Gor, and in turn those who follow the Gorean philosophies, have been slated ever since the beginning of alternative lifestyles. My Master recalls being in a room with mainstream BDSMers and, after being asked, stated he was Gorean. The ‘BDSMers’ then proceeded to either ignore him, or spit at him, calling him (amongst other names) a ‘Nazi’ and a ‘fantasist’.
Okay, so BDSM and those who are a part of it have become more open about other forms of alternative lifestyle since then. But Goreans in general are still shunned.
Why?
I see there are three main reasons for this; The books, the roleplayers and fantasists on second life and in chatrooms, and the idea of ‘no limits’. Most people don’t understand Gor, or Goreans, they see it as ‘just another form of BDSM play’, and an unsafe form at that!
But, this is my idea of the truth - I have not been ‘brainwashed’ into saying this, I’ve not been ordered to write this, I’m writing what I feel is the truth, based on my experiences and my knowledge.
The books - They are fantasy and science fiction, poorly written fantasy and science fiction at that! And for most people outside of the Gorean lifestyle, that is all there is to it.
But the Gorean lifestyle, and the philosophies contained within the books on which the lifestyle is based, are far more than the ramblings of a penniless university professor. They are based on something that goes beyond all that - historical facts. They are based on a combination of ancient civilisations and their values, protocols, and beliefs. Roman, Greek, Moor, Inuit - just to name a few!
Take, for example, the first chapter of the first book.
The fiction - Tarl Cabot, of Bristol, moves to America to teach as a professor of English History, he goes off camping, finds a letter, and eventually boards a ship and flies to the new (to him) planet, Gor, to meet his father - Matthew Cabot.
The historical truth - In 1497, John Cabot sailed fromBristol , to explore across the Atlantic (finally landing in ‘the new world’ - America
The overlooked fact of the matter is that the novels, regardless of genre, are based (perhaps loosely at times!) on a menagerie of historical events, ideals, and civilisations. Yet those who are so quick to scorn and judge, are those who are ignorant (stupid?) enough to believe that just because a book is in the ‘science fiction’ section of the library, it cannot possibly have any truths.
Of course, people refuse to listen when one explains the historical references, and prefers to repeat ‘You’re so brainwashed. You’re so predictable’ over and over like a parrot on speed.
~
Then of course, there is the ‘roleplayers’ and ‘fantasists’, which do not tend to help with the whole ‘insane’ idea! These are the people that believe that dressing up as a warrior, or assassin, on second life (or spending two hours describing their clothes, and their entrance in a chatroom) makes them ‘real life Goreans’.
This, to me, is the same as turning up to a Gorean meeting in spacesuits with ray guns (it’s happened before!) - how can anyone take that as ‘serious’?!
These are the people that most other ‘alternative’ lifestylers see first, they are the first ‘encounter’, so to speak, and people judge the entire lifestyle from those slightly confused individuals. I don’t blame them for hating Goreans, and seeing us all as fantasists. If my only encounter of Star Trek fans was those who dressed up and spoke ‘Klingon’, I’d think they were all nutjobs too! But, as I try to remind people involved in BDSM - you don’t judge puppy-players on bestiality.. why judge us on our ‘extremes’?
Again, people refuse to listen to this, or just nod along pretending to agree, in the hopes that the idea of being Gorean will suddenly dissipate.
~
Then there is the idea of ‘no limits’ and ‘no safeword’ slaves - this, of course, is both unsafe and ridiculous to BDSMers. I was asked at one point “so, you’re a no limits slave.. so you’d kill your family if your Owner told you to?”. This, apparently, disproved the fact that I am ‘no limits’.
What people fail to realise, is that a Gorean slave does have limits, but those are set by her Master, she does whatever he asks, knowing he’s not a psychopath that is going to ask her to kill her entire family! By having only the limits of the Master, it makes the slave ‘no limits’ - If single, I would have a hard limit of ‘whips’ (they scare me.. but that’s another story, for another time), and yet my Master uses his whip - thus negating my ‘hard limit’. He could, of course, do this with any other limit of mine, and since I’m his slave, I would go along with his wishes (albeit reluctantly at times!).
No safewords is again a topic that is debated by those in other forms of alternative lifestyle - “but if you play, how does he know when you’ve had enough?”. For a start, Goreans don’t ‘play’ at being Gorean.. so the idea of a safeword for ‘Gorean Play’ is a bit redundant.. I mean, what am I going to do… start yelling ‘red, red, red!!’ when he asks me to get him a cup of coffee?!
The idea of safewords, in the BDSM side of life, in my opinion, is to do exactly what it says on the box - keep things ‘safe’. But just like the idea of ‘limits’, it isn’t a ‘necessary’ part of the Gorean lifestyle. We don’t (in the Gorean lifestyles purest form) take part in BDSM activities - a lot of BDSMers get the impression that Gor is ‘boring’, as there is no ‘play’, ‘scening’ or ‘extremes’ - in a lot of ways, the Gorean lifestyle is akin to the 1950’s household.. and my mother never needed safewords for making dinner, doing the cleaning, and generally keeping the house.. so neither do I!
Gor, in itself, is about living with honour and personal integrity - neither of which need ‘safewords’, as neither of which are ‘unsafe’. The only time people in alternative lifestyles see the need for Goreans to have safewords, is when the Master whips a slave. This is done not for enjoyment, but for correction purposes - so the slave isn’t ‘meant’ to enjoy it. There is no ‘warm up’, just hard strokes of the whip from the start. Of course, there needs to be some level of control from the Master - and the age old ‘don’t hit the kidneys’ rule still stands.. but the idea of giving a safeword to a slave, so she can stop the punishment when she wishes, or when she’s ‘had enough’ isn’t really in keeping with the idea that the Master is in charge - after all, if I could, I’d try to get away with no punishment whatsoever.. but that wouldn’t help in correcting me.
I know that those who dapple in BDSM as well as Gor, often have safewords for when they play, but that is a different matter - and as it doesn’t pertain to me, I won’t go into it here.
~
So, sadly for those out there who try to label the Gorean lifestyle a ‘fad’, a ‘phase you’re going through’, and something we’ll ‘grow out of’ - I don’t believe it is anything of the sort. It is, at the very least, to me, a very complex lifestyle, that doesn’t even being to scratch the surface with ‘Master and slave’. It’s about life choices, it’s about a willingness to be true to ones nature, it’s about striving to be honourable, to live within ones own strengths and weaknesses, and not to pretend to be something, just to fit in with the politically correct society we all live in.
And for that reason, I pity those who hate and dismiss my lifestyle choice - not because they aren’t a part of it, but because they are too closed-minded to even discover what it’s really about.
"You may judge and scorn Goreans as you wish. Know as well however that they judge and scorn you. They fulfil themselves as you do not. Hate them for their pride and power, they will pity you for your shame and weakness." - 11, Beasts
Okay, so BDSM and those who are a part of it have become more open about other forms of alternative lifestyle since then. But Goreans in general are still shunned.
Why?
I see there are three main reasons for this; The books, the roleplayers and fantasists on second life and in chatrooms, and the idea of ‘no limits’. Most people don’t understand Gor, or Goreans, they see it as ‘just another form of BDSM play’, and an unsafe form at that!
But, this is my idea of the truth - I have not been ‘brainwashed’ into saying this, I’ve not been ordered to write this, I’m writing what I feel is the truth, based on my experiences and my knowledge.
The books - They are fantasy and science fiction, poorly written fantasy and science fiction at that! And for most people outside of the Gorean lifestyle, that is all there is to it.
But the Gorean lifestyle, and the philosophies contained within the books on which the lifestyle is based, are far more than the ramblings of a penniless university professor. They are based on something that goes beyond all that - historical facts. They are based on a combination of ancient civilisations and their values, protocols, and beliefs. Roman, Greek, Moor, Inuit - just to name a few!
Take, for example, the first chapter of the first book.
The fiction - Tarl Cabot, of Bristol, moves to America to teach as a professor of English History, he goes off camping, finds a letter, and eventually boards a ship and flies to the new (to him) planet, Gor, to meet his father - Matthew Cabot.
The historical truth - In 1497, John Cabot sailed from
The overlooked fact of the matter is that the novels, regardless of genre, are based (perhaps loosely at times!) on a menagerie of historical events, ideals, and civilisations. Yet those who are so quick to scorn and judge, are those who are ignorant (stupid?) enough to believe that just because a book is in the ‘science fiction’ section of the library, it cannot possibly have any truths.
Of course, people refuse to listen when one explains the historical references, and prefers to repeat ‘You’re so brainwashed. You’re so predictable’ over and over like a parrot on speed.
~
Then of course, there is the ‘roleplayers’ and ‘fantasists’, which do not tend to help with the whole ‘insane’ idea! These are the people that believe that dressing up as a warrior, or assassin, on second life (or spending two hours describing their clothes, and their entrance in a chatroom) makes them ‘real life Goreans’.
This, to me, is the same as turning up to a Gorean meeting in spacesuits with ray guns (it’s happened before!) - how can anyone take that as ‘serious’?!
These are the people that most other ‘alternative’ lifestylers see first, they are the first ‘encounter’, so to speak, and people judge the entire lifestyle from those slightly confused individuals. I don’t blame them for hating Goreans, and seeing us all as fantasists. If my only encounter of Star Trek fans was those who dressed up and spoke ‘Klingon’, I’d think they were all nutjobs too! But, as I try to remind people involved in BDSM - you don’t judge puppy-players on bestiality.. why judge us on our ‘extremes’?
Again, people refuse to listen to this, or just nod along pretending to agree, in the hopes that the idea of being Gorean will suddenly dissipate.
~
Then there is the idea of ‘no limits’ and ‘no safeword’ slaves - this, of course, is both unsafe and ridiculous to BDSMers. I was asked at one point “so, you’re a no limits slave.. so you’d kill your family if your Owner told you to?”. This, apparently, disproved the fact that I am ‘no limits’.
What people fail to realise, is that a Gorean slave does have limits, but those are set by her Master, she does whatever he asks, knowing he’s not a psychopath that is going to ask her to kill her entire family! By having only the limits of the Master, it makes the slave ‘no limits’ - If single, I would have a hard limit of ‘whips’ (they scare me.. but that’s another story, for another time), and yet my Master uses his whip - thus negating my ‘hard limit’. He could, of course, do this with any other limit of mine, and since I’m his slave, I would go along with his wishes (albeit reluctantly at times!).
No safewords is again a topic that is debated by those in other forms of alternative lifestyle - “but if you play, how does he know when you’ve had enough?”. For a start, Goreans don’t ‘play’ at being Gorean.. so the idea of a safeword for ‘Gorean Play’ is a bit redundant.. I mean, what am I going to do… start yelling ‘red, red, red!!’ when he asks me to get him a cup of coffee?!
The idea of safewords, in the BDSM side of life, in my opinion, is to do exactly what it says on the box - keep things ‘safe’. But just like the idea of ‘limits’, it isn’t a ‘necessary’ part of the Gorean lifestyle. We don’t (in the Gorean lifestyles purest form) take part in BDSM activities - a lot of BDSMers get the impression that Gor is ‘boring’, as there is no ‘play’, ‘scening’ or ‘extremes’ - in a lot of ways, the Gorean lifestyle is akin to the 1950’s household.. and my mother never needed safewords for making dinner, doing the cleaning, and generally keeping the house.. so neither do I!
Gor, in itself, is about living with honour and personal integrity - neither of which need ‘safewords’, as neither of which are ‘unsafe’. The only time people in alternative lifestyles see the need for Goreans to have safewords, is when the Master whips a slave. This is done not for enjoyment, but for correction purposes - so the slave isn’t ‘meant’ to enjoy it. There is no ‘warm up’, just hard strokes of the whip from the start. Of course, there needs to be some level of control from the Master - and the age old ‘don’t hit the kidneys’ rule still stands.. but the idea of giving a safeword to a slave, so she can stop the punishment when she wishes, or when she’s ‘had enough’ isn’t really in keeping with the idea that the Master is in charge - after all, if I could, I’d try to get away with no punishment whatsoever.. but that wouldn’t help in correcting me.
I know that those who dapple in BDSM as well as Gor, often have safewords for when they play, but that is a different matter - and as it doesn’t pertain to me, I won’t go into it here.
~
So, sadly for those out there who try to label the Gorean lifestyle a ‘fad’, a ‘phase you’re going through’, and something we’ll ‘grow out of’ - I don’t believe it is anything of the sort. It is, at the very least, to me, a very complex lifestyle, that doesn’t even being to scratch the surface with ‘Master and slave’. It’s about life choices, it’s about a willingness to be true to ones nature, it’s about striving to be honourable, to live within ones own strengths and weaknesses, and not to pretend to be something, just to fit in with the politically correct society we all live in.
And for that reason, I pity those who hate and dismiss my lifestyle choice - not because they aren’t a part of it, but because they are too closed-minded to even discover what it’s really about.
"You may judge and scorn Goreans as you wish. Know as well however that they judge and scorn you. They fulfil themselves as you do not. Hate them for their pride and power, they will pity you for your shame and weakness." - 11, Beasts
~I wish you well~
~kamira, slave of Asmodeus~