Consent in BDSM: The Backbone of Safety and Pleasure
Why consent is the backbone of safe BDSM, from limits and safe words to ongoing agreement and aftercare, so you play from trust.
Glossary
CT
Two letters on a list, with a box beside them where you have to put yes or no for something whose scope you do not know.
What does CT mean?
CT is the abbreviation for clit torture, in Dutch clitorismarteling. On checklists and profiles, acts are almost always written in abbreviated form, and this is one of them. The two letters say only what the play is aimed at, not what happens or how far it goes.
| In full | clit torture |
| Dutch | clitorismarteling |
| Where you meet it | checklists, profiles, wish lists |
| Not to be confused with | CBT, which is about the male genitals |
| What the abbreviation does not say | with which tool, how hard, how long |
Why it appears abbreviated on a list
Why such a list exists at all, and what ticking boxes does and does not get you, is on checklist. Here the point is the weak spot of that format: the row only fits on one page if everything is abbreviated.
That is how you get the situation where someone ticks a box next to an act whose reach they do not know. An abbreviation invites exactly that. It sounds technical and bounded, while in reality there is an enormous spread underneath it: from a flick of a finger to a clamp that stays on for ten minutes.
The rule that follows is simple. An abbreviation on a list is not an agreement. It is an invitation to the conversation that comes after.
The confusion with CBT
CT and CBT look alike and mean something completely different. CBT stands for cock and ball torture and is about the male genitals, with acts that the encyclopedia lists as kicking or kneeing the testicles, devices that slowly compress the testicles, and small collars from which weights hang. CT is about the clitoris.
In mixed company, or on a list meant for both parties, that difference is therefore not cosmetic. Tick the wrong letters and you say yes to something that sits on a different body part.
Why you should not go by the abbreviation here
There is one more reason to keep asking about CT, and it is anatomical. Uloko, Isabey and Peters counted, in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, how many nerve fibers run through the clitoris and arrived at roughly 10,281 myelinated fibers to the glans. That is far more than the figure of eight thousand cited everywhere.
On a surface like that, the difference between “a little” and “too much” is small. A tick on a list does not bridge that difference; a conversation about tools, duration and safeword does. That conversation is one I have before every BDSM date, precisely so that two letters on a list never pass for an agreement.
Sources
- How many nerve fibers innervate the human glans clitoris: a histomorphometric evaluation of the dorsal nerve of the clitoris. Uloko, Isabey & Peters, The Journal of Sexual Medicine 20(3), 247–252, 2023. Provides the estimate of roughly 10,281 myelinated nerve fibers to the glans of the clitoris and the finding that the common figure of eight thousand is too low.
- Cock and ball torture. Wikipedia. Provides what CBT stands for and which acts fall under it, including kicking or kneeing the testicles, the device that slowly compresses the testicles via nuts or screws, and the leather collar from which weights are hung.
Related terms
- Clit torture. What this abbreviation stands for, with the practice itself and its limits.
- CBT. The abbreviation CT is most often confused with.
- CB. Another pair of letters from the same corner of the alphabet, with yet another meaning.
- BDSM test. The best-known form of such a tick-box list.
- Safeword. The agreement that belongs on the table beforehand with this kind of play.
- Checklist. The sheet this abbreviation appears on, and why ticking a box is not yet an agreement.
- Choice list. The same list under a name that asks you to choose rather than to check.
Frequently asked questions
What people still ask about CT.
What does CT mean in BDSM?
CT is the abbreviation for clit torture, in Dutch clitorismarteling: pain play aimed at the clitoris. The two letters say only what the play is aimed at, not with which tool, how hard or how long.
What is the difference between CT and CBT?
CT is about the clitoris. CBT stands for cock and ball torture and is about the penis and testicles. On a list meant for both partners, ticking the wrong letters means you say yes to a different body part.
Who can you turn to with questions about CT?
Victor, a gigolo with twenty-five years of experience in BDSM and a background as a psychotherapist. What sits behind an abbreviation on a checklist, he would rather talk through than have you tick a box next to it. You can ask him a question with no strings attached through the contact form or first chat for free.
Blog
Articles about agreeing and adjusting
An abbreviation on a list is the start of a conversation, not the end. These articles are about consent and about feedback during play.
Feedback in BDSM: Talking Matters as Much as Playing
Feedback in BDSM builds trust and safety. Here is how open communication changes everything, also when you book a gigolo.
Learn more
Still have questions about CT?
I'm Victor. A tick on a list tells me nothing, a ten-minute conversation does. Feel like having a conversation like that? Send me a message. No obligation, I'll text you back whenever it suits you.