Gor! Huh, yeah.
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y'all
*grins*
Okay, recovering Gorean here, playing around with the lyrics to “War”.
I’m one of those weird cases of a Gorean who hates Gor. To be more precise, I hate the Gor as it’s presented in the books, in which human life is worthless, compassion is considered a character flaw, and every woman is considered by men to be nothing more than a slave (although some simply haven’t been collared yet).
I don't necessarily dislike people who live the Gorean lifestyle. Heck, I really like some of them, and it wasn't that long ago I was seeking a Gorean Master to serve permanently full-time. In about a week and a half, my Master and I will be eating dinner with a Gorean Master and his kajira, and tonight I wrote a long letter to a differeng Gorean kajira I know praising her inspiring devoition to her Master and her beautiful skills in service.
So I don't hate Goreans. But I hate Gor, as it's presented in the 20-something novels written by John Norman during the last 40-plus years.
I’m a kajira at heart ("kajira" is a Gorean word that simply means "female slave"). I'm that in my soul. I am the type of woman that the Gorean books claim all women are. And, as such, I would serve as a kajira joyfully and lovingly on Gor, and I’ve often wished to be there, in a place where all women are beautiful and sensual and ...
But not all women are like me. When I look at the books now, I feel a sense of horror and dread for the lives of the women in the novels, who at any moment could find their existence and freedom stripped forever away from them, to go from being physicians and scholars and mothers to being sex toys in a heartbeat without rights of any kind.
I was a Gorean for years. It’s how I was introduced to the lifestyle. And it’s how many Masters and slaves find their place.
As I've indicated, Gor isn’t just a series of science-fiction books to some people. It’s the basis for a way of life.
The Gorean books are horribly written, without a doubt. Even the most die-hard Gorean will admit to that.
A couple of quite clever parodies have been made of the awful writing, by the way. One is Gay, Bejeweled, Nazi Bikers of Gor, and the other is Houseplants of Gor. Both are worth the read.
Despite the awful writing, there are some actually quite intelligent people who attempt to take something of value out of the books.
Things like honor. And being true to yourself.
And there are not-so-valued things. Such as a belief that all women are naturally submissive to men, and that’s the way evolution intended it.
Things like believing that all women were created to serve the desires of men.
So why do I love and hate Gor at the same time? How can some Goreans be very respectable and honorable, and others be misogynistic and sociopathic?
Well, the thing is ... Gor started off as a pretty fun series of books. There was sex and slavery and action and daring do. There was a great hero and a great (and very intelligent) female sidekick who was his match in every way.
So if you're going to read Gor, the first five books are okay. Hell, I'd have to say that "Nomads of Gor" and "Tarnsman of Gor" are among my favorite science-fiction books of all time.
But after then, they started to spiral downward into eventual insanity.
There's a fantastic article called "Looking North to the Sea, She Finds the Weather Fine", which explains the contrast between the good first books in the series and the awfulness of the later books. It's extremely well written, and worth checking out if you want to understand why Gor can be seen in both good and bad lights.
I wrote a Website years ago about Gor (it's at A Dog's Life: Gorean Thoughts), and I put in some links to a few essays that don’t exactly praise the Gorean way of thinking. I haven’t updated it in awhile, but it’s continued to get quite a few hits over the years, so I keep it up as a resource for people who want to understand a particular perspective.
One of the sites I link to is an essay entitled "Chain Gang", which is possibly the best online article I’ve seen on the subject. It manages to blast Gor in an incredibly intelligent yet entertaining way. I highly recommend you check it out, whether you’re Gorean or not.
I probably should also mention one of the best humorous stories on the Web that pokes fun in a nice way at Goreans, called “Geeks and Greeks on Gor”.
I mention all that because Master and I made the acquaintance of two Gorean Master/slave couples at last Friday’s Inner Sanctum meeting (the monthly high-protocol event at the Denver Sanctuary BDSM club). Everybody at the Inner Sanctum that night got along wonderfully, and it was one of the most enjoyable formal meetings I’ve ever attended as a slave.
The following was written by a Gorean Master who attended that meeting for the first time. His words were so eloquent that they moved more than a few people who attended:
“Only my times of sharing with my unofficial Mentor and dear Friend have left me more silent than sitting with the Masters of the Inner Sanctum. Maybe the greatest tribute to offer these men of wisdom was that they were strong enough to know when to openly share and when to quiet themselves and confidently listen. I was drawn to everything that they had to say. There were 8 exquisitely beautiful slaves there and yet it was as if they weren't even there. Their reality was only evident in the periodical occurrence of each of them tending to their Masters' needs, here and there. Other than that I barely recognized them as being there, at all. Such is the way that it should be. But by the end of my time with these men, it was THEY who were dominating the discussion and it was I who was spellbound and hanging on each phrase. I didn't agree with all of it. It's not required that I do. But there was a profound, quiet sense of tolerance and acceptance that was nothing short of refreshing”
One of those two Gorean Masters we met has since invited my Master and I to dinner, and we have accepted, with plans to attend a week from Sunday. The other Master’s kajira is excited to talk with me again, and I’m greatly looking forward to being with her.
I’m nervous, though, because my time in Gor has left me some mental and emotional scars.
I came to accept the ideas of the book as they applied to life and myself. And I had nightmares, sometimes night after night, about life on Gor for other people. Women who were stripped from a good life and a loving family and forced to become less than nothing, then being killed without the least remorse for the slightest offense.
Gor sucks.
And, yet, a part of me still loves it there.
It was home to me.
Gradually, because of Master and Mistress, Earth has again become more of a home to me than Gor.
But I know I’m drawn there. So we’ll see what happens next week.
Master doesn’t have the total aversion to Gor that Mistress did. Mistress completely barred me from having any contact with Goreans, online or offline, or to read the books. Master, however, knows the effect it had on me, and he believes he can work with me on it, to allow it to remain a valid part of my life.
I still wear my kajira T-shirt when I go out at times ( I got it at CafePress. You can find almost ANYTHING there! *giggles*)
And I still consider myself a kajira.
I think I always might. Such is life.
La kajira!
p.s. For fun, Master sent me the lyrics to “My Kajira”, the Gorean equivalent of “My Sharona.” He wrote it, and he said anybody can use it or reprint it, as long as they attribute it to "Master Grey of Colorado." I thought I’d pass it along here! *chuckles*
Ooh, my little pretty one, my pretty one,
Gonna make you wear my ko-lar, kajira.
Swift as a thalarion, thalarion,
Chase you all the way to Port Kar, kajira.
Never gonna stop, give it up, this is what I crave,
I always get it up for the touch of a Tuchuk slave,
My, my, my, aye-aye, whoa!
M-m-m-my kajira
Come a little closer, huh, a-will ya, huh?
Close enough to look in my eyes, kajira.
Soon you will belong to me, belong to me,
Branded at the top of your thigh, kajira.
Never gonna stop, give it up, this is what I crave,
I always get it up for the touch of a Tuchuk slave,
My, my, my, aye-aye, whoa!
M-m-m-my kajira
M-m-m-my kajira
When will you submit to me, submit to me,
You cannot resist any more, kajira,
Is it d-d-destiny, d-destiny,
Or is this just a game about Gor, kajira?
Never gonna stop, give it up, this is what I crave,
I always get it up for the touch of a Tuchuk slave,
My, my, my, aye-aye, whoa!
M-m-m-m-m-m-m-my, my, my, aye-aye, whoa!
M-m-m-my kajira
M-m-m-my kajira
M-m-m-my kajira
M-m-m-my kajira
Ooooooo-ohhh, my kajira
Ooooooo-ohhh, my kajira
Ooooooo-ohhh, my kajira
p.p.s. A heavy-metal band named Phonetica has a song about Gor called “Slave Raid.” The song doesn’t exactly fit my tastes, but here’s the lyrics if you’re curious:
A ship on the solar tide ride
On dimensional wave bide
The power of lust and greed
Drives a crew into evil deed
Appearing in the atmosphere
Yet no mortal may see or hear
No woman safe in her bed
No virgin pure in her head
No human female is safe
From the harvester of slaves
Bow to me now
You're a slave, not a lover
Please me enough
You'll earn the chains in my bed
Every cell every nerve
Knows you were born to serve
Don't fight the thrall you feel
The pleasure when you kneel
Traveling now to your realm of rebirth
Other side of the sun
Life of collar begun
My Kajira of Counter-Earth!
No woman is free
No woman is saved
Who has not known the leash
Who has not been enslaved
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