samira_alqaifi@yahoo.com

the sharing of power between the sexes may not be in the same spheres of influence within a society – but it is always approximately equal – even in Islam this is the case
mothers in law in islamic cultures wield formidable power within the household
gor is a society of humans and therefore it also has to have a equality of power between the sexes or it is unstable and on the verge of revolutionary collapse either from inside or from external forces

they are either escaped slaves or born in woods
yet according to what i understand of gor slave girls are the product of millenia of selective breeding – and should not therefore want freedom
therefore the panthers should in the main consist of free women who have fled
if children are born there – then some would be males
such boys would be brought up in a female dominant society
some of which as adults would inevitably find their way back into mainstream gorean cities
taking with them the inbuilt belief that women are superior or at the very least equal
this would inevitably raise the status of women in gorean culture

2
the strange way that all panthers seem to be restricted to animal furs and spears
if they capture males then they would also capture male weapons and garments and equipment
therefore a typical band of panthers should have the same gear and weapons as gorean males
any group of humans that has the strength to take on and kill big cats would have the strength to wield male weapons – even if only the smaller ones
and a society of outlaws in a forest setting would gain physical strength which would match that of males
now
given they are outlaws some groups at least would team up with male outlaw groups
they would lack the contraceptive implants routinely gievn to kajira and therefore the birth rate among panthers would be much higher
it would not be many generations before the number of humans in such groups which promote female equality would outnumber the male domination goreans

the end result should be fairly obvious

Course no one really goes “by the books” and why would you, the books are god awful, pure 6th grade horny teen fantasy by a person who never mentally progressed past that.

The panthers, to me when they are by the book, I suppose could be said to turn the tables on men because they do take men as slaves and turn around and sell and trade them. But the part about them not making sense outside of Gor is confusing because they are part of Gor itself, so they wouldn’t make sense if you took them out of that context by definition.

It would be like saying that being a Jedi is your religion…no, its like people going around speaking Klingon…no….ok, poor examples.

But in a Nietzschean will to power type world, do you think the women who would protest the masculine status quo would march and make signs?

No guarantees, though.

Calling panthers feminists or not is missing the point a bit. They’re not a bunch of plucky 1970s feministas fighting the patriarchy from the forests. They’re as barbaric as everyone else on Gor; perfectly willing for slaves to be used, traded and abused, as long as it’s not they themselves who are the slaves.

However, despite the common view of Norman’s women being dependent on men, he treats them with a certain nobility. For example:

—
He regarded her.
“I am not your slave,” she said.
“The throne of the Ubara of Ar,” he said, ” is empty.
They looked at one another.
“Thank you,” she said, “Ubar.”
“I will have all arrangements made,” he said, “for your investiture as Ubara of Ar.”
“But,” she said, “Marlenus, I do not wish to be Ubara of Ar.”

“I have the forests,” she said.
Marlenus could not speak.
“It seems,” he said, “that I am not always victorious.”
“No,” she said, “Marlenus, you have been victorious.”
He looked at her, puzzled.
“I love you,” she said. “I loved you even before I knew you, but I will not wear your collar and I will not share your throne.”
“I do not understand,” he said. I had not thought, ever, to see the Ubar as he stood there, looming over this woman, whom he might, did he choose, seize and own, but standing there numb, not understanding.”
You do not understand,” said she, “because I am a woman.”
He shook his head.
“It is called freedom,” she said.
Then Verna turned away from him, in the skins of a panther woman. “I shall wait for my women in the forest,” she said. “Tell them to find me there.”

In part, this is because I think The Wanderer is right when he notes that what the panthers represent remains embedded within an “overarching male fantasy”: the panthers make no “sense” outside of the larger context of Gor.

More important, for me anyway, is that feminism does not simply oppose male hegemony, nor does it seek merely to “turn the tables” on men, as the panthers seem to be doing. Rather, feminism most usually locates its views on gender relations within a reformulation of models of how power is deployed and shared. The most usual model for feminist approaches to power highlights consensus, diversity, and openness; it rejects the “classic” male paradigm of top-down authority. It certainly does NOT embrace violence and physical force which, again, seem to be very much what the panthers are about.

Quit being a coward and go back and talk to them.