Domination & Submission: The BDSM Relationship Handbook (19 page)

Devotees of the
“Gorean”
subculture of the
D/s lifestyle pattern their relationship and social dynamics, language,
customs, protocols, and even their sexual activities after the manner of the
people of the fictional planet
Gor
, which is sometimes referred to by
the series publishers as
“Counter-Earth.”
  The planet, as
envisioned by John Norman, is ruled by a technologically advanced insect-like
race of Priest-Kings who have, over the course of eons, transported large
numbers of humans from earth to populate the planet.  One of those humans,
a British professor named
Tarl Cabot
, is the main protagonist throughout
most of the series of novels.

In the late 1960s, my father became a devoted fan of
the Gor novels and as a result, he set aside for them an entire shelf of his
massive library, which included books on practically every topic from Aristotle
to Zombie erotica.
 
As you might imagine, my reaction as a
hormonally-charged teenager to the serendipitous discovery there of
“The
Tarnsman of Gor”
and its sequels was a little like winning the
porn
lottery. 
While most of the other kids in my neighborhood were reading
Batman
and
Spiderman
comic books, I was perusing
“Outlaw of
Gor”
and
“Slave Girl of Gor.” 
At about the same time, I had an
incredible crush on the beautiful and talented
Barbara Eden
, star of the
television series,
“I Dream of Jeanie.”
  I tuned in religiously
each week in eager anticipation of hearing her giggle as she intoned those
magical words,
“Yes, Master.”
 Is it any wonder that I turned out
the way that I did?  But, I digress.

A
Gorean
is someone who emulates the customs,
culture and morality of the fictional planet Gor as it is portrayed in John
Norman’s novels.  Individually and collectively as a subculture, Goreans
are far more prevalent
online
than in real-life.  Even so, the
influence and impact that they have exercised upon the D/s culture in general
cannot
be understated.
 It should be noted, however, that many of the overtly
sexual beliefs and practices of the Gorean subculture come
not from the Gor
novels at all
, but from a work of non-fiction by Lange, written in 1974
under the pseudonym
John Norman
, called
“Imaginative Sex.” 
We
should also take a moment to acknowledge here that Lange has
never endorsed
the
notion of adopting,
in any way,
the customs or ethics of the fictional
planet Gor.  Lange has studiously refused to sanction, recognize,
participate or cooperate in any way with the popular subculture that his novels
have inspired.  The closest that he has come to doing so has been as a
strong advocate for strengthening marriages through the use of fantasies and
sexual role-play to bring about a couple’s
“sexual liberation.”
 

As long as we’re discussing some of the minor
details which don’t quite seem to fit the preconceived notions held by many
about Gor, this is probably a good time to mention that Goreans generally
consider themselves a part of the
D/s
culture, but
not
the
BDSM
culture
.  Their reasoning is typically based on the belief that Gor is
a
philosophy
and a
way of life
that fits neatly within the D/s
worldview
,
rather than an assemblage of activities, techniques or
scenes.  Most Goreans
(quite rightly, in my view)
see BDSM as
something
you do
, versus D/s as being
something you are
.  Even so, just
as there will always be a great deal of
overlap
when it comes to BDSM
and D/s, one should
also
expect to find aspects of Gor just about
anywhere you look in
either
lifestyle.

If we’re going to discuss what Goreans really
believe
,
we must be willing to make a distinction between what is described in the Gor
novels, what is actually
preached and practiced
by those in the
real-world Gorean subculture, and how it is misinterpreted and caricatured by
chat room role players who, more often than not, have never actually read any
of the novels.  As if all of that isn’t
already
enough to make your
head spin, we’ll finish up with some real-life true stories involving the
Gorean lifestyle.  Good times ahead;
get in, buckle up, and hang on.

Over the course of writing thirty-two novels about
the planet Gor, Norman meticulously developed and refined his vision of Gorean
culture and traditions.  Considering the contemporary standards for the
pulp fiction genre within which he worked, many found Norman’s vision to be
surprisingly consistent and cogent.  This is significant when one
considers the fact that contemporary Goreans attempt to emulate, as much as
possible, the cultural beliefs and practices of Gorean society.  According
to Norman’s novels, the “Three Pillars” of Gorean society are
Home Stone,
Caste,
and
Natural Order.

Home Stone.
 The
home stone
is representative of Gorean
sovereignty
, which can be
applicable to a home, village, or city.  It is typically a small stone marked
with a letter or symbol, and displayed in the center of the sovereign territory
it represents.  It is, in some ways, analogous to the way we use
flags
as
symbols of our sovereign nation-states.  A practicing real-life Gorean
would mostly likely adopt and apply this concept to reinforce the notion that
he is the sovereign ruler of his home.

Caste.
  Goreans
are defined primarily by their caste, which is based primarily on profession
and city.  There are some castes designated as
high castes
(comprised
of those in governance and other elites) or
low castes
(comprised
primarily of tradesmen and craftsmen).  The application of this concept by
real-world Goreans is generally manifested in the high esteem they typically
place on a person’s practical skills and warrior ethos.  

Natural Order.
 
In the Gorean culture, it is considered part of the
natural order
that
males are considered to be naturally dominant, while females are considered to
be inherently submissive.  Even so, there are many significant
exceptions
to the rule, even on the fictional world of Gor.  The practical end
result, however, is that most modern-day real-world Goreans tend to be rather
dismissive of any notion of female domination, in any form.   

Interestingly, despite the fact that the Gor novels
are probably best known for their erotic depictions of
women in slavery
,
there is a widespread misconception -
occasionally even among Goreans,
themselves
- that
all
of the women of Gor are slaves.  In
actuality, even though the great majority of Gorean slaves
are
women,
only about one woman in forty is a slave.  Female slaves are individually
called
kajira
, and
kajirae
in the plural.  There are
male
slaves on Gor, as well, however they are far fewer in number and, unlike the
women who are either bred for slavery or kidnapped from Earth, the male slaves
of Gor typically become slaves as the result of war, criminality, or
indebtedness.  Male slaves are individually called
kajirus
, and
kajiri
in the plural.  Slaves may be owned by free persons (men
or
women),
entire households, or even municipalities.

Gorean slaves are categorized in a variety of ways,
such as pedigree, virginity, training and utility.  In general,
barbarian
slave girls are women who have been abducted from Earth by the insect race of
Priest-Kings on their voyages of acquisition.  True
Gorean
slave
girls are those who are native-born to Gor, whether they were born free or
slave.  Pedigree also is a factor when it comes to passion slaves and
exotics, which are slave specifically bred by a slaver from slave stock to
perpetuate desired traits and attributes.

Virginity,
to
absolutely no one’s surprise, is a
big deal
on the planet Gor.  A
female slave who is a virgin is referred to as a
“white silk girl.”
 
A female slave who is
not
a virgin is referred to as a
“red silk
girl.”
  The distinction is largely semantic and ceremonial, as it is
neither required, nor even customary, for white silk girls to wear only white,
or red silk girls to wear only red.  It is, however, common for the
appropriate colors to be worn for special occasions, ceremonial purposes, and
sometimes for a number of days following those events.

Slaves are also categorized by the types of training
they have received.  For example, most slave girls are expected to know
how to
dance
in order to entertain their Masters, however a slave girl
of Gor who has been formally trained and certified by a recognized school of
dance has earned the right to be specifically referred to as a
Dancer. 
A lady’s serving slave, which is a slave who has been specifically trained
in the skills required for attending to the needs of high-bred Gorean women,
would be expected to know far more about the subjects of clothing, bathing,
hygiene, serving, table service, and social protocols than any typical slave
girl. 

A Gorean slave’s training, like her virginity, is
also
a really big deal.  When we think of the word
training
, we
usually
think in terms of skills that require specialized abilities or an abundance of
technical knowledge.  This is typically
not
the case when it comes
to the training of Gorean slaves.  They must be taught
everything
they know
again
from scratch, and the most difficult part of that
process is the
unlearning
of the old habits.  A Gorean slave must
be taught how to stand, sit, kneel, walk, speak, be silent, serve, entertain,
assume various poses and positions as required, and perform a wide assortment
of other mundane tasks in a
very specific fashion
.  Even a task as
seemingly simple as
entering a room
becomes infinitely more complicated,
if you happened to be a slave girl of Gor:   

“Observe,"
once had said Elizabeth to me, to my amusement, in the secrecy of our
compartment, "the twelfth way to enter a room."

I had observed.
It was not bad. But I think I preferred the tenth, that with the girl’s back
against the side of the door, the palms of her hands on the jamb, her head up,
lips slightly parted, eyes to the right, smoldering at just the right
temperature.

"How many
ways are there," I asked, sitting cross-legged in the center of the
compartment, on the stone couch, "to enter a room?"

"It
depends on the city," said Elizabeth. "In Ar we are the best; we have
the most ways to enter a room.  One hundred and four."

I whistled. 
"What about," I asked, "just walking straight through?"

She looked at
me. "Ah," said she, "one hundred and five!"

(John Norman, Assassin of Gor, 1970)

Gorean slaves may be used for any purpose their
Masters desire, whether it is for utilitarian purposes or for pleasure, she
would be classified primarily by her assigned duties.  This is the fourth
way by which Gorean slaves at categorized: by how they are
utilized.
 
A slave who has been formerly trained as a
Dancer
, yet is employed by
her Master as a
Bath Girl,
is for all intents and purposes, a
Bath
Girl.

The following is just a
partial
list of the
various types of Gorean slaves, as described by John Norman:

Bath Girl.
 
Bath girls are slaves who are kept either by the owner of a bath house or, in the
case of public bath houses run by the village or city, city slaves. 
Sexual use of the bath girl by patrons is typically included in the bath house
entry fee.

Below Deck Girl.
 When
Gorean slaves are transported by ship, some are kept top-side, or
“on deck,”
while others are kept in the hold of the ship, or
“below deck.”
 
The slaves
on deck
are given a certain degree of freedom in exchange for
their labor, whereas the
below deck girls
are kept in cages and shorn of
their body hair in an effort to discourage nits and lice.  

Bond-maid.
 
Bond-maids are slave girls who have been won in battle or captured by raiding
parties.  They refer to their Masters as “Jarl”, and are typically more
bold, boisterous and playful than the typical kajira, whom they view with some
distaste.  Their collars are made of iron, and riveted by hammer around
their necks.  The role of a bondmaid tends to be a favorite among those
who are new to role-playing the Gorean lifestyle, as it provides a simple and
convenient back-story
(“I was taken in a raid, and forced to become a
slave”)
and it provides a semi-plausible explanation for behavior that
would, in reality, be better suited to a BDSM
brat-sub
than a kajirae
trained Gorean.  The following passage from
Marauders of Gor
beautifully illustrates the typical behavior of bondmaids:

A bond-maid thrust through the crowd. "Does my Jarl
not remember Gunnhild?" she asked. She whimpered, and slipped to his side,
holding him, lifting her lips to kiss him on the throat, beneath the beard. About
her neck, riveted, was a collar of black iron, with a welded ring, to which a
chain might be attached.

"What of Pouting Lips?" said another girl,
kneeling before him, lifting her eyes to his. Sometimes bondmaids are given
descriptive names. The girl had full, sensuous lips, she was blond; she also
smelled of verr; it had doubtless been she whom I had seen on the slope herding
verr.  "Pouting Lips has been in agony awaiting the return of her
Jarl," she whimpered.

The Forkbeard shook her head with his great hand.

"What of Olga?" whined another wench, sweet and
strapping, black-haired.

"Do not forget Pretty Ankles, my Jarl," said
another wench, a delicious little thing, perhaps not more than sixteen. She
thrust her lips greedily to the back of his left hand, biting at the hair
there.

"Away you wenches!" laughed Ottar. "The
Forkbeard has new prizes, fresher meat to chew!" 

(John Norman, Marauders of Gor, 1975)

Admittedly, it is extremely difficult for anyone
familiar with the Gorean lifestyle to imagine
any kajira
, under
any
circumstances
, trained or untrained, conducting herself in such a
fashion.  On the other hand, the role of a bond-maid is a tempting role
indeed for anyone wishing to adopt Gorean ways and become a slave,
without
becoming a kajira.

Camp Slave.
 
Camp slaves
are slave girls who are kept in a military camp and who
travel with the military unit in accordance with the terms of a contract
between a slave merchant and the military leaders.

Chamber Slave.
 Chamber
slaves
are human slaves kept by the insect race of
Priest-Kings for the sole purpose of servicing other humans who find their way
to the Nest and become enslaved themselves.

City Slave.
 Refers
to any slave that is owned by the governing body of a village or city.

Coin Girl.
 
A coin girl is a slave who is prostituted for sexual favors as a means of
generating income for her Master.  She wanders the streets naked, wearing
only a necklace with coin box attached, into which her customers are expected
to deposit coins in exchange for sex. 

“Coin girls were a form of street slave, usually sent
into the streets around dusk by their masters, who commonly own several of
them, with a chain on their neck, to which would be attached, normally, a bell,
to call attention to their whereabouts, and a small, locked coin box. And woe
to the girl who returns with coins jangling in the box!  To be sure, in
some places, one might even have a paga slave, or a brothel slave, for as
little as a tarsk bit.”

(John Norman, Renegades of Gor, 1986)   

Draft Slave.
 
A draft slave is one who is used primarily to pull carts.

Feast Slave.  A slave who is specially trained
to serve at large banquets or special events is commonly referred to as a
feast
slave.

Fighting Slave.
 
Specially trained in the martial arts, fighting slaves typically serve as body
guards and site security.  They sometimes are pitted against one another,
like gladiators, in various kinds of mortal combat for the entertainment of the
free.

House Slave.
 A
Gorean
house slave
, sometimes also referred to as a
tower slave
,
is considered to be a slave of relatively low status, if there can be such a
thing as status among slaves,
at all.
  Their duties typically
involve housekeeping, cooking, serving, sewing, washing and other domestic
chores. The label is almost always preceded by the descriptive word
“mere,”
as it is in this passage:

"Even though she had then been turned in effect into
a pleasure slave, much as might be purchased in any market, he had, it seems,
considered having her serve in his city as a mere house slave, or even, in
spite of what she had now become, if it pleased him, denying her the collar, as
a mere cleaning prisoner, a confined servant, a mere housekeeper in
captivity."  (John Norman, Vagabonds of Gor, 1987)

Kettle Slave.
 A
kettle slave
is a sub-category of
house slave
that is utilized
primarily in the kitchen to perform food preparation, cooking, and
cleaning.  Kettle slaves are sometimes referred to as
pot girls.

Love Slave.
 
A love slave is a slave who has f
allen in love
with her Master, although
there is some debate among Goreans about whether she must be loved by her
Master, in return.  In Gorean tradition, it is believed that the life of a
love slave is necessarily harsher than for any other kind of slave.  That
is because her Master must always be vigilant against accusations of
favoritism, and will often over-compensate for his secret desire to go easy on
her.  Love between Master and slave isn’t always spoken of openly, but
when it is, it is done so
powerfully
:

He took me by the hair and thrust my head down to the
furs. "A man can truly love only that woman," he said, "who is
truly his, who belongs to him.  Otherwise he is only a party to a
contract."

"A woman," I said, "can love only that man
to whom she truly belongs."

"To whom do you truly belong, Slave?" he asked.

"To you, Master," I said.

"You please me, Slave Girl," he said.

(John Norman, Slave Girl of Gor, 1977)

Luck Slave.
 A
luck slave
is a shipboard slave who - for whatever reason - is kept
because it is believed she will bring good luck, and serves as a sort of mascot
and pleasure slave for the crew.

Lure Girl.
 A
lure girl is a slave whose primary purpose is to draw men from an enemy’s camp
into a trap.  Once the trap has been sprung, the prisoners are often put
to work as slaves, themselves.

Mat and Kettle Slave.
 Actually,
a fusion of two different types of slaves - a mat slave is used primarily for
sexual purposes, while a kettle slave is a kitchen domestic.  In many
households, a single slave may be forced to perform domestic kitchen duties as
well as please her Master sexually, and so she is known as a
mat and kettle
slave.
  

Message Girl.
 A
message girl refers to a slave who is utilized as a courier to transmit secret
messages.  The message girl's head is shaved and the message, which is
sometimes encoded, is tattooed on her head. The girl chosen for this sort of
duty is usually illiterate, even though it would be almost impossible for her
to see the message on the back or top of her head,
even if she weren’t
. 
Her hair is then allowed to grow back before she is sent to deliver her
message.  The recipient shaves her head to read the message, and then
typically
keeps her
as part of the bargain.

Mul.
  Mul is
the Priest-King word for the human slaves that serve them
.
 Muls
are bred in their nest by the insect-like race of Priest-Kings, and fed an
extremely bland, pale, whitish, fibrous vegetable-like paste called mul-fungus.
 
Obviously, you probably won’t be meeting many
muls
here on
Earth. 

Paga Slave.
  Sometimes
known as a
tavern slave
, the
paga slave
is owned by a tavern
keeper and offered to patrons for the price of a cup of paga, which is a
fermented brew made from yellow grain and consumed at room temperature. 
Think:
Tavern wench.