Debunk of gorean onlinisms -1

There are many, many things that people believe to be true in Gor on Second Life, simply because it’s written on a notecard or because they started out being taught things by someone in good faith that were totally untrue but so taken at face value that they’ve become a reality that people cling to with as much stubbornness as error.

A simple example? The colors of the slaves’ silks! It’s all based on a common expression used by Goreans, who refer to virgin slaves as white silk and those who aren’t as red silk. But it’s an expression that has no more value to us than talking about blue blood or white collars. The expression and its origins have been misinterpreted, even abused on purpose, as Gor players on SL have started to imagine slave ranks and clothing colors to recognize them. I’ve seen yellow, blue, green and black silks… Like judo belts!

So let’s keep it simple, the reality is far more pragmatic: there are no grades or experience indicators by color to measure the skills of slaves. Goreans don’t do it, don’t see the point and it doesn’t exist. A white silk is a virgin, and her only sign, the only one that exists, is that we’ll hang a white cloth bow on her collar to let people know that she is (but, more often, keep her locked up or stick a chastity belt on her if we insist on keeping her that way). And red silk means a slave who is no longer a virgin. She never dresses in red, it’s not a status and there’s no point in pointing it out because, unless she has one of the signs indicated above concerning virgins, we know that she isn’t a priori and that it’s therefore sexual self-service, the default state of any kajira.

Go ahead and start with:

1- Women are free because men want them to be.

Wrong! If the whole basis of Gorean culture is built on a legend that starts with a war between men and women where, to avoid the extermination of women, the Priest-Kings instituted the tradition of slavery and the rule of absolute domination of men over women, it’s still a legend! It explains why Goreans consider women to be slaves by nature and only “real” happy women when enslaved, but no Gorean would ever think that of free women. Free Women are essential citizens of society, honored and respected, never despised – quite the contrary. They are respected for their honor, their skills, their role as mothers, their social role in the workplace, and even if men make the law, the law protects women against all their abuses, so that they can lodge a complaint, raise their voice and even slap a bully (well, in the city, because outside, only the men with her protect her). On the other hand, woe betide a woman who lacks honor, is flighty or even too rebellious: her family will show no mercy, to protect the family honor. And cruelly, woe betide the barren woman who can’t bear children. For a Gorean, it’s because the Priest-Kings have decided that she can only be a slave.

2- Slaves must not cry or show emotion

On the contrary! It’s from free women that coldness and dignity are expected, so no tears and no weaknesses like emotions, at least not in public. A slave has no right to hide anything, since nothing belongs to her. A master will demand that a slave say and show everything she feels, even anger! He only has the privilege of taking it into account, or not caring, or punishing the slave when she displeases him with it. But under no circumstances will a slave be trained to hide her emotions. That would be totally incoherent for all slavers and all goreans.

3- Warriors are all rarii

No, far from it. A rarius is a legionnaire belonging to the very closed and rigid Red Caste. Trained from childhood in warfare, strategy, orders and group maneuvers, he acts, thinks and functions like a legionary, not a lone warrior. He will always be in visible uniform, ready for war, and will wear red conspicuously, as much as his traditional weapon: the sword. There are always exceptions in the details of appearance. But Rarii respect a very strict code, and their appearance must reflect this. Many Goreans are warriors who are not members of the Red Caste, such as mercenaries, sailors, bodyguards, etc. They have a right to the city and are useful, but the Rarii consider them to be second-rate fighters.

4- A free woman never knows how to fight

So, a free woman is never encouraged to use weapons, but on the one hand, many of them, most of them, are from the poorest low-castes who don’t have soldiers and guards to defend themselves and quickly learn to do it themselves with their men, and on the other hand, a free woman can very well hunt, learn to handle a bow, or take armed defense courses. A free woman will always be put in the back of the line in a battle – that’s never a woman’s place. But in the end, it’s quite common for a woman to know how to handle weapons, especially those of low extraction. However, she’ll never be able to compete with a rarius trained since childhood.

5- A slave is nothing

Yes… but no! Gorean society can’t do without slaves, any more than Rome’s empire could function without them. As the Goreans raise slaves and capture slaves from neighboring peoples or enemy city-states, they have no shortage of them. But the need for slaves makes them indispensable. And slaves aren’t that easily replaceable, whoever they are. Here, I’m going to call Norman’s bluff, and base myself on the value of slaves in a comparable universe, the Roman world: slaves can NOT be worth nothing, i.e. a handful of copper tarsk, like the price of a vulo! Their price is then to be compared to their simple usefulness as pack animals and labor, and their basic value will then be, even without any training, i.e. a price closer to that of a bosk than a tarsk.

Add to this the fact that we avoid killing or damaging slaves on a whim. Yes, it’s expensive and can even be dangerous, especially if the slave is educated, useful or appreciated by her owner, especially if he’s rich! And for the record, Goreans hate cruelty (well, Norman contradicts himself a lot when you see some of the gratuitous sadistic refinements in his novels), so treating a slave like a worthless piece of furniture is absurd: slaves are alive, they work, they’re useful and they can talk. They are chattels… but useful, sentient animals, not things, in the Gorean spirit. On the other hand, we don’t hesitate to teach slaves this very negative view of themselves to enslave and subjugate them. It’s just that it has nothing to do with reality, nor with what Goreans actually think.

6- No Gorean ever speaks a barbaric language

Yes… in fact, there are quite a few of them. Half of Gor’s slavers, in the novels, seem to speak a few words of English, often have a translator on hand, slave or not, ordinary goreans speak it, they see no problem in letting a human adopted as one of their own speak a foreign language. There is a plethora of different languages on the world of Gor, which makes the use and knowledge of many languages considered a great quality, especially when traveling or trading! On the other hand, barbarian slaves are not allowed to speak their native tongue when addressing their masters. How can you know what he’s saying if you can’t understand him? So we quickly force him to give it up and learn by immersion. But there’s no real disgust for foreign languages – including Earth languages – among Goreans, contrary to widespread belief; at best, there’s a certain chauvinism among some, which goes hand in hand with the idea that if you’re a foreigner and don’t speak the same language, you’re undoubtedly an enemy, and sometimes a certain contempt for Earth languages, spoken by beings considered weak and inferior.

7- Educators and first girl have real authority

No, they clearly have none. The first girl is just the slave responsible for the other slaves in her master’s chain. If she can punish there chains sisters and they have to call her mistress, for all the free ones, she’s a slave subject to all her duties, and that’s all. And there’s no such thing as a first girl of a city, caste or wathever. A first girl is always private property. It’s the same for an educator: in the house of slaves, she has all the power over the other slaves she has to educate, who also call her mistress, but in front of her master and any other free person, she’s just a slave. Let her come out of her slave house, and she’ll be treated like one without any special consideration. Of course, an educator is worth a lot of gold, but that’s up to the free to decide whether or not to take that into account.

8- Gorean medicine can do anything

No… please. Gorean medicine is highly advanced, but on the whole no more so than 20th-century medicine! Most physician in Gor don’t know rhesus, can’t analyze blood or do molecular biochemistry, have almost no access to high-precision instruments, let alone mechanical and electrical ones! They do have an effective and powerful pharmacopoeia, and they do know how to perform quality surgery. They can treat most internal illnesses (cardiovascular and immune problems, internal bleeding, cancers), thanks to an effective pharmacopoeia, but they are less good than earthlings at traumatology and immensely less good at surgery than World War II surgeons.Their ability to probe and explore the body is equally limited: very rarely X-rays, never scanners, and no molecular biochemistry analysis laboratories. Gorean physicians are very good, but, on average, their skills and resources are those of 20th-century physicians, without all our ultra-modern technology.

9- Panthers are organized

Well, no, they’re not. Panthers are scattered, informal, shifting troops of native-born panthers women, slaves and free women on the run, trying to survive far from the abuses and horrors of men’s law. And they can’t easily trade, exchange, set up villages, farm, etc., so they starve, freeze, die of disease, get eaten by wildlife, etc. Their lives are often difficult, even miserable. Apart from attacking isolated villages or poorly defended caravans, they can only survive by plundering what they can get their hands on, including other panthers, and by hiding and moving around to escape the pursuit of men who love to capture and enslave them. In short, panthers uniting between clans and attacking cities, apart from to occupy time on Gor SL, is simply absurd. Yes, I know, it’s much less interesting as a tribal role.

10- You can change caste as you wish

This is really very difficult, and should remain the exception. You can’t join a caste by invitation or proposal, for two reasons: they’re all castes, and each caste is jealous of its own prerogatives and honor, and by default considers everyone unworthy of belonging to its caste, even peasants. On the other hand, only those who have demonstrated such skill, perseverance and qualities that they have been noticed by the caste’s governing bodies can be adopted, and they will then decide on tests to see if they are worthy of joining the caste. And the higher the caste’s rank or personal honor, the harder it is! The rarii are surely the worst. The other method is companionship, where a companion necessarily, a priori, takes her companion’s caste, unless she is of a higher caste and is allowed to keep hers… which is quite rare. You can also be adopted as a son or daughter, and then take your parent’s caste… which will always be frowned upon! Admitted, but frowned upon.

11- Red sugar is the most famous

For it to be famous, it would have to exist! It’s like other products and foods (salt and its colors, we’ll come back to that one day, or chocolate… which exists but isn’t called “cho” but… cocoa, in novels… yes it does. In short, red sugar is never mentioned anywhere in the novels; they talk about white sugar, which is the purest, and yellow sugar, which is less refined, caramel-colored sugar, and therefore less expensive. Here’s one of the few times sugar is mentioned in novels:

“She carried a tray on which were spoons and sugar …/… she put into the cup four measures of white sugar and six of yellow; with two stirring spoons, one for the white sugar and one for the yellow, she stirred the drink after each measure.”

Tribes of Gor, p 89

12- The colors of slaves’ silks indicate their rank

No, false, nada, never. Only two colors are spoken of, and these are expressions to designate virgins and virginity. These colors are never used to indicate rank! And here’s another quote to round things off. Forget silk colors! :

“The expression ‘red silk’, in Gorean, tends to be used as a category in slavery, and also, outside the context of slavery, as an expression in vulgar speech, indicating that the woman is no longer a virgin, or, as Goreans say, that her body has been opened by men. Its opposite term is “white silk”, generally used to designate slaves who are still virgins or, more generally, slaves whose bodies have not yet been opened by men.

Bloodbrothers of Gor, page 472

13- Bazi tea is served ceremoniously

False. Worst of all, you’ll have to invent the ceremony, because it simply doesn’t exist and is not described or even mentioned anywhere in the 38 novels! If you ever ask me to describe one for your roleplay, I’d tell you to figure it out for yourself. In the novels, it looks like this, and that’s it:

“‘Make me some tea,’ I say. “Is it ready? I asked.

I looked at the little copper kettle on the little stand. A small kaiila-dung fire burned beneath it. A small, heavy, bulging glass pot stood nearby on a flat box, holding about two ounces of tea. Bazi tea is drunk from tiny glass cups, usually three at a time, carefully measured. She lifted the kettle from the fire and, carefully, poured me a small glass of tea. I took it.”

Tribes of Gor, page 139

14- A Kajira must always beg permission, bowing to enter a tavern

Yes, you know, in the Karta posture, flat on the ground, buttocks in the air, all that? Well, first things first: this posture doesn’t exist anywhere in the novels under the name of Karta! It’s a posture of supplication, addressed to beg for mercy from a free person in general, following a mistake that can cost the slave dearly. And we continue with: do you really think that goreans and slaves don’t have anything else to do than to endure the consecutive supplications of all the tavern slaves who come and go and each time say: “yes, come in.”

Summary: slaves come and go everywhere, for their work, or when they follow the master they’re serving, and, more often than not, they’re only required to remain humble and politely greet the freemen present… and not even to kneel. Kneeling means waiting at the feet of the freemen, most of the time, and serving them.

15- Nadu, it’s always palms up

Er… no. No, never. In novels, girls are trained to hold the nadu posture with palms up and down. The “palms up” position is actually a silent way for a slave to say, “I’m available and I want to be used sexually.” Two examples:

“I had stopped near her and she had immediately dropped to her knees, as she was in the presence of a free man…. she had suddenly lowered her eyes. I saw a little movement in her hands, on her thighs, as if she were going to turn them, exposing their palms to me, but then she pressed them against her thighs, hard.”

Explorers of Gor, page 81

“Then, delicately, in a graceful gesture, she turned her hands, putting their backs to her thighs, exposing her palms and the tender flesh of her palms to him, indicating her surrender, her submission, her vulnerability and her availability. “

Rogue of Gor, page 196

16- Slaves never speak in the^3rd person

So contrary to what is often said about SL, yes, slaves can speak in the third person. And it even has a name: talking like a slave. It’s required to humiliate a slave or make her feel all the contrition for the crime she’s committed. It’s also used on their part to try to beg or be forgiven for a mistake they’ve made. On the other hand, it’s not common for a slave to speak only in the third person. If this happens, she must have been punished.

17- Touching a weapon means death for a slave

One law that’s repeated everywhere is that if a slave touches a weapon, he’ll be put to death. So, no. It’s intentionally gripping a weapon, without a direct order from a master, that’s a crime! And a kitchen knife is not a weapon, nor is a pickaxe, by the way. So a slave can touch a weapon, for example because it’s been thrown at him, and in this case commits no crime. He can also touch it without any consequence if ordered to do so by a free person. Do you really think it’s those lazy rarii who maintain their equipment and put it away?

18- Slaves never ask for forgiveness but have to beg

A kajira couldn’t ask forgiveness for a blunder, but would have to beg at the feet of the free, confessing her fault and begging the free man’s mercy? WRONG! She is in no way forced to do so. She may do it, especially if the crime is serious or the free man wants to punish her cruelly. You never know, it might work. But if she makes a mistake, she can simply ask for forgiveness, even for serious things. If the free man wants her to bow down at his feet, he’ll know how to demand it.

19- We say Ko-lar and we say Urth

Both words are false, and almost pure Onlinisms, real, beautiful and all. Only once does the word ko-lar appear: to pronounce the syllables in the scene below:

“Ko-lar,” she says, indicating her collar. “It’s the same word in English,” I shouted. She didn’t understand my outburst. Gorean, as I would later learn, is rich in words borrowed from earthly languages; I’m not philologist enough to make conjectures. It may well be that almost all Gorean expressions can be traced back to one Earth language or another. Yet the language is fluid, rich and expressive.

Slave-girl of Gor, page 80

As for the word Urth, it simply doesn’t exist! The novel always mentions Earth and Earthlings, even in the mouths of Goreans! Goreans say Earth in the original version of the novels. An example:

– “Nonsense,” he says: “She’s just a slave.”

– “Maybe Samos has found a love slave,” I say.

– “An Earth girl?” exclaimed Samos, laughing.

– “Perhaps,” I said.

– “It doesn’t matter,” said Samos. “She’s only a slave, a thing to be served, beaten and abused, if it pleases me.”

Explorers of Gor

20- You can use a slave any way you like

Well then, beyond more important matters, like respect for players or fair play, it turns out you can’t. So, if you think it’s obvious that all slaves can be used regardless of their owners’ restrictions, the answer is: you’re wrong, compared to the novels themselves!

In the novels, instructions and restrictions exist, from one owner to the next, and the goreans respect them in most cases. Of course, that’s not to say it works every time: slaves don’t always respect their owner’s orders, and the free man can decide that: I don’t give a damn about the owner, I want to take what I like as I please. But… it’s like going into someone’s house and borrowing the sugar, the coffee machine or the TV without asking, thinking they won’t say anything. It never ends well. A few examples:

“‘We took her without your permission,’ says Bran Loort.

– ‘In this,’ says Thurnus, ‘you have committed a breach of the code.

– I don’t care,’ says Bran Loort.

– ‘Neither a plow, nor a bosk, nor a girl can be taken from one man to another, by omitting to ask its owner for use,’ quoted Thurnus. “If you had asked my permission,” he continued, pointing to me with a gesture of his head, “it is willingly and without hesitation that I would have given you temporary Master’s rights over her.”

Slave-girl of Gor”

“In a large house, with a number of slaves, it is thought to be an elementary act of courtesy, on the part of a host, to allow a guest to use one of the girls for the evening. Each of the girls deemed eligible for this service, at some point during the evening, will approach the guest and offer him wine. His choice will be indicated by the girl whose wine he accepts. I looked at the girl. Her eyes met mine, softly. Her lips were slightly parted.

– “Wine, Master?” she asked.

– “Yes,” I said, “I’ll have wine.”

She poured the diluted wine into my cup, bowed her head and with a shy smile, gracefully descended the stairs behind me, then turned and hurried away.

– “Of course,” said Ho-Tu, “you won’t get it tonight, because it’s white silk.”

– “I understand,” I said.

Assassin of Gor”

21- a slave never bows with “Tal”

And to finish on a high note, this story of “Tal”. Okay, it’s a myth, another Onlinism. Slaves use “Tal” as a word of greeting, just like everyone else, and it’s even the most frequently used term in all the novels! Vala…