To Each Their Own
Writing by Green Guy on Tuesday, 27 of November , 2007 at 11:04 am
A Primer on Gorean Culture From Two Sides.
by Ms. Sautereau
The Gorean City of Midgaard - where the tranquil setting belies the role play
I’ll be honest. I’m not entirely sure how to write this article. Pix asked me to write a story about Gorean culture, which I knew next to nothing about. She wanted me to find out if the recent griefing increases have affected their population, weakened their demographics. To write about their culture.
To write about them, I had to learn about them. So I went to Midgaard. I got an HUD, found myself a pair of guides, and spent the morning talking to everyone who would talk to me OOC, and observing the RP as it occurred.
Prior to doing this article, all I really knew about the Goreans was that A) They’re into bondage, and B) One of my loves hates them because they keep invading her land with cages. As with every group, there are always a few jerks making the whole group look bad. I asked my love why she so strongly dislikes them.
“Safe, sane and consensual are thrown totally out the window,” She said. “28 motherfucking Goreans have landed on my lawn with their cages and collars. I have met literally hundreds of them, I only respect 4 of them, and only actively like 2 of those.”
Preferring to form my own opinions however, I went to Midgaard to learn firsthand. I dressed the art to blend in, wore my OOC tag, and watched a scene unfold with my guides. A defiant woman had a minor arguement with a male, and was strapped to a crossbar and publicly whipped while she taunted her less than charming captors. I was told she gets off on the capture/punishment aspect of the rp, and that it was always consensual.
These ladies were very helpful as my guides through the Gorean city, and I thank them for their help
Asked if such scenes were common, my guide Chandra Jun said “More common. It depends on the mood and the battle. The bigger the battle, the bigger the punishment.”
A nearby Master, Shayne Aridian, was more than happy to answer my questions and explain to me the nature of what Gor actually is.
“Gor,” he began, “as we see it here, is a roleplay based on the Chronicles of Counter-Earth by John Norman. But it is also many things as enacted here. For some, it is a backdrop for real BDSM scening. For most, it is an excuse to wave swords around, and where Gorean roleplay plays a minor role. For most of us…it is a place to live out a fantasy of life according to Gorean ideals as we see it.”
Ah, but what then I asked him, ARE Gorean ideals?
“First of all, trust is the foundation of all Gorean life, and the Pillars of Gor rest on that. The Pillars being what Goreans hold without question. Trust and honor actually go hand in hand among those truly trying to live the ideal.”
The Pillars of Gor are sort of like a “Ten Commandments” for Goreans. Shayne further elaborated on what they are.
“The first pillar is that of Homestone.It is the pillar that gives us our place of allegiance. The second pillar is the Caste system, from which we derive our role. The third is the assumption of the natural dominance of males over females in life.”
He added privately an aside on that concept, noting “In Gor, that dominance is blown up to be nearly a caricature, which can be seen over and over.”
He then continued. “The fourth assumption is the institution of slavery, which is different from slaves on earth.”
I observed as this “Capture and punishment” scene played out in the centre of town
Feeling admittedly uncomfortable with the concept I asked him to further elaborate on the Third Pillar.
“It is a commentary on what has happened in modern society on earth, to be sure, but it is the way THIS culture has developed. Mysogeny assumes ill intent, a hatred of women. Gor looks at mammalian societies, and observes the nearly universal trait of male dominance and what goes along with it. There are, of course, exceptions. It is easy to judge by Earth standards, and I did so for a long time, but as recently as thirty years ago in the United States, it was benevolently assumed here too. They are constantly compared to Gorean values throughout the novels. The impact of the changes of the past 30 years have not favored healthy relationships between men and women, or the family. I think it would be hard to characterize either men OR women as being happier now.”
On this point I disagreed with him, saying it depended on the man or woman in question. I’m quite happy being allowed to vote, work, love and marry a woman. But that’s a philosophical debate I suppose.
“That is Norman’s position. I think He would say that He believe most women are happier when they fulfill Nature’s role than one they create for themselves. You perceptively see that it takes not just any Man to fit in this scheme, and neither Norman nor Gor deals with homosexuality.”
My guide Chandra reassured me Midgaard is a fully consensual sim, at least between the people behind the avatars.
“Gor is very very hard core RP. Some sims are nicer, the sim I am on anything that happens has to be agreed to. Some don’t. Some sims are very harsh. I guess its the same in all RP. On the sime we come from, Siri and Kuuipo are both Huntresses of mine. We have a realtionship with the Black Talon so its almost a very tight family that fights. If they catch us they let us go. Ipo on the other hand likes to go get caught on other sims so now we are seeing if theres a way to rescue her.”
The RP sounds surprisingly elaborate, and I saw very little actual sex. Most of what I did see was more about the Master/Slave dynamics, and the “Thrill of the chase” aspect of Capture RP. While the concept of men being inherently superior and meant to dominate while women are meant to be submissive only and anything else leads to unhappiness was something that on a personal level offended me deeply, everyone I spoke to was polite and respectful, and happy to answer my questions. And everyone I spoke to assured me that, at least in Midgaard, The players behind the avatars respect consensual safe RP. While IN character there is never consent needed, or anything like a safeword, OUT of character there are rules to be followed, and bans awaiting those who don’t.
A guard who requested to be unnamed elaborated on this.
“In RP everyone deserves to enjoy it,” he said.A common misconception about rp here is regarding slaves. There is no such thing as a slave, its roleplay, they are willing participants. If they dislike whats happening all they have to do is IM the other party and say “Redflag, I don’t like this”, and it ends. If the other party refuses you notecard it and leave, and they havent a leg to stand on. Most here aren’t as deviant as is commonly held in vanilla chat.”
So there IS a Safeword concept in play then after all.
“Yes there is,” the gaurd continued. “I cannot speak for all Gorean cities here, but here in Midgaard yes, its a law, a rule of play.”
And what about the obligatory small group of loud assholes ruining it for everyone else?
“Unfortunatly you find that everywhere, but if they get too out of line someone in authority will tell them to knock it the hell off or get out. To be perfectly honest I had misconceptions about people here too untill I came here. Since then I can tell you, and this is honest, I’ve met far more assholes in vanilla chat than in here. In here its roleplay but off the book OOC in IM most here are as friendly as they come. There is always the exception who takes this all too seriously. I just avoid thos people, they’re morons.”
And what about those people? The ones who take it seriously? Guinevere Noel takes Gorean life to heart, even offline in her real life. Speaking to me in character speak, even OOC, she explained why Gor appeals to her.
Leave the jeans and a tee at home when visiting Gor
“This girl,” she began, “is in real life a lifestyler to the BDSM/gorean ways. She has known no other ways other than to serve. In the life of a slave or sub there is this great need to serve. Ones happiness is depending on it. It is a natural way for this one she gets a lot of the same satisfaction that she gets from real life in serving a Master/Dom. A vanilla relationship on here does not appeal or have the strength in it that one does with a strong true Master/Dom.
I asked her if anything about Gor disagreed with her.
“The problem with Gor on SL is that so many Masters are just in it to RP, and have no true life experience. The real Gorean style is a Master who shows a Master is someone who takes care of His property and the relationship quite different from Dom/Sub. The major difference between the two is the contract is non-exsistant as a slave. But if one really has done their homework with the Master there is no need for one. There becomes a total trust and a true transference of power. That can happen for one completly trusts, there is no holding back, therefore creating a rush that you cannot get when a contract is involved. This one has experience both. When she is under contract she still maintained a level or control.”
A scary level of immersion, but it’s what works for her, and everyone is different. What gets one person off could disgust another, and vice versa. No two people like exactly the same thing.
Has anyone noticed a change in Gorean areas since the recent increase of griefer BS? Heinrick Winkler offered this statement.
“Well I have not had issues with griefers myself, but anyone who wishes to spoil individual rights in SL to enjoy their Second Life, well, they have serious issues that only they can find help for. Many who come to see the Gorean way of life, leave because they either can’t handle the harshness of the lifestyle, or they didn’t think it was for them. If one chooses to be a slave, they should choose because it is what is in their belly, deep inside of them, because it is who and what they are, If that is not the case, they should not entertain the idea.”
So in the end, what did I learn about Goreans? Well, for one, like any fringe group, there are a few loud assholes who tend to be identified as representative of the whole when they’re in fact a minority. That most of them are nice people in real life who were very helpful answering my questions. That it’s an extreme fetish with a clearly patriarchal basis that many would view as sexist, but that those who love it feel safe and fulfilled by.
And that, while I believe those who love it should have the freedom to love it and practice it, I wouldn’t ever go near it again personally.
Hopefully I’ve succeeded in being objective. I’ve tried my best. To that end I’ll keep my final opinion on Gor to myself. But I sincerely thank those who took the time to speak to me and show me what their life in Gor is all about.
It’s up to you the readers now to decide which side of the fence you fall on, but remember, everyone is different, and just because you personally dislike something, it doesn’t mean those who do are in the wrong. It just means you like different things.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled reality.
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