncharacteristic conversation about how Karen needs to understand and accept that "you belong to him", before TheReveal that [[spoiler: they're talking about her cat.]]

* A. Simply Romantic: Hoping that it's cuteness will avert any hatedom.

* In the ''Slave World'' novels, most characters are either a SexSlave or a slave-owning aristocrat. Some of them find their true loves and lives happily ever after, and it's hardly ever in the same group. [[spoiler: Actually, it is NEVER within the same group. One of the main storylines is the relationship between Prince Samuel and Lady Isobel. Sure, they are both aristocrats. But for every book it becomes more evident that Isobel isn't bisexual at all, she's a pure lesbian. And as her prince finally marries her and make her the future queen of England, he reveals that he was never attracted to her in the first place. However, he is very fond of her and they can have a lot of fun together sexually since they have the same taste in women.]]

* In ''{{Gor}}'', this kind of love is based on a very violent and misogynistic culture where males are supposed to have power over females. The author relies heavily on justification D, ''constantly'' pointing out that the stories are taking place on the planet Gor and not the planet Earth. (After a while, the descriptions of how [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment the sheep of Gor grazes on the fields of Gor to create the wool of Gor]] gets more annoying then the actual storyline.)