Hard limits are things that you absolutely will not do, period, end of sentence, no matter what. They are things that no one should try to coerce or force you into doing (unless you’re into that sort of thing; see consent to non-consent).
Things that people often list as ‘hard limits’ are drugs, bestiality, pedophilia1, scat, and vomit. Occasionally included in that list are urine, fire play, blood letting, permanent marks or damage, broken bones. However, literally anything can be a hard limit, so you will come across folks with limits like spanking, whips, nipple clamps, pain, bondage, etc.
You should never ever feel ashamed or embarrassed about your hard limits. Everyone has different life experiences and desires, and a person’s particular hard limits are often directly related to those things.
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1. Most people in today’s society consider this a given, but sadly, the BDSM community isn’t devoid of sick fucks. Some ‘consensual slave owners’ claim that once they own a person, they own that person’s children, as well, and have the right to do whatever they wish with them. This, of course, is wrong and illegal. No one can give consent to ownership or sex for another person, and especially not for a minor child.↩