HomeFree Women in Society
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Free Women in Society
by Guest Sat May 04, 2013 9:25 pm
...Goreans, in their simplistic fashion, often contend, categorically, that man is naturally free and woman is naturally slave. But even for them the issues are far more complex than these simple formulations would suggest. For example, there is no higher person, nor one more respected, than the Gorean free woman. ...Goreans do believe, however, that every woman has a natural master or set of masters, with respect to whom she could not help but be a complete and passionate slave girl. These men occur in her dreams and fantasies. She lives in terror that she might meet one in real life. ...
---Hunters of Gor, 22:311
Traditionally she would be born free, to free persons joined in free companionship. She would have been raised as a member of her father's caste although not necessarily expected to take part in its trade. Indeed she may never practice the crafts of her caste, especially if this caste engages in typically male activities such as war or the working of raw materials. The amount of involvement in the daily home activity would have much to do, not too unlike earth, with income and social standing.
The women of a given caste, it should be noted, often do not engage in caste work. For example, a woman in the Metalworkers does not, commonly, work at the forge, nor is a woman of the Builders likely to be found supervising the construction of fortifications. Caste membership, for Goreans, is generally a simple matter of birth; it is not connected necessarily with the performance of certain skills, nor the attainment of a given level of proficiency in such skills.
--Fighting Slave of Gor, 16:209
The high borne daughters of upper caste Goreans will spend their youth in high-walled gardens, protected from much of the Gorean reality, draped in veils and robes of concealment, learning to read and write as well as the arts of walking, standing with grace, free maiden dances, the service of warm wine and the arrangement of veils. Commonly, the Gorean free woman is taught of things which prepare her for her role in society. This upbringing then, will largely depend on her family's caste and status.
She will know to kneel as free women do and never to sit cross legged like a man. She will learn to eat and drink in small delicate bites and sips, sometimes while holding up a veil but only as high as it is necessary for her lips to find the food or drink. She will learn to take pride in being frigid and almost void of sexual awareness; whether this is actual fact or not, she will be careful to let it be how it appears. The free woman's role does not require her to be sexual or even sensual.
...frigidity is one of the titles and permissions implicated in the lofty status of a free woman. For many, it is in effect their proudest possession. It distinguishes them from the lowly slave girl. It proves to themselves and others that they are free. ...
---Beasts of Gor, 15:243
The Gorean free woman will be taught to behave in ways that will be dramatically different from what is expected behavior in collared females. This perhaps is one of the most puzzling paradoxes of the Gorean world. Indeed it is difficult to combine the claim that the Gorean refuses to have his nature stifled, that the Gorean world is one in which biotruths are celebrated and in perfect harmony with nature, and the repeated lengthy descriptions of what constitutes true feminine nature with this rather strict code of behavior to which free women are held.
The following passage was spoken about women of Earth in one of the many comparisons between them and the joyful 'free to be a woman' Gorean slave girl, and although it is difficult not to find the meaning in this statement of the Earth woman's imprisoned nature, one could easily wonder if the Gorean free woman, draped in heavy concealing clothes, veiled and forbidden to behave as women are said to behave when their nature is set free, does not also at least partially fit this somewhat somber description.
...And I thought then, too, sadly, of the women of Earth, so many of them so confused, so miserable, so unhappy, women not knowing what they were, or what they might be, women trapped in a maze of ultimately barren artifices, women subjected to inconsistent directives and standards, women subjected to social coercions, women subjected to antibiological constraints, women forced to deny themselves and their depth natures in the name of freedom, women trying to be men, not knowing how to be women, women torturing themselves and others with their confusions, their inhibitions, their pain, their frustrations. But I did not blame them for they were the victims of pathological conditioning programs. Any beautiful, natural creature can be clipped and cut, and formed into monstrous shapes, torn from nature, and then instructed to rejoice in its mutilations and mishapenness. It was little wonder that so many of the women of Earth were so inhibited, so frigid, so inert, so anesthetic. ...
--Magicians of Gor, 3:54-55
If indeed the Gorean celebrates the beauty of females and their nature, why is the Gorean free woman commanded to hide any sign of such? Is it that the Gorean refuses her the right to actually be a female? What then is the Gorean free woman? How do we reconcile the need for Gor to embrace natural order and the refusal to allow most women to display what is stated repeatedly as being their true nature unless they are imbonded?
An unowned girl, a free woman, thus, can never experience her full sexuality. ...Passion, it is thought, deprives the free woman to some extent of her freedom and important self-control; it is frowned upon because it makes her behave, to some extent, like a degraded female slave; free women, thus, to protect their honor and dignity, their freedom and personhood, their individuality, must fight passion; the free woman must remain cool and in control of herself, even in the arms of her companion, to avoid being truly 'had,'...
---Tribesmen of Gor, 1:17
One could venture that the Gorean free woman is a symbol of the butterfly to be, the unfinished beauty wrapped still in its protective cocoon, not yet capable of surviving outside its shielding. Indeed beyond the forbidding of female behavior which is imposed upon the free woman of Gor, there is also both a forbidding of female feelings and female appearance. Although not a universal custom, the principles which dictate the face veiling and the wearing of robes of concealment are pretty much intact even in cities or areas where women do not wear these garments. The displaying of a woman's physical attributes for purposes other than practical is highly reprehensible and a dangerous game for free women to play.
This particular expectation varies from culture to culture and of course is almost absent from slave-free cultures such as the rence as we first encounter it for example. Within the city-state culture though, under one form or another, there is limitation on how much of a woman can be seen before it is considered improper.
In fact, a number of customs, traditions and even laws exist that will prevent the woman from being seen as a woman or thought to be feminine enough to be treated as Goreans believe the true feminine nature needs to be treated.
...in some cities an unveiled free woman is susceptible to being taken into custody by guardsmen, veiled, by force if necessary, and publicly conducted back to her home. ...Repeated offenses in such a city usually result in the enslavement of the female. ....
--Players of Gor, 6:125
Women are not habitually permitted to leave the safety of their home without escort and when they do make their way around the city, it will be under proper wrapping and veiling. This of course depends on the local laws and subject to an array of degrees in strictness but serves the clear purpose of preventing abduction by any man who might recognize a female under the layers of cloth and set out to acquire said woman. Indeed it would appear that to be seen as a woman will somehow result in her enslavement.
On Gor a woman normally travels only with a suitable retinue of armed guards. Women, on this barbaric world, are often regarded, unfortunately, as little more than love prizes, the fruits of conquest and seizure. Too often they are seen less as persons, human beings with rights, individuals worthy of concern and regard than as potential pleasure slaves, silken, bangled prisoners, possible adornments to the pleasure gardens of their captors. ....
---Outlaw of Gor, 6:50
"In Ar's Station," he said, "as in Ar, robes of concealment, precisely, are not legally obligatory for free women, no more than the veil. Such things are a matter of custom. On the other hand, as you know, there are statutes prescribing certain standards of decorum for free women. For example, they may not appear naked in the streets, as may slaves. Indeed, a free woman who appears in public in violation of these standards of decorum, for example, with her arms or legs too much bared, may be made a slave."
--Renegades of Gor, 27:367-368
The theories as to how Goreans manage to somehow move through this paradox without much difficulty are many and there is but one view presented here. There is of course the way that most simply cannot see their siblings or mothers as sexual beings. The entire dual message could well be related to this difficulty in viewing the females which are closest to them as actual females or allow that they would have these attitudes and needs as well as the next woman.
Do Goreans push this rather protective, and not particularly realistic notion of 'not my mother' to all the women of one's home, village, city and ultimately, even their planet? Are we not repeatedly told about how the women of Earth are natural slaves? It might explain much of what can otherwise be somewhat confusing.
The many statements made about the respect owed and afforded to the Gorean free woman and her importance in the many aspects of the Gorean world can be seen as contradictory to the above, but it may not be that way. Indeed it is altogether plausible that there are simply 'women' and then 'women'. John Norman himself offers quite simply that most Goreans believe the collar will find the slave.
The Goreans claim that in each woman there is a free companion, proud and beautiful, worthy and noble, and in each, too, a slave girl. The companion seeks for her companion; the slave girl for her master. It is further said, that on the couch, the Gorean girl, whether slave or free, who has had the experience, who has tried all loves, begs for a master. She wishes to belong completely to a man, withholding nothing, permitted to withhold nothing. And, of course, of all women, only a slave girl can truly belong to a man, only a slave girl can be truly his, in all ways, utterly, totally, completely, his, selflessly, at his mercy, his ecstatic slave, helpless and joyous in the total submission which she is given no choice but to yield.
--Hunters of Gor, 6:102-103
Realistically, if the feminine nature's complete fulfillment lies in the totality of Gorean slavery, would it not be rather expected that beyond the forced nature of the initial enslavement, reaching the completeness which the Gorean world claims to be feminine nature would not be achieved by most and certainly not by any quick fix. This perhaps would be the reason behind the notion of natural slave which will be examined in the Human Property article.
A woman, I had learned, must choose between freedom and love.
---Slave Girl of Gor, 29:442
If one considers the more subtle yet often repeated suggestion that slavery teaches a woman to love and that these learnings cannot be undone nor denied once discovered, one might simply conclude that for the most part, Gorean men do not feel their women all need to be enslaved to learn this nature nor need to remain enslaved in order to continue to embrace their nature once this has been reached. What is not so clear is how this would selectively apply only to their own women.
Perhaps Lara understood, as I did not, that women such as silver masks must be taught love, and can learn it only from a master. It was not her intention to condemn her sisters of Tharna into interminable and miserable bondage but to force them to take this strange first step on the road she herself had traveled, one of the unusual roads that may lead to love. When I had questioned her, Lara had said to me that only when true love is learned is the Free Companionship possible, and that some women can learn love only in chains. I wondered at her words.
---Outlaw of Gor, 26:250-251
The Gorean World does need mothers, wives and partners in running households and caring for family affairs and although we do have a glimpse of free woman-free societies in the later books, there is for the most part a majority of Gorean females who are free and enjoy the station, power and respect this freedom allows them. The reader will, of course, make of free woman character and any symbolism related to it, what he will.
"I shall not expatiate on what manner of place this is," said Ginger, "for you, yourself, shall soon learn, and well. And this is not how they treat all women. Women on this world, most of them, enjoy a status and freedom of which you, from Earth, cannot even conceive. Their raiment is splendid, their station is lofty, their mien is noble, their prestige is boundless. Dread them and fear them--".
--- Savages of Gor, 8:129
On a more practical level, the following are elements of the free woman's making which can be found scattered throughout the books and of course, as per this section's purpose, concerns itself primarily though NOT exclusively with the city-state culture.
The habitual attire of the Gorean free woman, by law or by custom, consists of layers of clothing (robes, veils, gloves, slippers) which are meant to dissimulate as much of her female features as is possible and are more specifically explained in the section of this guide which speaks of garments and attire.
...Veils are worn in various numbers and combinations by Gorean free women, this tending to vary by preference and caste. Many low-class Gorean women own only a single veil which must do for all purposes....The veil, it might be noted, is not legally imperative for a free woman; it is rather a matter of modesty and custom. Some low-class, uncompanioned, free girls do not wear veils. Similarly certain bold free women neglect the veil. Neglect of the veil is not a crime in Gorean cities, though in some it is deemed a brazen and scandalous omission....
---Slave Girl of Gor, 5:107
...Many Gorean women, in their haughtiness and pride, do not choose to have their features exposed to the common view. They are too fine and noble to be looked upon by the casual rabble. Similarly the robes of concealment worn by many Gorean women are doubtless dictated by the same sentiments. On the other hand veiling is a not impractical modesty in a culture in which capture, and the chain and the whip are not unknown. One justification for the veiling and the robes of concealment, which is not regarded as inconsiderable, is that it is supposed to provide something of a protection against abduction and predation. Who would wish to risk his life, it is said, to carry off a woman who might, when roped to a tree and stripped, turn out to be as ugly as a tharlarion?...
---Rogue of Gor, 4:41-42
Though we are given the names of two specific 'robes' it is easy to conclude that there can be many layers between the house robe and the street robe, depending on station, caste and whatever activity is being pursued. These of course being more suited to city life and higher caste women who do not usually have to partake in manual or physical labor.
...the garments of a free woman are designed to conceal a woman's slavery, ...
---Rogue of Gor, 30:276
The origin of the custom (and sometimes legal obligation) of wearing these cumbersome garments rests on two main principles :
1) They protect women from abduction by those who are in the female trade business by concealing their features and making it impossible for the raider/slaver to assess them as potential slaves.
There is a Gorean saying that free women, raised gently in the high cylinders, in their robes of concealment, unarmed, untrained in weapons, may, by the slaver, be plucked like flowers.
---Hunters of Gor, 8:118
2) They convey the rather 'asexual' attitude which is expected of free woman.
It is unwise for a free woman to appear eager to display herself. In certain cases, the showing of even an ankle is considered daring. If in certain cities lighter and more revealing garments are accepted, the attitude with which they are worn would be the same distant affect as far as noticing or appearing pleased to generate any interest in a male.
...Slave girls relish compliments. Indeed, there is a Gorean saying to the effect that any woman who relishes a compliment is in her heart a slave girl. She wants to please. Most Gorean men would not think twice about collaring a girl who responds, smiling, to compliments. It is regarded as right to enslave a natural slave. ...
---Beasts of Gor, 1:17
The dressing of hair is also a privilege reserved to women who are free, this practice is usually forbidden to slaves. In the northern area of Torvaldsland, the reader is told that a woman's hair being dressed indicates that she stands in free companionship. An indication of status as a way to identify those women who are spoken for? This separation of available and non-available women is also done in the Tahari though it seems not consistently, where virgins sometimes wear on their ankle what is called a virgin bell. Note that these customs are exclusive to free maidens.
Hair dressing is also known to be a method of dissimulating one of the few weapons women are seen and known to frequently carry, the small and rather effective poison pins.
...It is not wise to try to tear away the garments of a free woman with one's bare hands. They may contain poisoned needles.
---Beasts of Gor, 35:402
Although there is no official list of weapons women are entitled to use or carry, it is often stated that the Gorean woman is a creature of grace and beauty whose protection is the duty of the men around her. She does not receive instruction on the use of weapons or the ways of defense as these are simply not expected of her. Gorean weapons are not, then, designed to accommodate the weaker, smaller female sex and it is often mentioned that women would not be able to so much as lift a sword most men carry about and use daily.
Other than the hidden pins, there is mention of women carrying a dagger, particularly in the north where this seems to be part of the free woman's traditional dress. There are also mentions of women hunting for sport with what would likely be a small bow, the larger ones being impossible for them to string.
...The strength of a full-grown woman is equivalent to that of a twelve-year-old boy. Goreans read in this an indication as to who is master. ...
---Tribesmen of Gor, 14:223
The social status of a free woman will usually be determined by birth, and later on by companionship, although the reader will find women without companions in positions of power. Although it is said to be an unnatural thing for the Gorean man to follow a woman, on various occasions, a woman will be found in the ruler's throne, with or without a companion; the former being the more common although more decorative than decisional in purpose. Aside from these positions of power by marriage, we do encounter a number of women who successfully and without a companion, run households, businesses and even cities.
[women] ...seldom release the following instinct in men. Men, accordingly, do not on the whole, care to follow them. In doing so they generally feel uncomfortable. It makes them uneasy. They sense the absurdity, the unnaturalness, of the relationship. It is thus that normal men commonly follow women only unwillingly, and only with reservations, usually also only within an artificial context or within the confines of a misguided, choiceless or naive institution, where their discipline may be relied upon. Their compliance with orders in such a situation cannot help but be more critical, more skeptical. Their activities tend then to be performed with less confidence, and more hesitantly. This often produces serious consequences to the efficiency of their actions. It is interesting to note that even women seldom care to follow women, particularly in critical situations. The male, biologically, for better or for worse, appears to be the natural leader. In the perversion of nature, of course, anything may occur. ...
---Players of Gor, 15:288
It is often tempting to remember only the fate of these women in the circumstances of their fall in order to draw the conclusion that the Gorean world is not suited for women in positions of power, but it would be unfair to ignore the fact that prior to the reader's encounter with these women, the history told speaks of many years of their rule. Even in post-revolt Tharna where the overturning of gynocracy was done rather violently and by the enslavement of essentially all women, the former Tatrix, Lara, remained as city administrator until she abdicated of her own free will. During these years we are given glimpses into Tharna and it is mentioned that Lara was indeed a wise ruler. What appears to be a common error and cause the fall from grace of a number of women who enjoy fairly free range is that they eventually cross the line of what is considered to be an attempt as manipulating men, a clear crime against nature to the Gorean man.
Free women of high caste, free women born to powerful families or who marry into them, benefit from rather extensive tolerance as far as behavior. It is interesting to note just how insolent a free woman can be without so much as a frown from those around her. For as much as we are told of the precarious nature of a woman's freedom, it is rather clear in many cases that well protected women become rather daring and imperious in their interactions with those they consider to be below them, including men. Indeed in many cases it would seem the men are amused by this attitude. That is, theoretically, until some invisible line is crossed which is not always obvious until it is too late for the woman in question.
From the kitchen there had emerged, in the robes of concealment, the figure of a woman.
The men, save I, rose as one to their feet, for Gorean men commonly stand when a free woman enters a room.
---Guardsman of Gor, 20:255
...Whereas a free woman may often make a man angry with impunity, she being lofty and free, this latitude is seldom extended to the slave. ...
---Blood Brothers of Gor, 23:221
...It is not difficult, of course, to take insolence from a woman.
---Mercenaries of Gor, 1:7
As a rule though, it is a rare occurrence for a free woman to be enslaved by her own kin unless she specifically breaks the law and ends up sentenced to enslavement. Gorean men seem to always have much less difficulty viewing women from anywhere else but their home as needing a collar or deserving of one and it is a rare occurrence. Typically, free women are treated with respect, courtesy and honor, particularly if they share a Home Stone with the men present. They pretty much will speak as they will and their voice will be heard at least as far as it is pertinent to the matters at hand.
"...A free woman is inordinately precious. She is a thousand times, and more, above a mere slave."
--- Players of Gor, 3:92
...For example, there is no higher person, nor one more respected, than the Gorean free
woman....
--- Hunters of Gor, 22:311
The bearing and raising of children are a functions of the free companion and perhaps where the free woman finds her primary role. It is said that women, particularly those of high caste, actually have little to do other than gossip and lounge about. Household chores being taken care of by house slaves and servants, the pleasures of men being the lot of the pleasure slave, It would be in the perpetuation of the race and caste that the free woman finds a more exclusive role within the Gorean structure; a role which is considered important enough to be the source of a number of caste rules such as the rule found in the caste of physicians which forbids women to practice the trade of the caste unless they have borne a set number of children.
Indeed, though we encounter a number of men who chose to have a love slave rather than a free companion, since only children born to a free woman are legally free, these men who prefer to have collared women as mates will seldom have heirs unless they chose to free their slaves even if only temporarily. Being in love seldom makes a man forget the rather inflexible lines between slavery and freedom and the place of each kind of woman within these lines.
In later books we find that this particular rule which prevents slaves from giving birth to free persons is subject to amendment, at least in one city. In Tharna, former city of silver mask gynocracy, we are told that the free woman has essentially been eliminated from the social map, and that even the youth of Tharna are educated to prepare them to enslave their female school mates. In order that women remain in collar and chains, Tharna has changed the Gorean standard law so that the woman need only be freed for the time it takes to conceive the child. She may then be re-enslaved, carry the child to term and deliver what would legally still be considered a legally free offspring. Whether the fate of Tharna is an exception or an omen of things to come is, of course, up to the reader's interpretation and remains to be seen.
Although generally speaking the free woman enjoys a high level of tolerance when it comes to her behavior and words, there are very strict guidelines with regards to a number of behaviors identified as slave behaviors. These behaviors of course do not include the breaking of the law, which is a separate issue and often, for women, results in slavery.
Other than criminal deeds, then, the free woman must abstain from displaying and/or performing a number of gestures which can be, once proven before a legal body, enough to mark her as slave. The act of seeking a compliment, as previously mentioned, is sometimes considered enough to enslave a woman. The disregarding of guidelines pertaining to veiling or concealing features, i.e., the 'flaunting' of one's attributes would be, in some cases, considered as an admission of slave nature. In other cultures, the Wagon Peoples believe that only a slave will enjoy the feel of silk on her skin. The act of begging is also said to 'brand a woman' as slave; this particularly applies to captives.
On Gor it is said that only a true slave begs to be freed. That act, incontrovertibly, on Gor, more deeply than a brand and a collar, marks the individual as a true slave.
---Tribesmen of Gor, 26:350
The enslavement of a free woman happens as a result of a number of events which each have their particular conditions and are subject to a number of criteria, habitually legal unless the enslavement is done in the form of kidnapping a woman from her home and city. Enslaving a woman within the territory of her home, for example, usually requires that she be found guilty of a crime. The variations from city to city will mostly have to do with what is and isn't a crime in that given area.
--- Enslavement as a result of a perceived 'slave behavior', as discussed above. Note that although these are not looked at in as severe a light as crimes against society, the list of 'crimes against freedom' which will result in a woman losing her freedom have to be identified as crimes in the city or area where the woman lives. One does not snap a collar on a free woman's neck without some form of legal intervention in order that the enslavement be official. This is of course in the case of free women in their own cities.
The principle he had alluded to pertains to conduct in a free woman which is taken as sufficient to warrant her reduction to slavery. The most common application of this principle occurs in areas such as fraud or theft. Other applications may occur, for example, in cases of indigency and vagrancy. Prostitution, rare on Gor because of female slaves, is another case. The women are taken, enslaved, cleaned up and controlled. Indulgence in sensual dance is another case. Sensuous dance is almost always performed by slaves on Gor. A free woman who performs such dancing publicly is almost begging for the collar. In some cities the sentence of bondage is mandatory for such a woman.
---Renegades of Gor, 21:372
--- Enslavement as a result of being found guilty of a crime is seen on a number of occasions, the most memorable one probably being the enslavement of women who fell prey to the lure of Milo and hence broke the couching law of Ar. We do, in earlier adventures, see similar fates for crimes such as theft, as well as finding that owing money can also cost one's freedom. Note that a number of legal punishments involving what may seem like slave-like services such as penal brothels for example, are treated by Goreans in totally different light because of their temporary nature.
"You have been tried and convicted of the crime of theft," said the judge, "for the second time."
The girl's eyes were terrified.
"It is now my duty, Lady Tina," said the judge, "to pass sentence upon you."
She looked up at him.
"Do you understand?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, "my judge."
"Are you prepared now, Lady Tina of Lydius," asked the judge, to hear your sentence?"
"Yes," she said, regarding him, "my judge."
"I herewith sentence you, Lady Tina of Lydius," said the judge, "to slavery."
---Hunters of Gor, 3:50
"The Lady Sasi, of Port Kar," said the praetor, "in virtue of what we have here today established, and in virtue of the general warrant outstanding upon her, must come under sentence."
"Please, my officer," she begged.
"I am now going to sentence you," he said.
"Please," she cried. "Sentence me only to a penal brothel!"
"The penal brothel is too good for you," said the praetor.
"Show me mercy," she begged.
"You will be shown no mercy," he said.
She looked up at him, with horror.
"You are sentenced to slavery," he said.
"No, no!" she screamed.
One of the guards cuffed her across the mouth, snapping her head back.
There were tears in her eyes and blood at her lip.
"Were you given permission to speak?" asked the praetor.
"No, no," she wept, stammering. "Forgive me--Master."
"Let her be taken to the nearest metal shop and branded," said the praetor. "Then let her be placed on sale outside the shop for five Ehn, to be sold to the first buyer for the cost of her branding. If she is not sold in five Ehn then take her to the public market shelves and chain her there, taking the best offer which equals or exceeds the cost of her branding."
---Explorers of Gor, 4:58-59
"Any free woman who couches with another's slave, or readies herself to couch with another's slave, becomes herself a slave, and the slave of the slave's master. ..."
---Magicians of Gor, 1:7
--- Enslavement as a result of capture in the context of slaver raids is also discussed a number of times and under various circumstances, be it the somewhat initiatory ritual of capture by young tarnsmen or when, for example, an individual would pay to have captured a specific free woman who may have caught his attention. Whereas the latter requires a certain cashflow and more likely to be a rich man's whim than that of the average Gorean, the former requires little more than old fashioned Gorean nerve and the means to access and transport a captive. It is understood that in this more symbolic form of capture endeavor, the young man is expected to find his victim outside the limits of his own city.
The harsh, exogamous institution of capture is woven into the very fabric of Gorean life. It is regarded as meritorious to abduct one's women from a foreign, preferably hostile city. Perhaps this institution, which on the surface seems so deplorable, is profitable from the standpoint of the race, preventing the gradual inbreeding of otherwise largely isolated, self-sufficient cities. Few seem to object to the institution of capture, not even the women who might seem to be its victims. On the contrary, incredibly enough, their vanity is terribly outraged if they are not regarded as worth the risks, usually mutilation and impalement. One cruel courtesan in the great city of Ar, now little more than a toothless, wrinkled hag, boasted that more than four hundred men had died because of her beauty.
---Outlaw of Gor, 6:50-51
...The Gorean girl is, even if free, accustomed to slavery; she will perhaps own one or more slaves herself; she knows that she is weaker than men and what this can mean; she knows that cities fall and caravans are plundered; she knows she might even, by a sufficiently bold warrior, be captured in her own quarters and, bound and hooded, be carried by tarnback over the walls of her own city. Moreover, even if she is never enslaved, she is familiar with the duties of slaves and what is expected of them; if she should be enslaved she will know, on the whole, what is expected of her, what is permitted her and what is not; moreover the Gorean girl is literally educated, fortunately or not, to the notion that it is of great importance to know how to please men; accordingly, even girls who will be free companions, and never slaves, learn the preparation and serving of exotic dishes, the arts of walking, and standing, and being beautiful, the care of a man's equipment, the love dances of their city, and so on. ...
--Nomads of Gor, 8:63
...The institution of capture is universal, to the best of my knowledge, on Gor; there is no city which does not honor it, provided the females captured are those of the enemy, either their free women or their slaves; it is often a young tarnsman's first mission, the securing of a female, preferably free, from an enemy city, to enslave, that his sisters may be relieved of the burden of serving him; indeed, his sisters often encourage him to be prompt in the capture of an enemy wench that their own tasks may be made the lighter; when the young tarnsman, if successful, returns home from his capture flight, a girl bound naked across the saddle, his sisters welcome her with delight, and with great enthusiasm prepare her for the Feast of Collaring.
---Tribesmen of Gor, 13:159
--- Enslavement as a result of capture in the context of conquest and war will happen in two different ways. The first is the simple capture-collar-brand scenario which would befall the better looking females of the conquered enemy, and the second being simply the self preservation act of submitting in exchange for what the free woman believes to be her life. It is said to be customary to impale a number of high dignitaries upon conquest of a city and so it would not be unusual for women of high caste to offer themselves as slaves in order to stay alive.
...She, the free woman, a free person, might be trampled by tharlarion, or be run through, or have her throat cut, by victors. Such things were certainly possible. On the other hand, the free women of a conquered city, or at least the fairest among them, are often reckoned by besiegers as counting within the yield of prospective loot. Many is the free female in such a city who has torn away her robes before enemies, confessed her natural slavery, disavowed her previous masquerade as a free woman, and begged for the rightfulness of the brand and collar. This is a scene which many free woman have enacted in their imagination. Such things figure, too, in the dreams of woman, those doors to the secret truths of their being. ...
---Magicians of Gor, 1:19
Enslavement as a result of voluntary submission in a context of choice or by a form of social debt as would be considered owed to one who saves a woman's life, for example. It is said that Goreans feel that a woman whose life has been saved by a man must accordingly belong to him and that in fact even her family would consider her submission, voluntary or forced, as necessary to be the honorable thing to do.
And yet it was not a strange thing, particularly not on Gor, where bravery is highly esteemed and to save a female's life is in effect to win title to it, for it is the option of a Gorean male to enslave any woman whose life he has saved, a right which is seldom denied even by the citizens of the girl's city or her family. Indeed, there have been cases in which a girl's brothers have had her clad as a slave, bound in slave bracelets, and handed over to her rescuer, in order that the honor of the family and her city not be besmirched. There is, of course, a natural tendency in the rescued female to feel and demonstrate great gratitude to the man who has saved her life, and the Gorean custom is perhaps no more than an institutionalization of this customary response. There are cases where a free woman in the vicinity of a man she desired has deliberately placed herself in jeopardy. The man then, after having been forced to risk his life, is seldom in a mood to use the girl other than as his slave. I have wondered upon occasion about this practice, so different on Gor than on Earth. On my old world when a woman is saved by a man she may, I understand, with propriety bestow upon him a grateful kiss and perhaps, if we may believe the tales in these matters, consider him more seriously because of his action as a possible, eventual companion in wedlock. One of these girls, if rescued on Gor, would probably be dumbfounded at what would happen to her. After her kiss of gratitude, which might last a good deal longer than she had anticipated, she would find herself forced to kneel and be collared and then, stripped, her wrists confined behind her back in slave bracelets, she would find herself led stumbling away on a slave leash from the field of her champion's valor. Yes, undoubtedly our Earth girls would find this most surprising. On the other hand the Gorean attitude is that she would be dead were it not for his brave action and thus it is his right, now that he has won her life, to make her live it for him precisely as he pleases, which is usually, it must unfortunately be noted, as his slave girl, for the privileges of a Free Companionship are never bestowed lightly. Also of course a Free Companionship might be refused, in all Gorean right, by the girl, and thus a warrior can hardly be blamed, after risking his life, for not wanting to risk losing the precious prize which he has just, at great peril to himself, succeeded in winning. The Gorean man, as a man, cheerfully and dutifully attends to the rescuing of his female in distress, but as a Gorean, as a true Gorean, he feels, perhaps justifiably and being somewhat less or more romantic than ourselves, that he should have something more for his pains than her kiss of gratitude and so, in typical Gorean fashion, puts his chain on the wench, claiming both her and her body as his payment.
---Priest Kings of Gor, 20:161-162
She belonged to Samos, of course. It had been within the context of his capture rights that she had, as a free woman, of her own free will, pronounced upon herself a formula of enslavement. Automatically then, in virtue of the context, she became his. The law is clear on this. The matter is more subtle when the woman is not within a context of capture rights. Here the matter differs from city to city. In some cities, a woman may not, with legal recognition, submit herself to a specific man as a slave, for in those cities that is interpreted as placing at least a temporary qualification on the condition of slavery which condition, once entered into, all cities agree, is absolute. In such cities, then, the woman makes herself a slave, unconditionally. It is then up to the man in question whether or not he will accept her as his slave. In his matter he will do as he pleases. In any event, she is by then a slave, and only that.
In other cities, and in most cities, on the other hand, a free woman may, with legal tolerance, submit herself as a slave to a specific man. If he refuses her, she is then still free. If he accepts her, she is, then, categorically a slave, and he may do with her as he pleases, even selling her or giving her away, or slaying her, if he wishes. ...
--Players of Gor, 1:21
There are also incidents where we find the free companion enslaved by her own companion, as a result of what seems to have been cases of enough is enough, for lack of a better term. This, although extreme, is pretty much in keeping with what we are told regarding the power free men hold over their companions, even though they are free.
Punishment is said to be just as much a part of a free woman's life and although likely not a frequent situation, she would be familiar with its possibilities.
Whether it be the sexual use of debtor sluts, penal brothels or the chaining of a free woman to her companion's couch or any of the other possible punishments the reader finds over the course of his journey, it is clear that the female's position on Gor remains at best a fragile one and it would be hasty to assume that the status of 'freedom' prevents women from rather harsh treatment at times.
...Once in Ar, several years ago, several free women, in their anger at slaves, and perhaps jealous of the pleasures of masters and slaves, entered a paga tavern with clubs and axes, seeking to destroy it. This is, I believe, an example, though a rather extreme one, of a not unprecedented sort of psychological reaction, the attempt, by disparagement or action, motivated by envy, jealousy, resentment, or such, to keep from others pleasures which one oneself is unable, or unwilling, to enjoy. In any event, as a historical note, the men in the tavern, being Gorean, and thus not being inhibited or confused by negativistic, antibiological traditions, quickly disarmed the women. They then stripped them, bound their hands behind their back, put them on a neck rope, and, by means of switches, conducted them swiftly outside the tavern. The women were then, outside the tavern, on the bridge of twenty lanterns, forced to witness the burning of their garments. They were then permitted to leave, though still bound and in coffle. Gorean men do not surrender their birthright as males, their rightful dominance, their appropriate mastery. They do not choose to be dictated to by females.
--Magicians of Gor, 3:51
The captured free woman is not instantly enslaved and the conditions of her captivity will be partially determined by whether or not she remains free. It is not always easy to understand the line Goreans seem to walk when it comes to free women, especially in the context of captives who are not enslaved.
"It is my understanding, following merchant law, and Tahari custom," I said, "that I am not a slave, for though I am a prisoner, I have been neither branded nor collared, nor have I performed a gesture of submission."
--Tribesmen of Gor, 12:196
Although the reader will note that there does not seem to be a difficulty for the average Gorean to draw that line, it certainly is not so clear to those of us sifting through these practices. Suffice it to say that although harsh treatment, chains, punishment and even sexual use are sometimes the lot of the captive free woman, a line exists which separates her always from the collared woman. This line will be mentioned in the way a captive will be spoken to by slaves for example, the way she will be beaten, the way she will be used for sex - pale nuances at times but nonetheless clear or so it seems, to Goreans, male or female, free or slave.
The Gorean kajira does not allow herself the mistake of treating a captive free woman as she would a sister in bondage, lest she be swiftly and painfully reminded of her place. Slave girls in general fear the habitual contempt and cruelty free women direct toward them.
Free women and slaves
If the free woman seems to often have a rather intense degree of curiosity toward the condition and reality of her imbonded sister, she also manifests, and quite clearly, that she disapproves of the slave girl's lack of restraint when it comes to the display of any form of sexual response or behavior. It does appear more often than not that the exclamations of a free woman are tied into a fascination with the slave girl's displays. It is a rather frequent occurrence to find free women questioning slaves on what it feels like to be subject to slave discipline, and of course to admit to being stirred by the thought of finding herself in a collar. These admissions are more often heard once the free woman finds herself collared and leaves the reader wondering of indeed there is a single woman who doesn't dream of collars and chains.
Until then, however, the general attitude of free women with regard to slaves is one of contempt and intolerance. In the presence of free women, slave girls will often be told to efface themselves and make themselves as invisible as they can, particularly those slaves which are specially trained in the arts of pleasing men. In the company of free women, serving slaves are more commonly used, and it is expected that they will behave modestly and discreetly.
For many free women, the mere presence of slave girls is simply intolerable and they will not accept their presence. We find such a situation perhaps less in the cities where high caste women for example will have been raised with slaves around them and be used to their presence, but among lower castes we witness a scene where the peasant woman clearly indicates her horror at the thought that a slave would be sleeping in the same house as she would and demands the slave be kept outside where other livestock might be.
Similarly we are witness to a number of scenarios where the free woman expresses outrage at the presence of scantily clad slaves in public forums or areas although this is less likely to be given much concern. The men present, likely quite familiar with this show of outrage may choose out of courtesy to command their slaves to cover up but in large cites and public areas it is likely that they will simply ignore the outburst. And of course, once the free woman has moved along, the men are oft seen bantering and making light of the situation, and the slaves are quickly returned to their exposed state.
Despite this rather obvious and demonstrative disdain for her sisters in bondage, the Gorean free woman will often have use of slaves in the accomplishment of various chores, especially if she is of higher caste. Too, there are markets which cater to the special needs of the lofty free woman who is either without companion or whose companion accepts that she keep a pleasure slave of her own. Indeed, if most male slaves on Gor are prisoners sentenced to work chains and hard labor, there exists a select number of male slaves known as silk slaves and also kajirus trained in specialty slaver houses and used for the pleasure of free women.
The Gorean free woman, much like the Gorean slave girl, is a complex puzzle especially if one tries to understand it from the outside. There will be a number of ways to interpret the rich and multi-faceted symbolism which surrounds this particular part of the Gorean reality and there is likely not one single way which is better than the rest, but certainly it all is rather interesting to study, no matter the angle.
There is a Gorean saying that the free woman is a riddle, the answer to which is the collar. Perhaps it is that there is actually more than one answer to the riddle that is the Gorean free woman?
---Hunters of Gor, 22:311
Traditionally she would be born free, to free persons joined in free companionship. She would have been raised as a member of her father's caste although not necessarily expected to take part in its trade. Indeed she may never practice the crafts of her caste, especially if this caste engages in typically male activities such as war or the working of raw materials. The amount of involvement in the daily home activity would have much to do, not too unlike earth, with income and social standing.
The women of a given caste, it should be noted, often do not engage in caste work. For example, a woman in the Metalworkers does not, commonly, work at the forge, nor is a woman of the Builders likely to be found supervising the construction of fortifications. Caste membership, for Goreans, is generally a simple matter of birth; it is not connected necessarily with the performance of certain skills, nor the attainment of a given level of proficiency in such skills.
--Fighting Slave of Gor, 16:209
The high borne daughters of upper caste Goreans will spend their youth in high-walled gardens, protected from much of the Gorean reality, draped in veils and robes of concealment, learning to read and write as well as the arts of walking, standing with grace, free maiden dances, the service of warm wine and the arrangement of veils. Commonly, the Gorean free woman is taught of things which prepare her for her role in society. This upbringing then, will largely depend on her family's caste and status.
She will know to kneel as free women do and never to sit cross legged like a man. She will learn to eat and drink in small delicate bites and sips, sometimes while holding up a veil but only as high as it is necessary for her lips to find the food or drink. She will learn to take pride in being frigid and almost void of sexual awareness; whether this is actual fact or not, she will be careful to let it be how it appears. The free woman's role does not require her to be sexual or even sensual.
...frigidity is one of the titles and permissions implicated in the lofty status of a free woman. For many, it is in effect their proudest possession. It distinguishes them from the lowly slave girl. It proves to themselves and others that they are free. ...
---Beasts of Gor, 15:243
The Gorean free woman will be taught to behave in ways that will be dramatically different from what is expected behavior in collared females. This perhaps is one of the most puzzling paradoxes of the Gorean world. Indeed it is difficult to combine the claim that the Gorean refuses to have his nature stifled, that the Gorean world is one in which biotruths are celebrated and in perfect harmony with nature, and the repeated lengthy descriptions of what constitutes true feminine nature with this rather strict code of behavior to which free women are held.
The following passage was spoken about women of Earth in one of the many comparisons between them and the joyful 'free to be a woman' Gorean slave girl, and although it is difficult not to find the meaning in this statement of the Earth woman's imprisoned nature, one could easily wonder if the Gorean free woman, draped in heavy concealing clothes, veiled and forbidden to behave as women are said to behave when their nature is set free, does not also at least partially fit this somewhat somber description.
...And I thought then, too, sadly, of the women of Earth, so many of them so confused, so miserable, so unhappy, women not knowing what they were, or what they might be, women trapped in a maze of ultimately barren artifices, women subjected to inconsistent directives and standards, women subjected to social coercions, women subjected to antibiological constraints, women forced to deny themselves and their depth natures in the name of freedom, women trying to be men, not knowing how to be women, women torturing themselves and others with their confusions, their inhibitions, their pain, their frustrations. But I did not blame them for they were the victims of pathological conditioning programs. Any beautiful, natural creature can be clipped and cut, and formed into monstrous shapes, torn from nature, and then instructed to rejoice in its mutilations and mishapenness. It was little wonder that so many of the women of Earth were so inhibited, so frigid, so inert, so anesthetic. ...
--Magicians of Gor, 3:54-55
If indeed the Gorean celebrates the beauty of females and their nature, why is the Gorean free woman commanded to hide any sign of such? Is it that the Gorean refuses her the right to actually be a female? What then is the Gorean free woman? How do we reconcile the need for Gor to embrace natural order and the refusal to allow most women to display what is stated repeatedly as being their true nature unless they are imbonded?
An unowned girl, a free woman, thus, can never experience her full sexuality. ...Passion, it is thought, deprives the free woman to some extent of her freedom and important self-control; it is frowned upon because it makes her behave, to some extent, like a degraded female slave; free women, thus, to protect their honor and dignity, their freedom and personhood, their individuality, must fight passion; the free woman must remain cool and in control of herself, even in the arms of her companion, to avoid being truly 'had,'...
---Tribesmen of Gor, 1:17
One could venture that the Gorean free woman is a symbol of the butterfly to be, the unfinished beauty wrapped still in its protective cocoon, not yet capable of surviving outside its shielding. Indeed beyond the forbidding of female behavior which is imposed upon the free woman of Gor, there is also both a forbidding of female feelings and female appearance. Although not a universal custom, the principles which dictate the face veiling and the wearing of robes of concealment are pretty much intact even in cities or areas where women do not wear these garments. The displaying of a woman's physical attributes for purposes other than practical is highly reprehensible and a dangerous game for free women to play.
This particular expectation varies from culture to culture and of course is almost absent from slave-free cultures such as the rence as we first encounter it for example. Within the city-state culture though, under one form or another, there is limitation on how much of a woman can be seen before it is considered improper.
In fact, a number of customs, traditions and even laws exist that will prevent the woman from being seen as a woman or thought to be feminine enough to be treated as Goreans believe the true feminine nature needs to be treated.
...in some cities an unveiled free woman is susceptible to being taken into custody by guardsmen, veiled, by force if necessary, and publicly conducted back to her home. ...Repeated offenses in such a city usually result in the enslavement of the female. ....
--Players of Gor, 6:125
Women are not habitually permitted to leave the safety of their home without escort and when they do make their way around the city, it will be under proper wrapping and veiling. This of course depends on the local laws and subject to an array of degrees in strictness but serves the clear purpose of preventing abduction by any man who might recognize a female under the layers of cloth and set out to acquire said woman. Indeed it would appear that to be seen as a woman will somehow result in her enslavement.
On Gor a woman normally travels only with a suitable retinue of armed guards. Women, on this barbaric world, are often regarded, unfortunately, as little more than love prizes, the fruits of conquest and seizure. Too often they are seen less as persons, human beings with rights, individuals worthy of concern and regard than as potential pleasure slaves, silken, bangled prisoners, possible adornments to the pleasure gardens of their captors. ....
---Outlaw of Gor, 6:50
"In Ar's Station," he said, "as in Ar, robes of concealment, precisely, are not legally obligatory for free women, no more than the veil. Such things are a matter of custom. On the other hand, as you know, there are statutes prescribing certain standards of decorum for free women. For example, they may not appear naked in the streets, as may slaves. Indeed, a free woman who appears in public in violation of these standards of decorum, for example, with her arms or legs too much bared, may be made a slave."
--Renegades of Gor, 27:367-368
The theories as to how Goreans manage to somehow move through this paradox without much difficulty are many and there is but one view presented here. There is of course the way that most simply cannot see their siblings or mothers as sexual beings. The entire dual message could well be related to this difficulty in viewing the females which are closest to them as actual females or allow that they would have these attitudes and needs as well as the next woman.
Do Goreans push this rather protective, and not particularly realistic notion of 'not my mother' to all the women of one's home, village, city and ultimately, even their planet? Are we not repeatedly told about how the women of Earth are natural slaves? It might explain much of what can otherwise be somewhat confusing.
The many statements made about the respect owed and afforded to the Gorean free woman and her importance in the many aspects of the Gorean world can be seen as contradictory to the above, but it may not be that way. Indeed it is altogether plausible that there are simply 'women' and then 'women'. John Norman himself offers quite simply that most Goreans believe the collar will find the slave.
The Goreans claim that in each woman there is a free companion, proud and beautiful, worthy and noble, and in each, too, a slave girl. The companion seeks for her companion; the slave girl for her master. It is further said, that on the couch, the Gorean girl, whether slave or free, who has had the experience, who has tried all loves, begs for a master. She wishes to belong completely to a man, withholding nothing, permitted to withhold nothing. And, of course, of all women, only a slave girl can truly belong to a man, only a slave girl can be truly his, in all ways, utterly, totally, completely, his, selflessly, at his mercy, his ecstatic slave, helpless and joyous in the total submission which she is given no choice but to yield.
--Hunters of Gor, 6:102-103
Realistically, if the feminine nature's complete fulfillment lies in the totality of Gorean slavery, would it not be rather expected that beyond the forced nature of the initial enslavement, reaching the completeness which the Gorean world claims to be feminine nature would not be achieved by most and certainly not by any quick fix. This perhaps would be the reason behind the notion of natural slave which will be examined in the Human Property article.
A woman, I had learned, must choose between freedom and love.
---Slave Girl of Gor, 29:442
If one considers the more subtle yet often repeated suggestion that slavery teaches a woman to love and that these learnings cannot be undone nor denied once discovered, one might simply conclude that for the most part, Gorean men do not feel their women all need to be enslaved to learn this nature nor need to remain enslaved in order to continue to embrace their nature once this has been reached. What is not so clear is how this would selectively apply only to their own women.
Perhaps Lara understood, as I did not, that women such as silver masks must be taught love, and can learn it only from a master. It was not her intention to condemn her sisters of Tharna into interminable and miserable bondage but to force them to take this strange first step on the road she herself had traveled, one of the unusual roads that may lead to love. When I had questioned her, Lara had said to me that only when true love is learned is the Free Companionship possible, and that some women can learn love only in chains. I wondered at her words.
---Outlaw of Gor, 26:250-251
The Gorean World does need mothers, wives and partners in running households and caring for family affairs and although we do have a glimpse of free woman-free societies in the later books, there is for the most part a majority of Gorean females who are free and enjoy the station, power and respect this freedom allows them. The reader will, of course, make of free woman character and any symbolism related to it, what he will.
"I shall not expatiate on what manner of place this is," said Ginger, "for you, yourself, shall soon learn, and well. And this is not how they treat all women. Women on this world, most of them, enjoy a status and freedom of which you, from Earth, cannot even conceive. Their raiment is splendid, their station is lofty, their mien is noble, their prestige is boundless. Dread them and fear them--".
--- Savages of Gor, 8:129
On a more practical level, the following are elements of the free woman's making which can be found scattered throughout the books and of course, as per this section's purpose, concerns itself primarily though NOT exclusively with the city-state culture.
The habitual attire of the Gorean free woman, by law or by custom, consists of layers of clothing (robes, veils, gloves, slippers) which are meant to dissimulate as much of her female features as is possible and are more specifically explained in the section of this guide which speaks of garments and attire.
...Veils are worn in various numbers and combinations by Gorean free women, this tending to vary by preference and caste. Many low-class Gorean women own only a single veil which must do for all purposes....The veil, it might be noted, is not legally imperative for a free woman; it is rather a matter of modesty and custom. Some low-class, uncompanioned, free girls do not wear veils. Similarly certain bold free women neglect the veil. Neglect of the veil is not a crime in Gorean cities, though in some it is deemed a brazen and scandalous omission....
---Slave Girl of Gor, 5:107
...Many Gorean women, in their haughtiness and pride, do not choose to have their features exposed to the common view. They are too fine and noble to be looked upon by the casual rabble. Similarly the robes of concealment worn by many Gorean women are doubtless dictated by the same sentiments. On the other hand veiling is a not impractical modesty in a culture in which capture, and the chain and the whip are not unknown. One justification for the veiling and the robes of concealment, which is not regarded as inconsiderable, is that it is supposed to provide something of a protection against abduction and predation. Who would wish to risk his life, it is said, to carry off a woman who might, when roped to a tree and stripped, turn out to be as ugly as a tharlarion?...
---Rogue of Gor, 4:41-42
Though we are given the names of two specific 'robes' it is easy to conclude that there can be many layers between the house robe and the street robe, depending on station, caste and whatever activity is being pursued. These of course being more suited to city life and higher caste women who do not usually have to partake in manual or physical labor.
...the garments of a free woman are designed to conceal a woman's slavery, ...
---Rogue of Gor, 30:276
The origin of the custom (and sometimes legal obligation) of wearing these cumbersome garments rests on two main principles :
1) They protect women from abduction by those who are in the female trade business by concealing their features and making it impossible for the raider/slaver to assess them as potential slaves.
There is a Gorean saying that free women, raised gently in the high cylinders, in their robes of concealment, unarmed, untrained in weapons, may, by the slaver, be plucked like flowers.
---Hunters of Gor, 8:118
2) They convey the rather 'asexual' attitude which is expected of free woman.
It is unwise for a free woman to appear eager to display herself. In certain cases, the showing of even an ankle is considered daring. If in certain cities lighter and more revealing garments are accepted, the attitude with which they are worn would be the same distant affect as far as noticing or appearing pleased to generate any interest in a male.
...Slave girls relish compliments. Indeed, there is a Gorean saying to the effect that any woman who relishes a compliment is in her heart a slave girl. She wants to please. Most Gorean men would not think twice about collaring a girl who responds, smiling, to compliments. It is regarded as right to enslave a natural slave. ...
---Beasts of Gor, 1:17
The dressing of hair is also a privilege reserved to women who are free, this practice is usually forbidden to slaves. In the northern area of Torvaldsland, the reader is told that a woman's hair being dressed indicates that she stands in free companionship. An indication of status as a way to identify those women who are spoken for? This separation of available and non-available women is also done in the Tahari though it seems not consistently, where virgins sometimes wear on their ankle what is called a virgin bell. Note that these customs are exclusive to free maidens.
Hair dressing is also known to be a method of dissimulating one of the few weapons women are seen and known to frequently carry, the small and rather effective poison pins.
...It is not wise to try to tear away the garments of a free woman with one's bare hands. They may contain poisoned needles.
---Beasts of Gor, 35:402
Although there is no official list of weapons women are entitled to use or carry, it is often stated that the Gorean woman is a creature of grace and beauty whose protection is the duty of the men around her. She does not receive instruction on the use of weapons or the ways of defense as these are simply not expected of her. Gorean weapons are not, then, designed to accommodate the weaker, smaller female sex and it is often mentioned that women would not be able to so much as lift a sword most men carry about and use daily.
Other than the hidden pins, there is mention of women carrying a dagger, particularly in the north where this seems to be part of the free woman's traditional dress. There are also mentions of women hunting for sport with what would likely be a small bow, the larger ones being impossible for them to string.
...The strength of a full-grown woman is equivalent to that of a twelve-year-old boy. Goreans read in this an indication as to who is master. ...
---Tribesmen of Gor, 14:223
The social status of a free woman will usually be determined by birth, and later on by companionship, although the reader will find women without companions in positions of power. Although it is said to be an unnatural thing for the Gorean man to follow a woman, on various occasions, a woman will be found in the ruler's throne, with or without a companion; the former being the more common although more decorative than decisional in purpose. Aside from these positions of power by marriage, we do encounter a number of women who successfully and without a companion, run households, businesses and even cities.
[women] ...seldom release the following instinct in men. Men, accordingly, do not on the whole, care to follow them. In doing so they generally feel uncomfortable. It makes them uneasy. They sense the absurdity, the unnaturalness, of the relationship. It is thus that normal men commonly follow women only unwillingly, and only with reservations, usually also only within an artificial context or within the confines of a misguided, choiceless or naive institution, where their discipline may be relied upon. Their compliance with orders in such a situation cannot help but be more critical, more skeptical. Their activities tend then to be performed with less confidence, and more hesitantly. This often produces serious consequences to the efficiency of their actions. It is interesting to note that even women seldom care to follow women, particularly in critical situations. The male, biologically, for better or for worse, appears to be the natural leader. In the perversion of nature, of course, anything may occur. ...
---Players of Gor, 15:288
It is often tempting to remember only the fate of these women in the circumstances of their fall in order to draw the conclusion that the Gorean world is not suited for women in positions of power, but it would be unfair to ignore the fact that prior to the reader's encounter with these women, the history told speaks of many years of their rule. Even in post-revolt Tharna where the overturning of gynocracy was done rather violently and by the enslavement of essentially all women, the former Tatrix, Lara, remained as city administrator until she abdicated of her own free will. During these years we are given glimpses into Tharna and it is mentioned that Lara was indeed a wise ruler. What appears to be a common error and cause the fall from grace of a number of women who enjoy fairly free range is that they eventually cross the line of what is considered to be an attempt as manipulating men, a clear crime against nature to the Gorean man.
Free women of high caste, free women born to powerful families or who marry into them, benefit from rather extensive tolerance as far as behavior. It is interesting to note just how insolent a free woman can be without so much as a frown from those around her. For as much as we are told of the precarious nature of a woman's freedom, it is rather clear in many cases that well protected women become rather daring and imperious in their interactions with those they consider to be below them, including men. Indeed in many cases it would seem the men are amused by this attitude. That is, theoretically, until some invisible line is crossed which is not always obvious until it is too late for the woman in question.
From the kitchen there had emerged, in the robes of concealment, the figure of a woman.
The men, save I, rose as one to their feet, for Gorean men commonly stand when a free woman enters a room.
---Guardsman of Gor, 20:255
...Whereas a free woman may often make a man angry with impunity, she being lofty and free, this latitude is seldom extended to the slave. ...
---Blood Brothers of Gor, 23:221
...It is not difficult, of course, to take insolence from a woman.
---Mercenaries of Gor, 1:7
As a rule though, it is a rare occurrence for a free woman to be enslaved by her own kin unless she specifically breaks the law and ends up sentenced to enslavement. Gorean men seem to always have much less difficulty viewing women from anywhere else but their home as needing a collar or deserving of one and it is a rare occurrence. Typically, free women are treated with respect, courtesy and honor, particularly if they share a Home Stone with the men present. They pretty much will speak as they will and their voice will be heard at least as far as it is pertinent to the matters at hand.
"...A free woman is inordinately precious. She is a thousand times, and more, above a mere slave."
--- Players of Gor, 3:92
...For example, there is no higher person, nor one more respected, than the Gorean free
woman....
--- Hunters of Gor, 22:311
The bearing and raising of children are a functions of the free companion and perhaps where the free woman finds her primary role. It is said that women, particularly those of high caste, actually have little to do other than gossip and lounge about. Household chores being taken care of by house slaves and servants, the pleasures of men being the lot of the pleasure slave, It would be in the perpetuation of the race and caste that the free woman finds a more exclusive role within the Gorean structure; a role which is considered important enough to be the source of a number of caste rules such as the rule found in the caste of physicians which forbids women to practice the trade of the caste unless they have borne a set number of children.
Indeed, though we encounter a number of men who chose to have a love slave rather than a free companion, since only children born to a free woman are legally free, these men who prefer to have collared women as mates will seldom have heirs unless they chose to free their slaves even if only temporarily. Being in love seldom makes a man forget the rather inflexible lines between slavery and freedom and the place of each kind of woman within these lines.
In later books we find that this particular rule which prevents slaves from giving birth to free persons is subject to amendment, at least in one city. In Tharna, former city of silver mask gynocracy, we are told that the free woman has essentially been eliminated from the social map, and that even the youth of Tharna are educated to prepare them to enslave their female school mates. In order that women remain in collar and chains, Tharna has changed the Gorean standard law so that the woman need only be freed for the time it takes to conceive the child. She may then be re-enslaved, carry the child to term and deliver what would legally still be considered a legally free offspring. Whether the fate of Tharna is an exception or an omen of things to come is, of course, up to the reader's interpretation and remains to be seen.
Although generally speaking the free woman enjoys a high level of tolerance when it comes to her behavior and words, there are very strict guidelines with regards to a number of behaviors identified as slave behaviors. These behaviors of course do not include the breaking of the law, which is a separate issue and often, for women, results in slavery.
Other than criminal deeds, then, the free woman must abstain from displaying and/or performing a number of gestures which can be, once proven before a legal body, enough to mark her as slave. The act of seeking a compliment, as previously mentioned, is sometimes considered enough to enslave a woman. The disregarding of guidelines pertaining to veiling or concealing features, i.e., the 'flaunting' of one's attributes would be, in some cases, considered as an admission of slave nature. In other cultures, the Wagon Peoples believe that only a slave will enjoy the feel of silk on her skin. The act of begging is also said to 'brand a woman' as slave; this particularly applies to captives.
On Gor it is said that only a true slave begs to be freed. That act, incontrovertibly, on Gor, more deeply than a brand and a collar, marks the individual as a true slave.
---Tribesmen of Gor, 26:350
The enslavement of a free woman happens as a result of a number of events which each have their particular conditions and are subject to a number of criteria, habitually legal unless the enslavement is done in the form of kidnapping a woman from her home and city. Enslaving a woman within the territory of her home, for example, usually requires that she be found guilty of a crime. The variations from city to city will mostly have to do with what is and isn't a crime in that given area.
--- Enslavement as a result of a perceived 'slave behavior', as discussed above. Note that although these are not looked at in as severe a light as crimes against society, the list of 'crimes against freedom' which will result in a woman losing her freedom have to be identified as crimes in the city or area where the woman lives. One does not snap a collar on a free woman's neck without some form of legal intervention in order that the enslavement be official. This is of course in the case of free women in their own cities.
The principle he had alluded to pertains to conduct in a free woman which is taken as sufficient to warrant her reduction to slavery. The most common application of this principle occurs in areas such as fraud or theft. Other applications may occur, for example, in cases of indigency and vagrancy. Prostitution, rare on Gor because of female slaves, is another case. The women are taken, enslaved, cleaned up and controlled. Indulgence in sensual dance is another case. Sensuous dance is almost always performed by slaves on Gor. A free woman who performs such dancing publicly is almost begging for the collar. In some cities the sentence of bondage is mandatory for such a woman.
---Renegades of Gor, 21:372
--- Enslavement as a result of being found guilty of a crime is seen on a number of occasions, the most memorable one probably being the enslavement of women who fell prey to the lure of Milo and hence broke the couching law of Ar. We do, in earlier adventures, see similar fates for crimes such as theft, as well as finding that owing money can also cost one's freedom. Note that a number of legal punishments involving what may seem like slave-like services such as penal brothels for example, are treated by Goreans in totally different light because of their temporary nature.
"You have been tried and convicted of the crime of theft," said the judge, "for the second time."
The girl's eyes were terrified.
"It is now my duty, Lady Tina," said the judge, "to pass sentence upon you."
She looked up at him.
"Do you understand?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, "my judge."
"Are you prepared now, Lady Tina of Lydius," asked the judge, to hear your sentence?"
"Yes," she said, regarding him, "my judge."
"I herewith sentence you, Lady Tina of Lydius," said the judge, "to slavery."
---Hunters of Gor, 3:50
"The Lady Sasi, of Port Kar," said the praetor, "in virtue of what we have here today established, and in virtue of the general warrant outstanding upon her, must come under sentence."
"Please, my officer," she begged.
"I am now going to sentence you," he said.
"Please," she cried. "Sentence me only to a penal brothel!"
"The penal brothel is too good for you," said the praetor.
"Show me mercy," she begged.
"You will be shown no mercy," he said.
She looked up at him, with horror.
"You are sentenced to slavery," he said.
"No, no!" she screamed.
One of the guards cuffed her across the mouth, snapping her head back.
There were tears in her eyes and blood at her lip.
"Were you given permission to speak?" asked the praetor.
"No, no," she wept, stammering. "Forgive me--Master."
"Let her be taken to the nearest metal shop and branded," said the praetor. "Then let her be placed on sale outside the shop for five Ehn, to be sold to the first buyer for the cost of her branding. If she is not sold in five Ehn then take her to the public market shelves and chain her there, taking the best offer which equals or exceeds the cost of her branding."
---Explorers of Gor, 4:58-59
"Any free woman who couches with another's slave, or readies herself to couch with another's slave, becomes herself a slave, and the slave of the slave's master. ..."
---Magicians of Gor, 1:7
--- Enslavement as a result of capture in the context of slaver raids is also discussed a number of times and under various circumstances, be it the somewhat initiatory ritual of capture by young tarnsmen or when, for example, an individual would pay to have captured a specific free woman who may have caught his attention. Whereas the latter requires a certain cashflow and more likely to be a rich man's whim than that of the average Gorean, the former requires little more than old fashioned Gorean nerve and the means to access and transport a captive. It is understood that in this more symbolic form of capture endeavor, the young man is expected to find his victim outside the limits of his own city.
The harsh, exogamous institution of capture is woven into the very fabric of Gorean life. It is regarded as meritorious to abduct one's women from a foreign, preferably hostile city. Perhaps this institution, which on the surface seems so deplorable, is profitable from the standpoint of the race, preventing the gradual inbreeding of otherwise largely isolated, self-sufficient cities. Few seem to object to the institution of capture, not even the women who might seem to be its victims. On the contrary, incredibly enough, their vanity is terribly outraged if they are not regarded as worth the risks, usually mutilation and impalement. One cruel courtesan in the great city of Ar, now little more than a toothless, wrinkled hag, boasted that more than four hundred men had died because of her beauty.
---Outlaw of Gor, 6:50-51
...The Gorean girl is, even if free, accustomed to slavery; she will perhaps own one or more slaves herself; she knows that she is weaker than men and what this can mean; she knows that cities fall and caravans are plundered; she knows she might even, by a sufficiently bold warrior, be captured in her own quarters and, bound and hooded, be carried by tarnback over the walls of her own city. Moreover, even if she is never enslaved, she is familiar with the duties of slaves and what is expected of them; if she should be enslaved she will know, on the whole, what is expected of her, what is permitted her and what is not; moreover the Gorean girl is literally educated, fortunately or not, to the notion that it is of great importance to know how to please men; accordingly, even girls who will be free companions, and never slaves, learn the preparation and serving of exotic dishes, the arts of walking, and standing, and being beautiful, the care of a man's equipment, the love dances of their city, and so on. ...
--Nomads of Gor, 8:63
...The institution of capture is universal, to the best of my knowledge, on Gor; there is no city which does not honor it, provided the females captured are those of the enemy, either their free women or their slaves; it is often a young tarnsman's first mission, the securing of a female, preferably free, from an enemy city, to enslave, that his sisters may be relieved of the burden of serving him; indeed, his sisters often encourage him to be prompt in the capture of an enemy wench that their own tasks may be made the lighter; when the young tarnsman, if successful, returns home from his capture flight, a girl bound naked across the saddle, his sisters welcome her with delight, and with great enthusiasm prepare her for the Feast of Collaring.
---Tribesmen of Gor, 13:159
--- Enslavement as a result of capture in the context of conquest and war will happen in two different ways. The first is the simple capture-collar-brand scenario which would befall the better looking females of the conquered enemy, and the second being simply the self preservation act of submitting in exchange for what the free woman believes to be her life. It is said to be customary to impale a number of high dignitaries upon conquest of a city and so it would not be unusual for women of high caste to offer themselves as slaves in order to stay alive.
...She, the free woman, a free person, might be trampled by tharlarion, or be run through, or have her throat cut, by victors. Such things were certainly possible. On the other hand, the free women of a conquered city, or at least the fairest among them, are often reckoned by besiegers as counting within the yield of prospective loot. Many is the free female in such a city who has torn away her robes before enemies, confessed her natural slavery, disavowed her previous masquerade as a free woman, and begged for the rightfulness of the brand and collar. This is a scene which many free woman have enacted in their imagination. Such things figure, too, in the dreams of woman, those doors to the secret truths of their being. ...
---Magicians of Gor, 1:19
Enslavement as a result of voluntary submission in a context of choice or by a form of social debt as would be considered owed to one who saves a woman's life, for example. It is said that Goreans feel that a woman whose life has been saved by a man must accordingly belong to him and that in fact even her family would consider her submission, voluntary or forced, as necessary to be the honorable thing to do.
And yet it was not a strange thing, particularly not on Gor, where bravery is highly esteemed and to save a female's life is in effect to win title to it, for it is the option of a Gorean male to enslave any woman whose life he has saved, a right which is seldom denied even by the citizens of the girl's city or her family. Indeed, there have been cases in which a girl's brothers have had her clad as a slave, bound in slave bracelets, and handed over to her rescuer, in order that the honor of the family and her city not be besmirched. There is, of course, a natural tendency in the rescued female to feel and demonstrate great gratitude to the man who has saved her life, and the Gorean custom is perhaps no more than an institutionalization of this customary response. There are cases where a free woman in the vicinity of a man she desired has deliberately placed herself in jeopardy. The man then, after having been forced to risk his life, is seldom in a mood to use the girl other than as his slave. I have wondered upon occasion about this practice, so different on Gor than on Earth. On my old world when a woman is saved by a man she may, I understand, with propriety bestow upon him a grateful kiss and perhaps, if we may believe the tales in these matters, consider him more seriously because of his action as a possible, eventual companion in wedlock. One of these girls, if rescued on Gor, would probably be dumbfounded at what would happen to her. After her kiss of gratitude, which might last a good deal longer than she had anticipated, she would find herself forced to kneel and be collared and then, stripped, her wrists confined behind her back in slave bracelets, she would find herself led stumbling away on a slave leash from the field of her champion's valor. Yes, undoubtedly our Earth girls would find this most surprising. On the other hand the Gorean attitude is that she would be dead were it not for his brave action and thus it is his right, now that he has won her life, to make her live it for him precisely as he pleases, which is usually, it must unfortunately be noted, as his slave girl, for the privileges of a Free Companionship are never bestowed lightly. Also of course a Free Companionship might be refused, in all Gorean right, by the girl, and thus a warrior can hardly be blamed, after risking his life, for not wanting to risk losing the precious prize which he has just, at great peril to himself, succeeded in winning. The Gorean man, as a man, cheerfully and dutifully attends to the rescuing of his female in distress, but as a Gorean, as a true Gorean, he feels, perhaps justifiably and being somewhat less or more romantic than ourselves, that he should have something more for his pains than her kiss of gratitude and so, in typical Gorean fashion, puts his chain on the wench, claiming both her and her body as his payment.
---Priest Kings of Gor, 20:161-162
She belonged to Samos, of course. It had been within the context of his capture rights that she had, as a free woman, of her own free will, pronounced upon herself a formula of enslavement. Automatically then, in virtue of the context, she became his. The law is clear on this. The matter is more subtle when the woman is not within a context of capture rights. Here the matter differs from city to city. In some cities, a woman may not, with legal recognition, submit herself to a specific man as a slave, for in those cities that is interpreted as placing at least a temporary qualification on the condition of slavery which condition, once entered into, all cities agree, is absolute. In such cities, then, the woman makes herself a slave, unconditionally. It is then up to the man in question whether or not he will accept her as his slave. In his matter he will do as he pleases. In any event, she is by then a slave, and only that.
In other cities, and in most cities, on the other hand, a free woman may, with legal tolerance, submit herself as a slave to a specific man. If he refuses her, she is then still free. If he accepts her, she is, then, categorically a slave, and he may do with her as he pleases, even selling her or giving her away, or slaying her, if he wishes. ...
--Players of Gor, 1:21
There are also incidents where we find the free companion enslaved by her own companion, as a result of what seems to have been cases of enough is enough, for lack of a better term. This, although extreme, is pretty much in keeping with what we are told regarding the power free men hold over their companions, even though they are free.
Punishment is said to be just as much a part of a free woman's life and although likely not a frequent situation, she would be familiar with its possibilities.
Whether it be the sexual use of debtor sluts, penal brothels or the chaining of a free woman to her companion's couch or any of the other possible punishments the reader finds over the course of his journey, it is clear that the female's position on Gor remains at best a fragile one and it would be hasty to assume that the status of 'freedom' prevents women from rather harsh treatment at times.
...Once in Ar, several years ago, several free women, in their anger at slaves, and perhaps jealous of the pleasures of masters and slaves, entered a paga tavern with clubs and axes, seeking to destroy it. This is, I believe, an example, though a rather extreme one, of a not unprecedented sort of psychological reaction, the attempt, by disparagement or action, motivated by envy, jealousy, resentment, or such, to keep from others pleasures which one oneself is unable, or unwilling, to enjoy. In any event, as a historical note, the men in the tavern, being Gorean, and thus not being inhibited or confused by negativistic, antibiological traditions, quickly disarmed the women. They then stripped them, bound their hands behind their back, put them on a neck rope, and, by means of switches, conducted them swiftly outside the tavern. The women were then, outside the tavern, on the bridge of twenty lanterns, forced to witness the burning of their garments. They were then permitted to leave, though still bound and in coffle. Gorean men do not surrender their birthright as males, their rightful dominance, their appropriate mastery. They do not choose to be dictated to by females.
--Magicians of Gor, 3:51
The captured free woman is not instantly enslaved and the conditions of her captivity will be partially determined by whether or not she remains free. It is not always easy to understand the line Goreans seem to walk when it comes to free women, especially in the context of captives who are not enslaved.
"It is my understanding, following merchant law, and Tahari custom," I said, "that I am not a slave, for though I am a prisoner, I have been neither branded nor collared, nor have I performed a gesture of submission."
--Tribesmen of Gor, 12:196
Although the reader will note that there does not seem to be a difficulty for the average Gorean to draw that line, it certainly is not so clear to those of us sifting through these practices. Suffice it to say that although harsh treatment, chains, punishment and even sexual use are sometimes the lot of the captive free woman, a line exists which separates her always from the collared woman. This line will be mentioned in the way a captive will be spoken to by slaves for example, the way she will be beaten, the way she will be used for sex - pale nuances at times but nonetheless clear or so it seems, to Goreans, male or female, free or slave.
The Gorean kajira does not allow herself the mistake of treating a captive free woman as she would a sister in bondage, lest she be swiftly and painfully reminded of her place. Slave girls in general fear the habitual contempt and cruelty free women direct toward them.
Free women and slaves
If the free woman seems to often have a rather intense degree of curiosity toward the condition and reality of her imbonded sister, she also manifests, and quite clearly, that she disapproves of the slave girl's lack of restraint when it comes to the display of any form of sexual response or behavior. It does appear more often than not that the exclamations of a free woman are tied into a fascination with the slave girl's displays. It is a rather frequent occurrence to find free women questioning slaves on what it feels like to be subject to slave discipline, and of course to admit to being stirred by the thought of finding herself in a collar. These admissions are more often heard once the free woman finds herself collared and leaves the reader wondering of indeed there is a single woman who doesn't dream of collars and chains.
Until then, however, the general attitude of free women with regard to slaves is one of contempt and intolerance. In the presence of free women, slave girls will often be told to efface themselves and make themselves as invisible as they can, particularly those slaves which are specially trained in the arts of pleasing men. In the company of free women, serving slaves are more commonly used, and it is expected that they will behave modestly and discreetly.
For many free women, the mere presence of slave girls is simply intolerable and they will not accept their presence. We find such a situation perhaps less in the cities where high caste women for example will have been raised with slaves around them and be used to their presence, but among lower castes we witness a scene where the peasant woman clearly indicates her horror at the thought that a slave would be sleeping in the same house as she would and demands the slave be kept outside where other livestock might be.
Similarly we are witness to a number of scenarios where the free woman expresses outrage at the presence of scantily clad slaves in public forums or areas although this is less likely to be given much concern. The men present, likely quite familiar with this show of outrage may choose out of courtesy to command their slaves to cover up but in large cites and public areas it is likely that they will simply ignore the outburst. And of course, once the free woman has moved along, the men are oft seen bantering and making light of the situation, and the slaves are quickly returned to their exposed state.
Despite this rather obvious and demonstrative disdain for her sisters in bondage, the Gorean free woman will often have use of slaves in the accomplishment of various chores, especially if she is of higher caste. Too, there are markets which cater to the special needs of the lofty free woman who is either without companion or whose companion accepts that she keep a pleasure slave of her own. Indeed, if most male slaves on Gor are prisoners sentenced to work chains and hard labor, there exists a select number of male slaves known as silk slaves and also kajirus trained in specialty slaver houses and used for the pleasure of free women.
The Gorean free woman, much like the Gorean slave girl, is a complex puzzle especially if one tries to understand it from the outside. There will be a number of ways to interpret the rich and multi-faceted symbolism which surrounds this particular part of the Gorean reality and there is likely not one single way which is better than the rest, but certainly it all is rather interesting to study, no matter the angle.
There is a Gorean saying that the free woman is a riddle, the answer to which is the collar. Perhaps it is that there is actually more than one answer to the riddle that is the Gorean free woman?
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