Those of you who have been following my adventures in SL and those who read my last article “The Free Women Chronicles” knew I wouldn’t last long in the particular role of an oppressed, icy, bitch queen who wasn’t allowed to so much as express sexual desire, let alone get laid. (Or to use the shorter name, a “Free” Women.) But in Tetrapoli, a by-the-book gorean sim, there was really only two other options for a women: become a slave, or become an outlaw. Given the fact that I didn’t have any weapons it seemed outlaw wasn’t exactly the best idea, thus I was left with slave, which in the world of gor are called “Kajira.”
Let us be clear, Gor is founded on the principals of slavery, according to the fiction, slavery has been an accepted social institution upon Gor for thousands of years. Without Kajira Gor wouldn’t exist, nevermind become an Internet phenomenon. Indeed to some devotees of Gor, free women are just Kajira who havn’t been collared yet. Women can be captured or otherwise “forced collared” any number of ways, and their slavery is instantly recognized once they have the collar around their neck, leaving them with no legal recourse except a life of servitude or a slow painful death. This in itself is not what makes me spew liquid hate from eyes, after all, many submissives crave exactly that sort of situation, where they can be used, abused and treated like animals without any sort of recourse. So if that’s what they want, fine. To each their own and all that hippy crap.
What really pisses me off about Kajira, is how far it’s taken, the insane heights to which people follow the rules that were never intended to ever leave the pages of fiction. I spoke to one man who told me of the first Kajira he ever owned, how much he adored her, and how much he was devastated when she was captured in a raid and he never saw her again. I’m sorry but being captured doesn’t take landmarks out of your inventory, the only thing keeping her from returning are RP rules.. except oh wait, you say the pirates used illegal weapons to fend off the recovery raid? Then why the fuck is she still playing by the rules when they aren’t? I mean come on people, go into your damn inventory, click the LM and click teleport. This isn’t rocket science people.
However, there is one thing, one thing above all others that grants Kajira a special place on my litany of hate, on my list of things that beg for to be set on fire and have their ashes ejected into the sun. And that dear readers was when I learned one simple fact, Gor exists in real life.. Yes that’s right, take a moment to thing about that… There are real Kajira in the world, and not simply in some third world backwater where the slave trade still exists but in the modern “civilized” world as well (If you think we’ve really done away with slavery in the world then I’m sure you’ll believe I’m the virgin princess of Moon and me, my friends and our mystical talking cat go around defeating tentacle monsters by tossing jewellery and sparkly bubbles at them.)
Oh I’m sure some of these RL Kajira enjoy their lives, they get to spend their days playing Second Life while their master works, and so what if their ankle is chained to the bed, that just adds to the thrill. But when someone is put in the hospital simply because of a fight with their master and they actually argue with me that there is nothing wrong with that? FUCK!!! What the hell are you people thinking?! You can go on about the virtues of “Slave love” and how being treated like an animal, giving everything up to serve another lets you “truly be a women” but SERIOUSLY?! I’m going to say this once people, so try to pay attention. Roleplaying is a fine and lovely thing, but remember that it is roleplay. Some things are fictional for a reason, and Gor is one of them.
Lastly, a thought occurs to me through the haze of cold hate and despair for mankind, for those of you who are having second thoughts about Gor, check out Surrendered Scorpion, a support group and sim for people like yourself. (LM)
18 comments:
I only just recently heard about those Real-Life Goreans. Talk about nuts!! O.O
Yeah completely nuts!@!
You know nothing of what you talkd about!! Twistd people's words..but I guess
thats life..who can you trust...
Yeah, those guys are nuts! Let's haunt them down and lock them up, all of them! That'll sure teach them a lesson or two about freedom and compassion...
Come to think about it, there are so many people around who are not like us - those filthy goreans, polygamists, furries, gays, muslims and what not... They all must be nuts, and dangerous too... Lock them all up, I say! there is no use for this kind of filth in our beautiful Free World!
"how far it’s taken, the insane heights to which people follow the rules that were never intended to ever leave the pages of fiction"
This is oh, so true. I have just left a sl Gor group (actually been kicked out, but in effect had pulled the plug anyway) that were taking the sadism, and bullying aspect to levels that really were truly disturbing.
I like to think of myself as a fairly well-balanced person, but it was beginning to affect me very badly
After all, the scenery in sl is imaginary, but the people behind the avies are not, and this can lead to genuine emotional difficulties.
The problem is with Gor is that it takes the master-slave aspect to levels not usually found elsewhere in sl. And this brings into play the psychological forces identified in rl in the Stanford Prison Experiment (maybe google for that...) Unfortunately some Gor masters, and mistresses, use their power over their slaves to behave in a truly disturbingly sadistic way.
Maybe this is a rl problem that Linden Labs should investigate, before they are implicated in the inquest over someone's rl suicide.
(Yes, it can get that bad).
So be careful of Gor, and especially of some groups there (e.g. Lydius)
Gor actually is a very complex world built upon a solid and practical philosophy.
Are their those "lifestylers" that take things to an extreme? Yes, and they are generally looked down at by the majority of those that practice BDSM and incorperate some Gorean styles and philsophies into our own lives.
As I read your article I got the distinct impression that you were not true to yourself or the other players in your community.
As a Gorean, I can tell you that one of the main principles of that philosophy is to be true to yourself.
As far as "bitchy ice woman", a Gorean Free Woman is not bitchy or icy. But free to make up her own mind, express it and decide whom she wishes to share her body with. Unlike that of a slave, who is simply seen as a piece of owned property under the laws of Gor. Valued and loved, but still only property.
The learning curve is steep and the time required to understand Gor is long. I'm just saddened that you seemed to approach Gor with your mind already made up.
You article was poorly written and badly researched. Shame on you.
-Sin
Well, first off, Gor is NOT based on slavery at all, and does not actually EXIST! Second Life is a game, last time I looked. Mechs don't exist either, are you going to rant about them next?
Are there abusive people in the real world? Of course. Are all people abusive? No. Are there people living the lifestyle as described in the Gorean novels? Of course. But the novels are not about abuse. They are about the notion that men are physically stronger then women, and that women enjoy that. Simple. Too simple? Perhaps for this day and age.
So let me try this out on you. I hate ugly blond avatars. I imagine you are a very horrible person in real life and so maybe you should go somewhere else.
Calm it down. It's called roleplay. Meaning goreans are playing a "role" so tp'ing back and "using the landmarks in their inventory" would be 'cheating'.
As for the supposedly by the book sim you visited ..a by the book sim wouldn't have female outlaws.. so maybe you should work on your investigative skills before you make blanket comments and decrees and hateful statements.
A simply ignorant view an seriously bad investigating of the source topic, I am a Master both within' SecondLife and a 'Lifestyler' ... try to actually get more of an expansive view before shooting your mouth off. An as to your comment regarding the Free Women of Gor all I can say is through-out your little rant as it was in no way a investigation was purely that of an icy bitch.
Get a real life an let the Lord judge other's ways of maintaining their lives...
I am a Gorean slave, I am owned by a Gorean Master. We live the the way we want to every day in the real world. We know which parts of being Gorean we can legally and safely prractice in our lives however we were Gorean before we even read the damn books. by the way..If you treat SL like a video game, cool, Ok I can understand that, but to immerse yourself in it to the point where you think its real and the real world is not? Thats bad. You all need to get some help.
I undstand there is a a lot of people that play SL and pretend they are Gorean and seem to think this is now the gospel according to SL. Jesus! and you call use who live it evey day, filthy etc?
simply put those who have lost themselves inside this game, get a real life, please.
Like you, I have come to hate Gor...and Norman's dreadfully written books.
Unlike your approach, when I study Gor I'm going to try to find out what is going on by going underground and, as much as I can, put my hatred of the whole slave-culture aside.
I hope that when my columns on Gor run, they'll be observational and not judgmental. It's going to be tough...I just hate all slavery, even inside a RP game.
Let's see if the Goreans can tell their story to an investigative reporter who RPs in-character.
And I'm enough of a coward to go "in" as a male. You are very brave to go in as a free woman or Kajira.
Stay tuned.
I'm wondering after reading this article if the author had taken the time to read any of the Gor books before venturing into SL Gor. Under the notion that she hadn't, if she had, she'd have found that the Gor portrayed in the books (and often in the BDSM community in RL) is MUCH different than most of the cities you'll visit in SL. Unfortunate, but very true.
I've been in Gor for quite a long time now, and I've seen it go from okay to bad to what it is today, a disaster. I can hardly find anyone who role plays a Gorean with any measure of reality (so to speak). Most of them are there to shoot at each other, and get laid.
And to that, you ask the majority of people in SL Gor, and they haven't read the books either! So how are you suppose to role play characters of a fictional world if you haven't read the fiction it's based on? As it stands one bad habit gets passed down to the next generation who bastardize it further to the next generation, ad nauseam. That's not to say there aren't good role players in SL Gor, or people who have read the books, or even people who DO hold true to the tenets of the world in RL as well... they do exist. They're just hard to find now. Even good kajira or kajirus are hard to find and most don't stay too long, because the Free they have to deal with are just garbage. They DON'T involve the slaves in everyday life, because they don't have an everyday life themselves.
As for me, I do live by a code of honor similar to the Gorean way. And I DO have RL slaves, the three that join me in SL. My girl WAS a RL Gorean slave and was treated quite badly by whoever that was (it was long ago and her story to tell). I've met her previous master and he's given her blessing for me to watch over her. And in fact, she wears my collar every day since I've given it to her. It's actually a necklace with a dove on it. I didn't feel she needed to prance about with some piece of leather around her neck. She and I know what it is. My boys will wear those when they feel they need to be close to me. And they don't kneel in my presence when I appear. Although I was worried about that when I went to visit my girl at her home. I had this fear that she'd fall to her knees the moment I got out the car. Thankfully, she treated me as I hope to be... with respect and as a friend. That's how I see my slaves to be... good friends and part of my family. It'd be an injustice to abuse that connection, in RL or SL Gor.
Take the time to read at least the first book, Joan. It's probably the best written of the bunch. I have to admit that I struggle through the series, only because Norman goes on and on and on and on as if to fill up the pages. But Tarnsman of Gor is a nicely done book and it'll give you an actual view of what it's suppose to be like.
Several people are trying to 'clean up' SL Gor and make it more like it used to. With the shoot em up mentality of the people there now, it's hard road. But personally, if I encounter you in Gor, you better act like you should or I won't waste my time role playing with you. That's my rule.
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, but you can't paint ALL people who are in SL Gor with the same brush, especially kajira. There are good cities and really crappy ones. There are good role players and really crappy ones. Personally, I like kajira to have a little spice to them, not the simpering slaves that you might have encountered. Then again, it is said that most gorean men liked their slaves to have a little fight anyhow.
I wish you the best, Joan.
Wildcat Jinxing
Speaking purely as someone who's made a hobby out of occasionally hunting down Goreans of either gender...AND as an amateur writer of fiction who recognises Norman's books for the badly written white male mid-life crisis fantasies they are...I have to say, well-said, Joan. Well-said.
Look me up sometime in the Wastelands.
"s for me, I do live by a code of honor similar to the Gorean way."
Wildcat, that made me laugh out loud. Anyone who has actually plowed through the mess that is the Gorean Novels knows.. there was no honor on Gor.
Might made right.. period.
I'm far away from home, traveling during the day, playing in SL during the night ... reading SL blogs and newspapers. Well, my friends, why are some of you so 'serious'?! Emotional difficulties from playing in SL?! Nothing can affect you mentally if is not part of you! You do not agree with the Gors - where is the problem? You do not agree people are playing this way - is OK! But people are free to play the way they like ... You think they're sick? World is how WE are ... not only YOU, or ME or THEM. I think we all seek happiness, but happiness means truth, freedom, no fear and most important, being together. How can you help somebody fell better by calling him 'sick'? That means you're balanced? I visited some gorean places in SL/beautifully made! - also watched them 'playing'. People are searching for something and I hope they will find the path - there is always another truth behind the truth - so, good luck friends, love you all! And don't forget to play and be happy!
Hey stumbled on this while I was doing a bit of research my own self. I've fallen into Gor I must admit, but before you jump to conclusions I want to point out: for me this is D&D. This is like a table-top game in SL. I have a role (Musician), I play it and I play within the rules. I've kept slaves, interacted with them and had a really good time with everyone in character. Out of character most of them are perfectly normal and feel the same way I do about it: it's a game, it has rules to enhance the setting and that's all.
If that's all there is no problem. But when you talk about seriously, seriously surrendering your will to another person... you have to consider all that implies. It gets into your head after a while and heaven help you if you try and escape from your own head. Ask anyone recovering from a cult.
I'm not comparing Gorean culture to a cult, Norman isn't half the author Hubbard was. But if you loose your objectivity over the fiction, I don't consider it dangerous just really lame. Like those people who wear Star Trek uniforms to work. Sorry folks, fantasy is fantasy no matter what else you want it to be.
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