Put on Display

I'm guessing most people have some experience before with being put on display.  This probably happened at least a few times for most people when they were young.  Your parents or relatives would yank you away from whatever you wanted to be doing so they could show off whatever pseudo-talent you might have to people you rarely see.  Resistance would get nowhere and for several minutes you would end up feeling like a circus performer as you played out some irritating routine in order to impress these people that you didn't really care about (unless you happen to be one of those people who wanted the spotlight so you could be doted on while blasting off-key renditions from Annie).

It wasn't until I experienced this in a D/s setting that I was able to understand the feelings that swirl around from being put on display and how they affect me.  I have experienced this in both a pure D/s setting (at a play party) as well as in a way where I was behaving like a submissive, but in the presence of vanilla company.

The process is strange because of the way it dehumanizes you.  You become a sideshow:  something for the entertainment of others and there to be talked about rather than a person to be talked to. 
D/s adds a wrinkle.  You want to make her proud.  You want to represent her as best as you can.  You want to show others what made her choose you... you want to show your worth.

What is strange is that it only takes one person to get the ball rolling.  A simple statement about you within your presence causes a cascade of comments that diminish you as a person.  You become the topic of conversation.  The entertainment.  The service.  Each exchange drives the message home.  The attention becomes discomfort and the discomfort signals that it is too late.  In most cases someone will patronize you in a tone that reeks of condescension.  It's fascinating how someone pretending that you are a person makes it abundantly clear that they don't truly see you as one.

These types of events send me spiraling deep in submissive mental space.  I just want to be something that she is proud of.  This is a special kind of anguish.  I feel myself slip away and endure as an object... that is what I am there for.