27

[Dept of PMM Castle Life]

- EXPLORERS OF GOR, Pg. 133
"I regarded the coins threaded, overlapping, on her belt and halter. They took the firelight beautifully. They glinted, but were of small worth. One dresses such a woman in cheap coins; she is slave."
- TRIBESMEN OF GOR, Pg. 8
"She wore a delicate vest and belt of chains and jewels, with shimmering metal droplets attached. And she wore ankle rings, and linked slave bracelets, again with shimmering droplets pendant upon them; and a locked collar, matching."
- RAIDERS OF GOR, Pg. 100
"I could hear the jewelry on me, the tiny sounds of the skirt. Bells, too, marked these movements. I was belled. These I had fastened, in three lines, they fastened on a single thong, about my left ankle. Men, I sensed, somehow, would relish an ornamented woman, perhaps even one who was shamefully belled."
- DANCER OF GOR, Pg. 25
"I heard bells coming, from down the corridor, from within. I was still on my knees. Sita hove into sight, returning to the floor. She paused, looking down at me, kneeling there, clutching the sheet about me, frightened. She was naked, except for her collar, and some beads, colorful, cheap wooden beads, slave beads, and her bells, on her left ankle."
- DANCER OF GOR, Pg. 172
"I noted, too, that, clad in yellow silk, belled on the left ankle, as another paga girl, the dancer, carried a vessel of paga about."
- HUNTERS OF GOR, Pg. 62
"She stood before me in the diaphanous, scarlet dancing silks of Gor. She had rouged her lips. My head swam at the sudden intoxicating scent of a wild perfume. Her olive ankles bore dancing bangles with tiny bells. Attached to the thumb and index finger of each hand were tiny finger cymbals. She bent her knees ever so slightly and raised her arms gracefully above her head. There was a sudden bright clash of the finger cymbals, and to the music of the nearby tent, Talena, daughter of the Ubar of Ar, began to dance for me."
- TARNSMEN OF GOR, Pg. 134
"She danced before me for several minutes, her scarlet dancing silks flashing in the firelight, her bare feet, with their belled ankles, striking softly on the carpet."
- TARNSMEN OF GOR, Pg. 135
"The figure of the woman, swathed in black, heavily veiled, descended the steps of the slave wagon. Once at the foot of the stairs she stopped and stood for a long moment. Then the musicians began, the hand-drums first, a rhythm of heartbeat and flight."
- NOMADS OF GOR, Pg. 159
"She wore five pieces of metal, her collar and locked rings on her wrists and ankles. Slave bells were attached to the collar and the rings."
- ASSASSIN OF GOR, Pg. 228
"I felt metal anklets being thrust on my ankles by Tupita and Sita, They put several on each ankle. They then, similarly, placed narrow bracelets on both my wrists, several on each wrist. A long belt of cord, to which were attached numerous metal disks, suspended and shimmering, was then looped twice about me, the first loop secured high, and tight, at my waist, and the second loop, a larger loop, a framing loop, was secured in such a way, in the back, that it would hang quite low on my belly, well below my navel. The purpose of this belt was to call attention to, and enhance, by sound and sight, the movements of the hips and abdomen. With the slave beads I already wore I felt inutterably displayed, and barbaric. I could not move now without the sounds of the beads, the anklets and bracelets, the shimmering belt with its two loops."
- DANCER OF GOR, PG 190 - 191
"I teased them, dancing close to them, swaying, my belly alive for them, with the jangling metal pieces, the anklets clashing on my ankles, the bracelets sliding and ringing on my wrists, and then, as they attempted to seize me, drew back. backing away, or whirled, with a swirl of beads, away from them."
- DANCER OF GOR, PG 193
"The proprietor of the tavern took the red-haired dancing girl by the arm, she crying out, and thrust her in her costume, ten slender silver chains, five before and five behind, depending from her collar, from the sand."
- ROGUE OF GOR, Pg. 57
"She wore a golden metal dancing collar about her throat, golden chains looped from her wrists, gracefully to the collar ring, then fell to her ankles; there are varieties of Tahari dancing chains; she wore the oval and collar; briefly, in readying a girl, after she has been belled and silked, and bangled, and has been made up, and touched with slave perfume, she kneels, head down in a large oval of light gleaming chain, extending her wrists before her; fastened at the sides of the top of the oval are two wrist rings, at the sides of the lower loop of the oval two ankle rings; the oval is then pulled inward and the wrist and ankle rings fastened on the slave; her throat is then locked in the dancing collar, which has, under the chin, an open snap ring; with the left hand the oval is then gathered together, so the two strands of chain lie in the palm of the left hand, whence, lifted, they are placed inside the snap ring, which is then snapped shut, and locked; the two strands of chain flow freely in the snap ring; accordingly, though the girl's wrists and ankles are fastened at generous, though inflexible limits from one another, usually about a yard for the wrists and about eighteen inches for the ankles, much of the chain may be played through, and back through, the collar ring; this permits a skillful girl a great deal of beautiful chain work; the oval and collar are traditional in the Tahari; it enhances a girl's beauty; it interferes little with her dance, though it imposes subtle, sensuous limits upon it; a good dancer uses these limits, exploiting them deliciously; for example, she may extend a wrist, subtly holding the chain at her waist with her other hand; the chain slides through the ring, yet short of the expected movement; the chain stops her wrist; her wrist rebels, but is helpless; it must yield; her head falls; she is a chained slave girl."
- TRIBESMEN OF GOR, Pg. 215

On Musicians and Music
The music of a Gorean dance helps set the mood of the "story" told in the dancers movements. It swells and sombers to match the emotions portrayed by the girl, complimenting her actions, while further entrancing the audience to her motion. It is often said to have a barbaric quality, but perhaps primal would better suit it overall.

"The three Musicians bent to their instruments, and, in a moment, there were again the sounds of a paga tavern, the sounds of talk, of barbaric music, of pouring paga, the clink of bowl, the rustle of bells on the ankles of slave girls."
- ASSASSIN OF GOR, Pg. 9
"The Musicians began to play, and the girls in Pleasure Silk, hands over their heads, lifted themselves slowly to the melody, their bodies responding to it as though to the touch of a man."
- ASSASSIN OF GOR, Pg. 91
"A skirl on a flute and a sudden pounding on twin tabors, small, hand drums, called my attention to the square of sand at the side of which sat the musicians."
- EXPLORERS OF GOR, Pg. 133
"To the barbaric, intoxicating music of the flute and drums, she dances for her captor, the bells on her ankles marking each of her movements, the movements of a girl stolen from her home, who must now live to please the bold stranger whose binding fiber she had felt, whose collar she wore."
- OUTLAW OF GOR, Pg. 54
"Hendow gestured with his head to the musicians, and they made their way, one by one, through the beaded curtain. There were five of them, a czehar player, two kalika players, a flautist and a drummer. In a moment or two, as Mirus solicited further interest among the customers, I heard the sounds of the instruments, the czehar and kalikas being tuned, the flautist trying passages, the drummer's fingers light on the taut skin of his instrument, the kaska, then adjusting it, then trying it again, then tapping lightly, then more vigorously, with swift, brief rhythms, limbering his wrists, fingers and hands. The music of Gor, or much of it, is very melodious and sensuous. Much of it seems made for the display of slaves before free men, but then, I suppose, that is exactly what it is made for.
Then the musicians were silent."
- DANCER OF GOR, Pg. 179 - 180
"The Musicians had now begun to play. I have always enjoyed the melodies of Gor, though they tend on the whole to a certain wild, barbaric quality."
- ASSASSIN OF GOR, Pg. 89
"The musicians then again began to play, the sensous, melodious, exciting, wild music of Gor."
- ROGUE OF GOR, Pg. 190
"The reference to 'block melodies' had to do with certain melodies which are commonly used in slave markets, in the display of the merchandise. Some were apparently developed for the purpose, and others simply utilized for it. Such melodies tend to be sexually stimulating, and powerfully so, both for the merchandise being vended, who must dance to them, and for the buyers."
- VAGABONDS OF GOR, Pg. 37
"The 'Hope of Tina,' a melody of Cos whuch would surely be popular with most of the fellows present, was an excellent choice. It was supposedly the expression of the yearning, or hope, of a young girl that she may be so beautiful, and so femine, and marvelous, that she will prove acceptable as a slave."
- VAGABONDS OF GOR, Pg. 37
"Each of these, with the music and followed by its dance expression, was very well done."
- EXPLORERS OF GOR, Pg. 134
"Winyela then heard the rattles behind her, giving her her rhythm. These rattles were then joined by the fifing of whistles, shrill and high, formed from the wing bones of the taloned Herlit. A small drum, too, then began to sound. Its more accented beats, approached subtly but predictable, instructed the helpless, lovely dancer as to the placement and timing of the more dramatic of her demonstrations and motions."
- BLOOD BROTHERS OF GOR, Pg. 39
"To one side, across a clearing from the fire, a bit in the background, was a group of nine musicians. They were not as yet playing, though one of them was absently tapping a rhythm on a small hand drum, the kaska; two others, with stringed instruments, were tuning them, putting their ears to the instruments. One of the instruments was an eight-stringed czehar, rather like a large flat oblong box; it is held across the lap when sitting cross-legged and is played with a hom pick; the other was the kalika, a six-stringed instrument; it, like the czehar, is flat-bridged and its strings are adjusted by means of small wooden cranks; on the other hand, it less resembles a low, flat box and suggests affinities to the banjo or guitar, though the sound box is hemispheric and the neck rather long; it, too, of course, like the czehar, is plucked; I have never seen a bowed instrument on Gor; also, I might mention, I have never on Gor seen any written music; I do not know if a notation exists; melodies are passed on from father to son, from master to apprentice. There was another kalika player, as well, but he was sitting there holding his instrument, watching the slave girls in the audience. The three flutists were polishing their instruments and talking together; it was shop talk I gathered, because one or the other would stop to illustrate some remark by a passage on his flute, and then one of the others would attempt to correct or improve on what he had done; occasionally their discussion grew heated. There was also a second drummer, also with a kaska, and another fellow, a younger one, who sat very seriously before what appeared to me to be a pile of objects; among them was a notched stick, played by sliding a polished tem-wood stick across its surface; cymbals of various sorts; what was obviously a tambourine; and several other instruments of a percussion variety, bits of metal on wires, gourds filled with pebbles, slave bells mounted on hand rings, and such. These various things, from time to time, would be used not only by himself but by others in the group, probably the second kaska player and the third flutist. Among Gorean musicians, incidentally, czehar players have the most prestige; there was only one in this group, I noted, and he was their leader; next follow the flutists and then the players of the kalika; the players of the drums come next; and the farthest fellow down the list is the man who keeps the bag. of miscellaneous instruments, playing them and parceling them out to others as needed. Lastly it might be mentioned, thinking it is of some interest, musicians on Gor are never enslaved; they may, of course, be exiled, tortured, slain and such; it is said, perhaps truly, that he who makes music must, like the tarn and the Vosk gull, be free."
- NOMADS OF GOR, Pg. 153 - 154

Setting
Gorean dances can occur most anywhere, so long as an open area is provided for the girl to perform. Commonly, this area is a tiled surface, often red, and if in a Paga Tavern, is usually dedicated specifically to this purpose.

"Out there, among the tables, I had seen the dancing floor. It was there I would be placed. The space for the musicians was to the left, as I had looked out."
- DANCER OF GOR, Pg. 171
"She danced under ships' lanterns, hanging from the ceiling of the paga tavern."
- RAIDERS OF GOR, Pg. 171
"We were just passing a paga tavern. Within it, dancing in the sand, chained, was a short-bodied, marvelous female slave."
- HUNTERS OF GOR, Pg. 45
"The naked slave girl, in her bells and jewels, writhed on the scarlet tiles of the floor before us."
- ROGUE OF GOR, Pg. 184

Gorean Slavery
All cultures of Gor practice chattel slavery. That is, human beings can, when enslaved, become the personal property of another human being, with no rights and privileges whatsoever. It is fundamental to Gorean law that a slave is the absolute property of her owner, who may torture her, kill her, starve her, or feed her to sleen, as he wishes, free of any sort of interference. However, in practice, this does not happen. In all the Chronicles we come across exactly one instance of physical torture of a slave (who is being interrogated for legal purposes,) and none at all of a slave being killed purposefully by a man. This is not just the author saying one thing and doing another: there are two fundamental reasons why slaves are in little danger of such occurrences on Gor.
The Rarity of Sexual Psychosis and Sadism on Gor
The enslavement of women is not fundamental to Gorean philosophy, but rather is a logical consequence of it. See "Further Reading: The Morality of Slavery" at the end of this section. Goreans believe in the order of Nature, and that in the case of human beings, that the natural order is that men are dominant and women are submissive. Therefore, women should be submissive and men should be dominant, as anything else is counter to the basic tenet of Gorean Philosophy, self-honesty.
Note that this does not mean that Goreans think that men are superior to women. Dominance does not imply superiority. Women can and do wield great power on Gor, and may join any Caste save that of the Warriors or Initiates. (Women may be born into the Warrior caste, or companioned to Warriors but do not practice at arms.) Free women are expected and encouraged to think for themselves and defend themselves against aggression, including would-be slavers. If a free woman managed to stab or poison a man who had abducted or attacked her, she would be praised for her courage. (Although it is considered dishonorable for men to use poison as a weapon, and Warriors and Assassins are forbidden to do so by their Caste Codes, since women are weaker, it is not taboo for them.)
Any man who wishes may have access to slaves on Gor, including full sexual use. There is no lack of sexual availability, no Puritanical or religious convictions against enjoying it, and men are not constantly surrounded by images of sexuality and then required to perform a great deal of work to have a chance to have access to a woman. Therefore, the conflicts that create sexual obsession, addiction and psychosis are absent on Gor. Sadism is extraordinarily rare. The concept of enjoying someone else’s suffering, save perhaps that of a criminal or enemy, simply does not apply to Goreans. Therefore, they have no reason to be cruel to slave girls. They can be and are very strict, but inflicting suffering for suffering’s sake simply does not happen.
The Irrationality of Damaging or Destroying Slaves
Slaves are valuable property. Even an untrained barbarian can be sold to a mill as a weaving girl, or to a farmer as field labor. If a man has a slave he does not want, he simply gives her away, or sells her for what he can get. There is no reason to kill her. Goreans tend to be very practical, and as discussed above they do not inflict pain just because they can. (Which is different from inflicting pain to show that they can, which is a valuable lesson for a slave girl to learn.) And while a man might impose a rigorous and detailed training program on a slave, especially if he is a slaver who wishes to make a profit on her, if he cannot get her to conform, he will rarely torture her. Instead, he will just get rid of her and try another girl.
It should be noted that while there are male slaves on Gor, that submissive men of the type common in the BDSM Scene are almost unheard of. Gor is a harsh and cruel world: men without dominant natures rarely get a chance to produce offspring. This has selected for dominant men. Beyond this, however, lies the Gorean belief that men, over millions of years of evolution, have been selected for dominance, and women for submission. Anything else, even if it is a societal norm (as in Western cultures on Earth) is a perversion of Nature and a lie. Since Goreans abhor dishonesty, they react very harshly to men who do not seek to exercise their dominance, or at least avoid outright submission. It cannot be overemphasized that a man who voluntarily consented to being enslaved of his own free will would be utterly repugnant to Goreans, free and slave, male and female alike, and while a woman might own him, she would mock and revile him, being disgusted by his nature.
The Nature of Gorean Slavery
The Gorean word for slave girl is "kajira," plural "kajirae." This does not indicate any specific sort of slave girl, simply a slave girl in general. Some people make a distinction between BDSM "slaves" and Gorean "kajirae," but this is incorrect. The word for an enslaved man is "kajirus," plural "kajiri." This term appears to come from a word in the language of the Wagon People, who speak of a slave as being "clad kajir" when they wear the traditional clothing of a slave in that culture. Another word for slave girl is "sa’fora," which means "daughter of the chain."
Slaves come in all varieties on Gor, from slaves who were once Scribes or Physicians, and still perform those sorts of services, to labor chains, made up of enslaved men who do heavy work such as roadbuilding, to personal slaves. Most slaves on Gor are women, although most women on Gor are not slaves. Except for special cases like the city of Tharna, or where a city has just fallen in war, the normal ratio is one in forty or fifty women enslaved.
Slave females are expected to use all of their abilities to please their masters. Since one of the most pleasurable things a man and woman can do together is have sex, slaves are used often for sexual purposes. On Gor, a woman subjected to sexual use as a slave is not permitted to hold back or inhibit herself in any way. Surprisingly to the Terran, but not to the Gorean, the slave female finds that she cannot help but respond deeply and powerfully to the use of a master: her biological tendency to submission, when allowed to manifest itself, rewards her with extraordinary pleasure in sexual use and sexual drives far beyond what the free woman can experience. Gorean slave girls have been known to break their own bones on the bars of their cages trying to touch a man when they have been secured for a long time.
Given the above, there is a rich tradition of formal and informal slave training techniques. A Pleasure Slave, a slave whose primary purpose is to give pleasure to men, will have been taught advanced sexual technique, of course, but that is just the beginning. She will also have been taught to prepare and serve exquisite foods, to arrange flowers, the care and maintenance of the household, how to dress, how to walk, how to speak, and how to hold intelligent conversations with men. Most Pleasure Slaves can play one or more musical instruments and know several formal dances. In effect, they are like Japanese Geisha or ancient Greek hetarai. Their education is quite rigorous and at great expense to their owner/trainer. Girls who don’t learn well and quickly are punished; girls who do learn their lessons well may be rewarded (with candies or pastries, or trips to see various events, and so forth).
A discussion of the basics of the behavior of kajirae:
Dress
Kajirae are clad as their master decrees. Of course, the body must be protected from the elements: the kajirae of the Inuit wear heavy furs when outdoors just as free persons do. However, it is typical for a kajira to wear as close to nothing as she can reasonably wear so that her master may take pleasure in her beauty. Tower slaves, the slaves of women or slaves who are not typically expected to be physically appealing, still wear attractive clothes. (Tower slaves are similar to chatelaines, although she is by no means exempt from sexual usage.) And it is well known to Goreans that sometimes what a man cannot see is more interesting than what he can: if a style of dress which is more concealing makes a slave interesting or enticing, she may dress that way if the master permits.
In most cities, it is the law that a slave must wear some sort of token which she cannot remove. Typically this is a steel collar. In the North, the collar is usually a flat strap of iron around the neck, either hinged and locked, or hammered around the girl’s throat by a skilled Metal Worker. In the south, the round or Turian collar, consisting of a round rod bent into a circle and hinged and locked, is used. Bracelets and anklets of steel are also common. Belly chains may also be used, especially in the case of "lure girls" who can have no outward appearance of slavery.
Slaves on Gor are also typically branded. The most common brand is the Gorean letter "kef," which resembles a lower-case cursive "k." The brand is typically an inch to an inch and a half high, on the outer left thigh, although it might be almost anywhere and be almost anything. The brand is considered indelible proof of slavery and any woman who is branded, even if dressed in the Robes of Concealment, had best be prepared to prove that she is free or face immediate reduction to slavery and seizure by the State.
Even the strictest of lifestyle Goreans freely admit that the method of branding used in the Chronicles WOULD NOT WORK to produce a legible brand on human flesh and would in fact be extremely dangerous. Branding as described in the Chronicles should never be performed on a human being. Only a trained and experienced Iron Master should brand a human being.
On a side note, it is traditional for slaves who are not virgins, when held by slavers, to be clad in red silk. (Free women on Gor never wear silk: it is considered scandalous.) Virgins are clad in white silk. Therefore, it is common slang to speak of a woman who has been used by a man as a "red-silk" and a virgin as a "white-silk." It is also common for slaves in some taverns in some cities to wear yellow silk, and there is a certain connotation that yellow silk indicates a tavern slave in those places. However, a master may dress his slave as he pleases, and if she looks good in white, he may dress her in white, and if his Tower Slave looks good in yellow, he may dress her in yellow, and no one would think twice about it. There are no other fixed meanings for colors or styles of silk, although many cities have a standard livery for slaves of the State.
Behavior and Deportment
Kajirae always and at all times must maintain a pleasing and respectful demeanor. Unlike the Terran submissive, there are no safe words, no exceptions for non "scene" interactions. A kajira who is not pleasing will be disciplined in any way the master deems fit, from a harsh word to a severe beating.
Slaves kneel in the presence of the free. Slaves in the presence of free men kneel with their legs apart, hands palm up on their thighs, backs straight, heads up but eyes lowered. This is the position known as nadu or the position of the Pleasure Slave. Slaves in the presence of free women kneel the same way, but keep their knees together. This is sometimes referred to as the position of the Tower Slave. Free women on Gor also kneel, but they keep their legs tightly together and their hands palms down. Men on Gor typically sit cross-legged. Chairs are very rare on Gor, usually used only by men in a position of authority such as judges or Ubars, and are not thought to be very comfortable.
Slaves refer to all free men as "master" and all free women as "mistress." There are no exceptions. Slaves do not address the free by name without permission and even then usually only when specifically ordered to do so. This rule is much less universal than the former and some men like to hear their names on the lips of a slave girl. However, a wise slave girl addressing a free person she did not know would not use their name unless and until bidden, under any circumstances, lest she find too late that the free person in question did not care for it.
Discipline
Typcially, once a slave becomes accustomed to her lot, she requires little discipline – because Gorean men are not afraid to administer it. Traditionally the Gorean slave is disciplined with the five-bladed Gorean slave whip, a wide-bladed flogger. Although this can be used to administer great pain, it does not permanently injure or mark the slave, thereby decreasing her value. Although discipline is usually administered by the master, it is the right and privilege of any free person to discipline any slave for being displeasing, unless the owner’s wishes are made clear that the slave not be disciplined. This is actually thought to be very polite, as disciplining a displeasing slave increases the value of the slave for the owner.
Although Goreans do not administer suffering for suffering’s sake, it is common to occasionally discipline a slave girl simply to remind her that she is subject to discipline. She would be told this, of course, as the discipline was administered, or it would not have its desired effect, instead simply making the slave fearful of random punishments. This forceful reminder of the fact that she is owned sometimes arouses strong feelings of submission, and hence sexual desire, in slave girls. As one character puts it: "It is not the whip, which hurts, that arouses us. Rather, it is the knowledge that we are subject to the whip. We are owned. We are slave."
Sexual Usage
Slaves are subject to sexual usage at any time, in any way the master desires. Given the rarity of disease on Gor and the efficacy of Gorean contraception, this is often. Gorean slaves experience a fantastic blooming of their capacity, desire, and need for sex when they embrace their submissive natures. Gorean men, once exposed to slave sex, will not tolerate anything less from a slave, and require enthusiasm and responsiveness.
If a man does not have his own slave, typically he will go to a Paga tavern or similar establishment where liquor is served. The slaves who serve the liquor, usually a fiery liquid known as Paga which is brewed from grain and served hot, are available for the use of the customer when he buys a drink. To attract customers, tavern owners will have several attractive slaves, one or more of which is usually also a dancer, and a place for slave dance, with musicians and such. Dancers typically cost extra and are not included with the drinks. The taverns have small alcoves where a man can take a slave and use her before returning to the floor for more drink. In such Paga taverns, the price of the drink includes the use of a girl for the remainder of the evening, if the patron so desires.
If a man cannot afford even a Paga tavern, he can take his chances on the street. Slaves called Coin Girls, with locked strongboxes, walk in certain neighborhoods during certain times of the evening. To use one, the man deposits a tiny coin, which entitles him to one usage of the girl. Or he can simply try to find an unescorted slave girl walking the streets: unless she is wearing an iron (chastity) belt, or otherwise protected, a slave must submit to any man who orders her. Given the voracious sexual appetites of slave girls, it is not hard to find one who is temporarily available and slip her into an alley or doorway for a brief encounter. Detaining her overlong, however, is stealing, as her master is entitled to her use and availability.
It is very common to bind slave girls for various purposes, primarily to prevent their escape or theft. However, it is also common to use them while in bondage and any number of clever ties are in use to facilitate this. Being bound and helpless increases a slave girl’s feelings of submission and therefore makes her even more responsive to the touch of men.
Gorean men take great delight in pulling the maximum possible sexual response out of a slave girl. The logic is as follows:
I. Slaves have an innate desire to be pleasing and to submit.
II. If their attempts to be pleasing are rewarded with pleasure, they will then try even harder to be pleasing, so as to increase their positive rewards.
III. Therefore, the more pleasure a girl feels, the more pleasing she will try to be, and the greater the pleasure she will give to the master.
The more she feels herself mastered, the more she will be a slave. The more a slave she is, the more the man will desire to master her. The man and the woman are therefore directly reinforcing each other and accepting and encouraging their biological tendencies for the benefit of both.
Homosexuality and Gorean Slavery
Homosexuality is very rare on Gor – or at least it is not much discussed in the Chronicles. While slaves may be physically affectionate with each other, often embracing or kissing, this is a sign of friendship or sympathy, not sexual attraction. In all the books there are no examples of female homosexuality. However, it is not unheard of for a master to use two slaves at once (there is an extended menage a trois in Kajira and another in Mauraders.) And, as slaves must do as is pleasing to masters, if a master orders two slaves to interact erotically, interact erotically they will.
There is a very strongly implied homosexual relationship between Milo the actor, who is a slave, and his master in Magicians. However, this is not treated with disgust so much as bemused tolerance, or incomprehension, by those who know of it. Goreans do much as they wish, and are not fond of people interfering in their private affairs: if two men (or two women) had a sexual relationship, it would not be looked upon as a sin or an offense, simply as odd to the point of incomprehensibility. Because Goreans live much more in touch with nature, and sexuality is treated so openly in their culture, a Gorean would argue that the reason homosexuality is so rare is that nature does not select for homosexuality, and so real biologically-based homosexual desires are uncommon. If one is truly homosexual, under the Gorean philosophy of self-honesty, one should not try to repress it, or ignore it, any more than one should try to repress heterosexual desires.
However, Norman, and by extension Goreans, comes down very firmly on the nurture side of the nature versus nurture debate regarding the origins of homosexuality. In his book Imaginative Sex, Norman does state that all men have some level of homosexual desire (and, by extension, so do all women.) But it can be seen from his writing that it is his opinion that persons who are strongly homosexual are so because they were raised in the sexually repressed and confused society of modern Western culture.
A note from the Author:
As a product of modern Western culture, I enjoy many things that they do not have on Gor, such as the Internet and flush toilets. I do not consider homosexuality either unGorean or unnatural: it can be observed in many species other than man, who presumably do not have the Catholic church, Boy Scout camp, or sorority sleepovers to confuse the sexual nature of the animal. A homosexual relationship between equals, or even between a mentor and a protégé such as was sometimes practiced in ancient Greece for military purposes, I find largely irrelevant to the question of whether one can be Gorean.
I do, that being said, agree with Norman in that I think that the vast majority of homosexual behavior is not biologically motivated, but the product of post-natal environmental conditioning and inconsistency. Our society’s obsession with sexuality, and its constant conflicting messagse of "sex is everything" and "sex is wicked," produces a great number of problems from mild guilt complexes to sexual psychoses. I am not amazed to see a Jeffrey Dahmer or a Ted Bundy: I am amazed not to see one on every block. Such conditioning, after a certain point, is irreversible: I do not think I can "cure" a person of homosexuality any more than I can cure them of being a Baptist. Given sufficient resources, I could program anyone to do anything I wanted, but I would have to break them mentally first, and they would probably become permanently psychotic. The cure would be worse than the disease, which harms no one.
Similarly, while it is certainly possible that due to genetic aberration or environmental impact in the formative years, a woman could have biological tendencies towards dominance, or a man towards submission, the overwhelming majority of such behaviors are not "natural," but the result of exposure to unnatural behaviors and social mores. And again, once a certain maturity is reached, these psychological imprints are irreversible: for all intents and purposes a mature woman who thinks she is dominant, is dominant, and likewise a submissive man. And if they’re happy, that’s fine. But Goreans will not accept such behavior as natural and do not find it appealing, and if the homosexual and Femdom/malesub community wishes to have others tolerate its beliefs and behaviors, it must, in turn tolerate the beliefs and behaviors of others. Such behavior will never be accepted by Goreans, but tolerance is an attainable goal.
Further Reading: The Morality of Slavery
Now that we are familiar with Gorean philosophy and Gorean slavery, we can see that to Goreans slavery is an inherently moral act. As Goreans do not accept a morality imposed by religious belief, it is necessary to logically analyze the problem. The best tool for logically examining moral systems without falling back on the argument to divine command is Immanuel Kant’s immortal Categorical Imperative, which the reader is urged to study. However, a full examination of the Categorical Imperative is outside the scope of this writing, so it will simply be stated:
The Categorical Imperative:
"Act only on that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."
The question of the morality of slavery is raised. The qualifying question is:
"What maxim are you acting on?"
Most people don't know why they do what they do, by and large. They just do it because that's what they've always done. The classic example of the Unexamined Life. Above, it was demonstrated that the fundamental moral principle of Gorean philosophy is self-honesty. This can be stated as a maxim as follows:
"People should be what they are."
Some people don't believe that slavery is a natural condition or that there are natural slaves. Therefore, they cannot morally impose slavery on another under any circumstances if one applies the Categorical Imperative, because they want something different for themselves (being free) than they would have others experience (being a slave.)
Now, if one applies Gorean philosophy - which is really just Terran philosophy with more legs, Aristotle claimed that most people were slaves in their hearts three thousand years ago - to this problem, one obtains a different answer. If a Gorean imposes slavery on a person because they believe that people should be what they are, they are acting consistently. Their maxim becomes, "People should be treated as they are." If you are a slave, they treat you as a slave. If you are free, they treat you as a free person. They are in accord with the Categorical Imperative.
The secondary question then becomes, "Who decides?" That is, who decides what you will be treated as? That's the tough part and the part which distinguishes historical slavery from "modern," D/s or Gorean consensual slavery... or is it? A summary of Aristotle's position on slaves:
"The family, which is chronologically prior to the state, involves a series of relations between husband and wife, parent and child, master and slave. Aristotle regards the slave as a piece of live property having no existence except in relation to his master. Slavery is a natural institution because there is a ruling and a subject class among people related to each other as soul to body;
however, we must distinguish between those who are slaves by nature, and those who have become slaves merely by war and conquest."
Aha!!! We must distinguish! And now, Aristotle, meet Kant. Kant, Aristotle. And gentlemen, meet Dr. Lange. (I'm sure Dr. Lange is already VERY well acquainted with you.) IF we apply Aristotle's distinction, that of the natural slave from the legal slave (one can be either or both but they can be distinguished,) and stipulate that there are natural slaves (this is the weak point in the argument: some people don't accept this to be true. The rest is unassailable.) then the Categorical Imperative, Gorean Edition, tells us that if our maxim is:
"Treat others not as you would be treated, but as their essential natures demand."
then the whole thing falls neatly into place. The Gorean is not disregarding the universal in imposing slavery on some, not on others, and in not expecting it for himself. They are simply recognizing that the universe in general, and society in particular, are made up of non-homogenous elements which have distinctive and non-consistent features. By being realistic about the nature of those disparate elements, their interaction with the world is as logically consistent, moral, and realistic as it is possible to be.
A note from the author:
My personal contribution to the thing is that I think that the person should get to decide. (Hence my opposition to enforced slavery save as punishment for crime.) I feel that a person's potential is maximized if they know themselves and make their own decisions regarding their own essential natures. This requires serious examination of a person's essential nature, which most people never do in their whole lives. My opinion, based on observation of the physical world both personal and academic, is that women are very likely to be "natural" slaves, and men are less likely. Therefore I am in basic agreement with that aspect of Gorean philosophy, and can say that I am morally reconciled with the idea of slavery as practiced by myself.