Posing ominously in dark leather with what can only be described as a “pet gimp” seated beside her, 6'5" domme Goddess Severa certainly looked like someone who would be difficult to embarrass.
And yet, after roughly three decades of dominating men professionally, she admitted there was one public humiliation stunt that left her wishing the ground would swallow her whole.
Highlights
- Goddess Severa said she entered professional domination after arriving in New York with just a backpack and $100.
- The 6'5" former professional basketball player has spent decades in the scene and has known her submissive Eric for 23 years.
- She recalled how one public humiliation stunt backfired so badly that she swore never to do it again.
“I was embarrassed,” she recalled. “It totally backfired.”
The towering domme, whose real name has never been publicly disclosed, shared the story during an October 22 interview where she appeared alongside Eric, a submissive who has been on the receiving end of constant humiliations for 23 years.
One of the world’s most famous domme revealed the stunt that almost made her quit
At six feet five inches tall, Severa has never exactly blended into a crowd.
She said she was already six feet tall by the age of 13, and an older profile described her as weighing around 195 pounds, with 13-inch biceps and 22-inch thighs.
Her current résumé is even more eclectic.
During the Soft White Underbelly interview, Severa said she holds multiple university degrees, including studies in criminology, applied science and fine arts, and has an MFA.
She also played professional basketball, has lived abroad and has visited all seven continents.
But she insisted nothing about her childhood outwardly suggested where she would eventually end up.
“I was a quiet, quiet kind of kid,” she said.
Still, she recalled having fantasies about spanking people from as young as eight.
“It was just always there.”
Her height later became one of the defining features of her professional persona.
“Being a giantess really opened a lot of doors for me,” she said, though she added that “being tall is probably the least interesting thing about me.”
Her size, strength and athletic background nevertheless became a natural fit for physical sports.
“I feel very comfortable in my body, and I feel comfortable using my body as a tool for domination,” she explained. “I don’t need a dungeon. I don’t need tools. I have my hands.”
She arrived in New York with a backpack, $100 and no real plan
Severa’s entry into professional domination came almost by accident.
Years ago, she traveled to New York City to appear on a talk show and then impulsively decided to stay.
The problem was that she had virtually nothing.
“I had a backpack and $100,” she recalled. “In New York City, that is a scary thing.”
Needing a way to support herself quickly, she remembered her longstanding interest in domination and began searching through the Yellow Pages.
She found an advertisement for professional domination and called famed domme Ava Terrell.
Initially, she was rejected.
“They were like, ‘No, no, no, we have everybody already,’” Severa recalled. “Did I mention I’m 6'5"?”
The response changed instantly.
“Oh, I must see you immediately.”
Terrell eventually took her under her wing, and Severa spent her formative years in the scene at the Terrell Institute in New York.
She later began producing her own content in 1999.
By 2004, she had already become prominent enough to be profiled in the Observer, which described her as a 6'5" domme with “legions” of shorter male admirers.
Her submissive Eric has remained devoted to her for 23 years
Sitting beside Severa during the interview was Eric, dressed in fetish clothing and a hood.
The pair have known each other for 23 years.
Eric described Severa as “extraordinarily smart and creative,” while explaining that being controlled by someone he respects is deeply satisfying.
“It’s thrilling,” he said.
Their arrangement, however, has apparently demanded considerable dedication.
Severa recalled one occasion where Eric had to remain completely silent inside a closet for more than eight hours because other people needed access to the room he normally used.
Rather than resenting it, Eric said he was pleased she had asked him to do it.
“I learned a lot about what I was capable of,” he said.
Severa joked that keeping submissives around can become surprisingly demanding.
“It’s like having a pet,” she said. “You really need the time and the energy to take care of them.”
“I don’t have the energy for a stable of men. It’s too much.”
One public humiliation stunt involving two ice cream cones completely backfired
Severa said she generally avoids involving unsuspecting members of the public in her work.
That rule came from experience.
Years ago, one of her submissives told her he wanted to be humiliated publicly.
The pair were in Boston, near an outdoor square filled with restaurant tables and diners. She sent the man away with the mission to her two ice cream cones.
He returned carrying two strawberry cones.
That was his mistake.
“Strawberry, strawberry,” Severa remembered. “I said vanilla.”
So she responded exactly as a professional domme might.
She took one of the ice creams and planted it directly on top of his bald head.
The problem was not the submissive, as he had asked to be publicly humiliated. It was everyone else.
“The people looking around from the restaurant were so aghast that I felt that I was embarrassed,” she recalled. “It totally backfired.”
“I was like, ‘Oh, never again.’”
The experience permanently changed how Severa approached public scenes.
“I don’t believe in involving the public,” she explained. “Public humiliation, I feel a little cringey about.”
She also said she feels responsible for how the wider BDSM community is perceived.
“I want to be careful about it,” she said. “I feel a great responsibility to really represent my community well, so I don’t want to do anything that reflects poorly on them.”
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