Hmmmm haven't read through responses, but own personal opinion is a doormat has little or no value and is easily tossed away or replaced by another, I find it hard to see that even the most submissive of people (as we are of both sexes) who have the best of all of themselves to give or serve at the deepest level would be so labeled...however if the definition of a submissive at the deepest level is to have no value, then perhaps to be labeled a doormat is not a sign or label of degradation but simply yet another label. At the same time I personally have never looked to maintaining of personal worth and value as a limit to service or submission....ie that for a submissive to feel they have value and worth means they will or not be on the "extreme" level of submission or considered "truely" *gag* submissive. Again we get into labeling what is true to the lifestyle...if "doormat" is given and accepted as a label within a relationship why would the opinion of any outsider matter? I see the distinction not in what we label ourselves or others, but in how we feel about ourselves within. Why would being labeled a doormat be a bad thing to someone who wishes to be treated as one? If that is having your needs/wants/desires fulfilled then it is giving you worth. For me probably the very same argument as why so many are seen as not being "truly" *gag again* lol submissive by someone else's definition...To me it is the difference between the person who knows what they want and what they NEED and the person who accepts something because they have no self-worth.