Underground in Gor: Playing by Their Rules
by Alphaville Herald on 06/05/09 at 7:58 am
by the Wanderer
The girl's bare feet whisper over the fine rugs, as her Master sits, brooding, watching the gyrations of the dancer in the pit. Her only rag, a mere wisp of silk, rustles as she kneels carefully, lowering the bowl of cold paga into his waiting hands. She looks up, bashfully, into his serious eyes.
Tal, readers, from Counter-Earth. Thanks to those who provided good advice during the first two chapters. I decided not to give my avatar's name and not to name the sims I've visited.
Before you read on, a word of warning. If you are expecting deep secrets about SL Gor, find something else to read. I haven't found them…yet. What's on offer is a look at a newcomer's experience in a by-the-books Gorean sim.
Hitting the Ground Running
Most “pure” Gorean sims have lots of ways to help noobs out. As much as the OOC malls help support them, they want more players who, presumably, will be paying renters when tier comes due. I began in sims as a tagged visitor, but I quickly decided “in for a penny, in for a pound” and entered the roleplay, including the combat HUD.
Joan Sweetwater, who went to Gor with a big chip on her shoulder, was right when she admitted that Gorean men and kajirae are decent enough to help someone new enter their RP. Even a free woman I met, a rarity in Gorean RP if not in the books, defied Sweetwater's rants about them as cold and haughty.
A kajira helped me find a watering hole and explained how the visitor's role worked. So I soon was in the game, sucking down paga in a tavern with a warrior, a slaver, and a group of slave-girls.
One of the girls started asking me polite, and out-of-character, questions in IM. As she did a provocative dance (no tipping slaves, I learned) she helped straighten out (ahem) a few details about me that needed fixing. She also told me more about her role. The other slaves served the men drinks and emoted heavily in adjective-heavy, bodice-ripping prose. I was called “Master” as I sat on a cushion and watched as women were ordered about, called “beast,” and came back for more.
Resisting the urge to tell them all to go to hell and just leave, I drank my paga. I was on their turf. I'd come there on my own. So I'd have to play by their rules.
The dancer friended me. We've talked several times in IM, out of character, about how kajirae are treated…ignored might be the better word. Like a familiar piece of property, these women can be neglected and mistreated under Gorean custom. That includes beatings, which should be no surprise to anyone.
Adult Content & Gor
From what I've seen (and cammed) so far, the Goreans keep actual sex hidden way. Contrary to what a few of you have said here, though I could command my slavegirl friend to pleasure me, we agreed OOC not to go there. We'd have enough fun getting into other trouble in Gor, including a raid by enemies of the city where we met.
A clarification: unlike what at least one commenter said earlier, after July 1, kajirae can still slink about naked in mature sims. From the Lindens' own FAQ on this: “Dance clubs that feature "burlesque" acts can also generally reside in Mature Regions so long as they don't promote sexual conduct such as through pose balls.”
Still, It's not easy to sit around as a male calls a female (whatever her owner's gender) a “beast.” I suspect that the shelf-life of such consensual behavior will be short, if the age-verification plan does not work. If some EU court rules virtual slavery or degradation of this sort illegal, as they have done for virtual child pornography…then the curtain will come down on Gor in SL.
No wonder John Norman (RL John Lange, a professor of philosophy at Queens College) is reported to be a recluse.
Philosophical Musings
If one is not strong, it is natural to make a virtue of weakness.
Savages of Gor
Thank goodness for the Gorean Web sites and the advice given by those who read my first two posts here. Otherwise I'd have been turned into carpaccio by the keen blades of some Master, long ago. The most encyclopedic of the sites is The Cylinder of Knowledge with tons of signature quotations from Norman's works.
I'm fascinated and repelled by his Nietzschean ideas (no stretch for a professor of philosophy). After all, the German philosopher argued that the weak crafted their own morality, overthrowing the mores of the ancient nobility, then made “blessed are the meek” their greatest source of revenge upon those who dare to be strong and exercise their free wills.
What, I wondered, do SL's Goreans do with their third-hand Nietzsche? Would they remember that Nietzsche also argued for great joy in life? That Zarathustra said he could only worship a god who danced?
So far, with the exception of the kajira who friended me, the Goreans seem really, really serious. No wonder they become griefer-magnets. Do they take time to laugh in SL Gor, or are they too worried about violating some rule from the books? Does a kajira ever slip on a banana peel and fall into a canal?
Other than shagging, what can a dancing slave-girl teach an investigative reporter?
Archie Lukas
May 6th, 2009
I’m sorry; but its still men with little penises who want to be called ‘master’ for a change in lifestyle and served by a bunch of other men pretending to be voluptuous females.
How do I know this? (/me hear tiny rants of little people raging)
I know some Gorean players who have had RL contact and the beans were spilt.
I’ll only consider calling other men a beast; never a woman.
It’s just not cricket.
LOL
May 6th, 2009
IMO the GOR people who are reading this artile should have a glance at the next article called “Is Your Second Life Woman a Real Life Man?”
Sigmund Leominster
May 6th, 2009
Although I appreciate the Wanderer’s efforts in telling this tale, I have to admit to feeling a little bored by the whole Gorean thing. Maybe I have been around the Second Life environment too long but it just seems so uninteresting. If a group of people want to get together and play at masters and slaves (and even my wife and I have done that) I can’t see where there’s a problem. From my limited conversations with kajiri, they seem to take it as a bit of a lark and enjoy being a “slave” or “possession.” I used to worry about whether this sort of role play was sending “a message” of some sort, but now I think the message is more along the lines of “here’s one of the fun things you might want to try in Second Life.”
As to the gender of the real life puppet master, I guess you have to either forget about it or live with the uncertainty. Best to be somewhat existential and go with the faux.
Tristan Belgar
May 7th, 2009
Hey Wanderer,
There are a wide variety of Gorean sims and Gorean RPers, so it’s dificult to definitively answer your questions. In some sims the RP is pretty basic, others the RP is quite elaborate and sophisticated. Some are full of people who know the books backwards but don’t take themselves too seriously, others where noone has read a book but take it very seriously.
Most Gorean RPers, I’d guess, don’t accept most of the ‘philosophy’ and many long-time Gorean RPers even loathe it. Others, probably a minority, are RPer/lifestylers who believe in at least some the philosophy. So it’s hard to make broad statements about what the community believes.
A couple of points on your post, though.
“Even a free woman I met, a rarity in Gorean RP if not in the books, defied Sweetwater’s rants about them as cold and haughty.”
I’m surprised that you’ve found them rare. Of all the sims I’ve roleplayed in, there are almost as many free woman as female slaves. It should also be pointed out that they’re usually roleplaying characters based on the haughty, often bitchy free women of the books. They themselves might be, and usually are, perfectly nice people when out of character.
“What, I wondered, do SL’s Goreans do with their third-hand Nietzsche? Would they remember that Nietzsche also argued for great joy in life? That Zarathustra said he could only worship a god who danced?”
Actually, Norman (or his narrator) does in fact harp on about Goreans loving life, nature, children and butterflies. What do I think of Nietzche? Not much to be honest, but like Norman, he is sort of interesting.
I look forward to the next instalment.
-Tristan
The Wanderer
May 7th, 2009
Tristan, Tal and many thanks for your comments.
I wonder if you would comment on my remark about EU regulations. It’s not beyond belief that bureaucrats in Brussels might ban virtual slavery at some point. Have Goreans talked about what they’d do if LL or some outside party forces this issue?
I learned much about the Gorean culture from URLs dedicated to chat-rooms, not SL. It seems that segments of the Gorean RPers have already migrated from Activeworlds and chat to SL. Have they ever been chased from other VWs? Where would Gor go if LL bans slavery?
Second point, my time has been limited so far to fewer than 20 hours in-world. As spend more “peak hour” times in Gorean sims, I’m sure I’ll see more free women. So far I’ve seen little interaction between FW and kajirae, where I’m sure the haughtiness would be apparent.
I’m rather fond of Nietzsche’s ideas about the will and the worthlessness of pity (which is a looking down on someone else). He never said anything bad about love or compassion. The Nazis got the philosophers wrong on one count: Nietzsche counted anti-Semites as not noble but as men full of poison. They were in fact followers of a slave-morality.
Sigmund Leominster
May 7th, 2009
There’s a problem with banning “virtual slavery” in that it doesn’t actually exist! By that, I mean that although avatars may behave in a way that appears to fit the definition of slavery (whatever that may be) those actions are all by consent, and “consensual slavery” is something of a lexical and legal oxymoron. It’s the same problem as accusations of virtual rape – there is little
There’s a nice article entitled “Fantasy Crime – The Role of Criminal Law in Virtual Worlds” available here http://law.vanderbilt.edu/publications/journal-entertainment-technology-law/archive/download.aspx?id=3644 by Susan Brenner, a Professor of Law at the University of Dayton, that is well worth reading. She covers some of those notions of whether a “crime is a crime,” including rape and child abuse. She echoes notions such as “virtual rape is a flawed example of conduct that apparently replicates real world criminal activity in a virtual environment because consent is a defense to a charge of rape.”
Slavery would run foul of the same analysis – unless there is some evidence for real slavery (kids in North Korea chained to computers and forced to camp in Second Life venues to make money). The notion of consent is crucial to all cases of “crime” in a virtual world, and even if someone is being intentionally griefed, CTRL+Q will usually stop it
Jessica Holyoke
May 7th, 2009
Wanderer,
While I haven’t read up on EU law in a little while, the point behind bans on drawings of child pornography is either 1. the drawings cause the abuse of child by feeding ideas to a potential abuser or 2. it provides a gateway to kids, kids see the drawings, feel that its normal and then have their defenses lowered to an abuser.
What I’ve tried to write about repeatedly is that slavery in the real world, the sick disgusting dehumanizing kind, is nothing like slavery in a virtual world. I am sure all the people who exploit labor, be it in sweat shops, slave filled brothels or forced labor camps did not get their ideas from playing a video game or reading a science fiction novel. The two reasons why we ban depictions of child pornography, even if I don’t agree with them, are not present in a ban against depictions of slavery.
Although given mentioning Nazis can be illegal in some countries or denying the Holocaust, I wouldn’t put it past them.
Tristan Belgar
May 8th, 2009
I’d be amazed if there was a ban, the Wanderer. There’s an immense amount of concern about pedophilia in the community, but roleplayed slavery? It’s not the sort of thing that would encourage a return to the slave trade.
There’s occassional talk of a LL ban, but I don’t think anyone’s expecting it. Even if there was one, the community would probably just move over to OpenSim, where there’s already a small presence. As far as I’m aware, the presence in ActiveWorlds and the like sprang up independently the SL community. I originally discovered Gor in IRC a few years ago and it also has a presence in ‘HMTL Gor’ which I personally don’t know much about. Both communities are older than SL but have faded in recent years as people have moved to the more attractive Second Life platform.
Norman was defintely channeling Nietzsche, but I also think there are similarities because they were both influenced by the same sources – ‘barbaric’ and pre-Christian societies and the way they looked at the world. There is a lot of ancient Greece behind the inspiration for the books. In fact you wouldn’t be that inaccurate calling Gor a sci-fi version of ancient Greece. Just with a bit more kinky sex and not so many slaves.
Sigmund Leominster
May 8th, 2009
@ Jessica
There is still considerable debate in the US about depictions of child pornography. In the case of Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coal, 535 U.S. 234 (2002), the provision of the earlier Child Pornography Protection Act (1996) that criminalized drawings/cartoons of child sex was overturned. The Free Speech Coalition argued that the CPPA stifled works of artistic expression and that if real children were not involved, it didn’t constitute a crime. Thus, under US law, possession of child pornography that does not depict actual children is not criminalized.
As far as I am aware, there has been no attempt in the US courts to prosecute adults who indulge in “age play” (grown ups pretended to be kids, which may or may not include sexual activity) in a virtual world. I’d love to hear if such prosecutions have been attempted. So the banning of age play by Linden Lab is not necessarily a legal imperative but a moral judgment.
As far as the law goes, it would appear that the only substantive arguments against age play have to be based on the concept of “systemic harm” being caused – that is, someone watching or engaging in cartoon sex with kids may be encouraged to do it with real ones. Currently, there is insufficient evidence to suggest this happens (I doubt a Gorean master is able to treat his real life wife as a kajiri!)
This is not the case globally, where virtual porn is not protected. The article I cited above is a nice overview of the issue and contains some references that you can then go off and read.
Satan
May 8th, 2009
Sig,
The ageplay ban is because there are laws in some foreign countries against the depiction of child pornography (even in cartoon form). It seems like it should be matter of common decency, you know? Some things are just too sacred to defile like that. That’s the same reason why simulating the horrific act of rape is objectionable to most people. And when I say that I’m not talking about the griefer sticking an e-peen in someone’s face or something else that is pretty minor. I’m talking about the people who fantasize about a horrific violent act called rape. The people I have spoken out against are getting their rocks off by pretending that they are raping another being!! They’re masturbating to this shit! That’s very objectionable and no amount of arguing will change that.
Jessica Holyoke
May 8th, 2009
@ Sigmund,
While the Supreme Court did overrule that provision, there is a law still on the books banning depictions, but I don’t feel like finding the cite at the moment and I know I’ve posted it in the comments here before.
And the main issue about Sexual Under Age Play came from the Germans and Dutch, not the Americans.
Additionally, as a funny aside, in the Gorean books, there is a passage about how a kajira is treated better than an Earth wife. Also, don’t ask me for the cite.
Sigmund Leominster
May 9th, 2009
@ Jessica
If you find the citation for the ban, drop me a note or IM – I wasn’t aware of such a ruling post the 2002 but then again I am not a attorney and cannot pretend to read case law day after day! And you are, of course, right in reminding me (and others) that other countries have different laws that may appear to apply to virtual worlds, although ultimately I believe the Second Life environment is technically “American” in that its owners a resident of the US. But there are international treaties so those do apply.
The “age-play” thing is something of a libertarian litmus test I suspect. As is the virtual rape. And although I totally appreciate your finding this objectionable, you are surely aware that this may not be a perspective shared by the folks indulging in the activities. When folks indulge in “rape play” and, as you say, get pleasure for it, they see this as a fantasy activity, not necessarily an exercise in sexual power or degradation. In real life, my wife and I (married for MANY years) have indulged in fantasy activities that involve bondage and sexual aggression, but like many other people who find this “adult play,” I have not the slightest desire to go out and commit real rape.
What we see in a virtual world is, I suggest, a form of shared novel, where there are multiple writers and images instead of words. A consensual scenario that involves behavior found objectionable to some (or many) is little different from a book by the Marquis de Sade or Bret Easton Ellis; it’s more graphic. We are faced here with a different medium of artistic and literary expression (which I suspect may sound pompous but I’ll say it anyway) that is as accessible as a local library and on a global scale.
I think it is reasonable to want to put some barriers around such “novels” but banning them altogether seems to me to be a form of censorship, something about which we have to constantly vigilant. This leads me to being OK (mostly) with some form of age verification system and maybe even private sims with password-only access – although that would probably be an owner’s responsibility.
OK, I’ll stop here – so much to talk about and I suspect you’ve covered this before. I worry a little about what is “objectionable,” and being the father of a gay daughter living in conservative, god-fearing middle America, you can imagine how much hassle SHE gets – and by extension me – for her “objectionable” behavior.
Otherwise, I like what you write, Jessica
Satan
May 9th, 2009
I am astonished, Sigmund, that you claim to have a daughter and yet you have the audacity to speak in defense of ageplay and simulated rape. Then in the same breath you say that your daughter’s sexuality is objectionable and you complain about getting hassled for it. Boo fucking hoo. I have seen these same tired arguments from the same people in the comments section time and again and I have successfully dissected them many times. Anyone can learn to speak as though they are intelligent, parroting the words of other imbeciles. There is nothing clever or profound about your bullshit and it doesn’t fool me. For all your attempts at pretending otherwise, your intelligence is mediocre at best. You still fail to see things for what they are and instead, you spend your time trying to justify degenerative behavior.
Couples will experiment with bondage. They will also experiment with rough sex. This is normal and completely different. I have personally had bite marks all over my upper chest, neck, and chin from this ‘rough sex’. I don’t find it appealing, but I have tolerated it and it certainly isn’t simulated rape.
Stop using the term ‘virtual rape’, it’s absurd. The correct term is simulated rape. Virtual rape doesn’t exist and by simulating rape, people aren’t talking about someone forcing an e-peen on someone to irritate them like the griefers do. No, we’re talking about simulating a vicious act of violence and deriving sexual pleasure from it. This is about respecting life and humanity. It isn’t even about civilization or being civilized.
You know, sometimes it seems like the cons of civilization far outweigh the benefits. Civilization hasn’t brought law and order, it has brought camouflaged chaos. It has made it difficult for decent human beings to oppose it. This same system revolves entirely around indoctrination. Society wants people to repress their identities. It’s a medium for bullshit so that people like you can adopt baseless opinions without any understanding of them, even though in this case civilization will largely oppose the crap you’re peddling. Obviously you have no earthly idea what you’re speaking of.
Do you have any idea what this distorted line of thinking is doing to the world? Every now and then on CNN, there is a story about someone in the middle of a city somewhere who had a medical problem and collapsed and was stepped over by indifferent pedestrians. This is what this ‘me, me, me’ attitude has ushered in. And it doesn’t stop there. It is so extremely destructive and my frustration is that I cannot communicate this to people who are just too dense to get it, no matter how hard I try. Nothing is sacred anymore. Everyone is taking a piss on life. What a slap in the face for those who actually know how valuable it really is. What else has this selfish attitude caused? Look at the drunk drivers. Another example of wanton destruction caused by individuals who disregard human life in favor of their own desires. How heinous is that? People like that should be getting AT LEAST as much time as they do for second or first degree murder but instead they get negligible prison time for first degree vehicular homicide. What the fuck is this? What does tolerating it do? It makes it continue because now people think it’s acceptable. The drunk driving case that I am following is about to be retried because their was a hung jury. He killed 2 fucking people on Mother’s Day, May 13th 2007, and guess what? He even had priors for DUI. He’s looking at only 5 years if they convict him of the felony and less than that if they convict him of misdemeanor 2nd degree vehicular homicide.
Yet again, you have attempted to compare this degenerative stuff to literary works and yet again, I will tell you that you are wrong. If you gank some logs of someone having e-sex and printed it out then are you under the mistaken impression that you can call it a book and get it published? If you really are as stupid as you make yourself out to be then I pity you. Do you really think that the people who wrote those literary works were sitting their masturbating the whole time?
Just because it’s text doesn’t make it a novel.
And yeah, you’re right just because a behavior is objectionable doesn’t mean you should cave. But there is such a thing as right and wrong, and the concepts DO exist independently of ‘god’ and religion. It’s part of being human. The fact that people have to continually break this down for the lesser evolved among us is a very sad thing. Humanity is being slowly eroded by insidious evils called stupidity and selfishness, where people attempt to rationalize their evil deeds just because they want what they want, when they want it.
You see my words as hate. Good for you, but that isn’t what this is. Not any of it. It’s anguish at the status quo. Look at this shitfest we’re in. No one will ever be able to fix it because everyone wants to shrug and say ‘I’m only one person’ and/or they just want whatever they want without regard for others. It’s a sick state of affairs and I blame people like you for perpetuating it. You are a part of the problem.
Jessica Holyoke
May 9th, 2009
Sigmund,
took some time and found this:
18 U.S.C. 2252A is the child pornography statute where it specifically excludes drawings of children engaged in sex acts, per Free Speech Coalition vs. Ashcroft.
18 U.S.C. 1466a covers the obscene depiction, including drawings, of child abuse. This is different than 2252A because you can’t argue literary merit with 2252A, but you can with 1466A.
Sigmund Leominster
May 9th, 2009
@ Satan
OK, I get it. You don’t like me and you don’t agree with me. Now stop with the nasty personal comments and move on.
@ Jessica
Thanks for taking the time to find the citation – much appreciated. I guess the argument does indeed hang on the “lacking serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” The interesting piece is “It is not a required element of any offense under this section that the minor depicted actually exist.” So although no one is actually a victim, someone can be prosecuted.
Satan
May 10th, 2009
This isn’t about whether or not I like you, Sigmund. This is about your inability to be objective limiting your potential and contributing to problems. Sadly, this is a common thing and it is tragic. Logic and rationale, the thirst for truth and knowledge even when it hurts is my ‘almighty god’ and it condemns those who do not embrace it. Everyone decides their own potential and everyone is capable of resetting those boundaries but you need to be ideologically committed to the truth instead of your own fulfillment. Truth and knowledge can be fulfilling too. The illusion makes you happier, but in the end it’s only an illusion. Why are you fooling yourself this way?
Human perceptions are tainted by desire all the time. Someone who is intelligent realizes this and they are able to see other perceptions to ‘try them out’ and see which one ‘fits’. It is a useful problem solving skill, though admittedly, there are many times in life where there are multiple ‘right answers’ to a given problem which can be rather confusing. This isn’t one of them though.
I don’t dislike you. I dislike your views because they are detrimental to yourself and others. It’s frustrating that not everyone is able to grasp the truth, because they seem incapable of being objective. No one is completely objective and a higher intellectual capacity will not make you infallible but it will give you a much better understanding of the world and the philosophies that exist therein which play a very important role in life.
The lack of objectivity that is almost universal in humans seems to be one of the greatest evils in our world. Wars are fought over it. Heinous crimes are committed over it. Money and power are not the root of evil, lack of objectivity is. It is the root of corruption and everything that we despise. It should be fought with the same fervor that the Christians employ to fight ‘Satan’ and everything that they believe represents him. As much as I ramble about it, I see that it is futile. Humanity is inherently flawed and there is no fix for it. It’s just the way things are. That doesn’t change the fact that there is a ‘big picture’ to look at and most just can’t see it. I’ll continue to ramble about it though in hopes that maybe one day I’ll get through to someone.
Satan
May 10th, 2009
For what it’s worth, I was wrong to state that you are unintelligent based on this view that you hold. I think that your perspective when it comes to these topics is unintelligent but I cannot truly judge your intellectual capacity based on that.
The irony here is that I too sometimes adopt unintelligent perspectives but when I receive new input, I am able to process it accordingly and reconsider the variables in order to reassess my perspectives. Sometimes I am reluctant to do this because the truth is ugly but I inevitably do it anyways eventually. Therein lies the difference. No one can accurately take every possible variable into account and thus we are all bound at some point to make mistakes when we adopt new philosophies. But do we learn from them? The sad thing here is that even if there was such a thing as a perfect being, that being could not force reality onto the world without breeding the same (or worse) evils that I speak of. So there is no realistic solution for this.
I struggle with my own conscience and times. I think about the things I have said and done, and I am unable to decide if they make me a ‘bad person’. I despise my own occasional lack of objectivity the same way I despise it in others. Perhaps that is why I am able to overcome it, prompting frequent paradigm shifts compared to the average person. I also have a tendency to become trapped by circular logic, rendering me quite literally insane. How blissful could life be if I could only abandon logic in favor of seeing life as I would like to see it? Surely it would be far more pleasant but for some reason I am incapable of it. How ironic is it that I envy the average person’s ability to discard logic and perpetuate the same evils that I hate so much?
I am trying to be better about communicating these things because this isn’t hate. Or maybe it is but if so, I hate these things in myself just as much if not more than I hate them in others.
Robert
Jun 5th, 2009
@Satan “I struggle with my own conscience and times.” I’ll bet you do, because you attack people with such vituperation…as much or more then the ideas you claim to be opposed to…you are mean,overly judgemental (a very common fault with people who pretend to take the moral high ground) and clearly have anger management issues that you disguise under the thin veneer of debate.