A Gorean Feminist’s Guide to Second Life Gor
by Jessica Holyoke on 07/09/09 at 6:21 am
Gor-crafters, Lifestylers, Roleplayers
by Jessica Holyoke
Goreans are a controversial part of the Second Life community. Based on a 27 book series collectivelycalled the Chronicles of Gor written by John Norman, residents of Second Lifetake part in activities that they call Gorean. Due to the usage of alts, it is hard to pin point how many peopleactually take part. According to thewebsite for the Gorean Meter, one of the combat meters for SL Gor, there are14,223 regions taking part in Gor with 6,338 listed male avatars and 10,124listed female avatars.
Goreans arecontroversial due to two aspects of the novels and the Gorean culture as a whole, chattel slavery and the role of men and women. The Chronicles of Gor started with thepublication of Tarnsman of Gor in 1967. AnEnglish professor from
Gor alsohas chattel slavery with mostly women being taken from Earth and being madeslaves along with women who were slaves from birth or enslaved during variousbattles or situations on Gor and men who are enslaved for other reasons, suchas forced labor.
The generalGorean philosophy has been persuasive to members of both genders, some seeingthe household setup as desirable and others appreciating and embracing thebondage aspect. When a platform wasformed where you could be anything you wanted to be, Goreans came from otherparts of the internet to inhabit Second Life and build a Gorean world. But the outside Goreans were joined by other residentsof SL who saw not the philosophy but the care and effort placed into forming arealistic, immersive community and formed new communities and groups.
Combat: World of Gor-craft
SL Gor issplit into three aspects, combat, lifestyle, and role play. These aspects can also overlap depending onwhere you live in the community. Combat is the least controversial to outsidersbut sometimes the most controversial to Goreans, depending on what combatantsdo. Some residents simply go around and fight otherresidents. Called Gor-crafters, afterthe World of Warcraft, they look at Gor as a First Person Shooter, going aroundand shooting at anyone, then retreating from the region. Other groups, such as pirates, panthers,outlaws or mercenaries, generally revolve around raiding for role play items orslaves or honor due to previous combat or role play.
Wearing acombat meter, such as the Gorean Meter, allows you to use a specially scriptedweapon to attack others. The type of weapondepends on your role on Gor. Free Menmight have bows, axes or swords. Freewomen might have smaller bows, whips or daggers. Slave boys might have sling shots. Slave girls might have fruit or a broom.
To otherGoreans, combat is not the purpose of Gor and simply perverts the ability tolive according to the books. Panthers,the women who left proper society to live on their own, did not raid cities,like some do. Outlaw groups sometimes have female members,which would never happen in the books, and have been lead by women, which justupsets the lifestylers.
But combatis still part of most of the other locations across Gor. Every city is looking for warriors to defendthe keep. There are combat exhibitionsin the various arenas. Its that combatis not the focus of those regions.
Lifestylers
LifestyleGoreans are split into two groups; those that live the philosophy and thosethat are not interested in general role play or the combat. There are cities and villages that revolvearound people who want to apply the teachings of the books as best they can totheir real lives and to try to find people who want to join them in their reallives as masters or slaves. Others liveas lifestylers but have no interest in taking it to their real life. They follow the etiquette and the ceremonies butthey do not take part in advanced story lines. Typically the lifestylers are close inphilosophy with by the book role players.
BTB and Disney Gor roleplay
Roleplayers are split into two groups, by the book and not by the book. BTB role players establish a story line forthemselves but only using elements that are precisely in the Chronicles ofGor. Other sims take great libertieswith what is found in the books to establish their story lines. There are female dominated sims. There are gay male sims with no women atall.
Within thismix, lies what Goreans call Disney Gor. Essentially a Gorean is referred to as Disney if they place too manylimits on what can be done to them in role play. If someone is captured in combat, typicallythe person who loses is at the mercy of the captor. Other times, in the course of role playcertain events happen that might lead to where limits might matter. Typically, people will object to rape,permanent enslavement or collaring or other similar acts. Sometimes, people will place a time limit forwhen they are captured but nothing happens, twenty to thirty minutes arecommon.
If youfind yourself on Gor, you could find a civilized city with caste members thatcover a variety of professions; an area that contains outlaws from society, includingthe famous panthers of Gor; or you might find one of the culturally differentareas of Gor such as those based on Nordic traditions or first nations.
The people behind the keyboard can be anyonefrom a devout follower of the Gorean philosophy to someone who enjoys thehighly structured period role play. This is why I'm able to identify with both. I enjoy the role play but not the gender politics. For a very long time, I was associated with an outlaw group run by a woman, which to other Goreans is blasphemous. For many, Gor is simply the bondage aspects tied to gender politics. For others, it is a richly realized role play with many adherents acting according to the story line.
Alyx Stoklitsky
Sep 7th, 2009
Didn’t you right this article two years ago?
Alyx Stoklitsky
Sep 7th, 2009
Write, even.
Christ, I’m going back to bed.
Odette
Sep 7th, 2009
ummm…..how exactly is this a feminist guide to anything? It seems to me just a breakdown of Gor, but doesn’t exactly give a feminist POV on anything. I was really expecting to see a breakdown of the misogyny language and a more critical view of how this patriarchy parallels the own we live in IRL. Perhaps you could have even broken the seemingly taboo subject of how there are ACTUAL parts of the world where women really are treated not all that different than they’re treated in Gor. (From what I can tell, it’s taboo because people don’t seem to have fun when they realize they’re mimicking and playing at the exact subjugation another is unwillingly suffering through. Only instead of course instead of the men ‘pretending’ they’re better than women, they really think they are.)
You say you enjoy the structured role play, but not the gendered politics. I can certainly appreciate the love of a good game. But aren’t there other, highly structured and gender equal role playing sims? You know, ones that don’t deal in slavery, misogyny and an oppressive male dominated hierarchy? I don’t roleplay, so I honestly don’t know.
Calling yourself a feminist, is a good first step to actually being a feminist. I like to be dominated by my bf as much as the next girl, but at the end of the day he knows (and more importantly believes) that my opinions matter as much as his, my thoughts count the same as his, my voice is equal to his. At the end of the day, we both call ourselves feminist. I wonder if any Gorean women can say the same of their mates (in RL or SL) and I wonder if there are any Gorean men that have the balls to label themselves ‘feminist’.
Obvious Schism
Sep 7th, 2009
“According to the website for the Gorean Meter, one of the combat meters for SL Gor, there are 14,223 regions taking part in Gor with 6,338 listed male avatars and 10,124 listed female avatars.”
Region: “A named 256m x 256m (65,536 m²) area hosted by a single simulator process (sim).” (http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Region#Region)
6,338 male avatars + 10,124 female avatars = 16,462
So not even taking into account alts and concurrency, there is on average approximately one Gorean avatar per Gorean region? Who do they find to have combat with in such a vast expanse of emptiness?
Or, given that the “Total number of Main Grid regions is now 28902, 23358 private estates… & 5544 Linden owned…” i.e. a total number of 57,804 regions (http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/virtual-business/8523-new-second-life-sims-past-18.html) then that would mean Gorean regions account for around 25% of all regions. Is Gor really that pervasive?
Some discrepancies here, surely?
Jessica Holyoke
Sep 7th, 2009
Odette,
I used the title “Gorean Feminist” because it identifies myself as opposed to the nature of the guide. And I feel that this guide is unique in that most depictions of “what Gor *is*” focus on the activities instead of the participants. People will write about the bondage aspects without asking what the people behind the screen view what is happening.
And maybe its my own point of view, but the Gorean novels are very much anti-feminist. I am not a book expert so don’t ask me for quotes and page numbers, but in I believe Kajira of Gor, the protagonist woman is blamed for being a feminist and wanting to ‘kill men’ by emasculating them.
And one of the interesting things about Gor on SL is that there appears to be more women characters than men. (Accounting for men who play as women, women who play as men and alt account combinations.) It appears that the women who seek out Gor are similar to women who seek out traditional Christian marriage or who want to be the stay at home mothers. Its like Phyllis Schaffly with more sex.
Obvious,
Here’s a few more complications. People can use the Gorean meter server in order to supplement their roleplay lives so they can be on a region with no one else but it should count in the Gorean meter totals. Every alt account, so long as they use the gorean meter, should register as one person. The Gorean meter is not the only battle meter out there. Metalife, the Honor meter and the GLM are all alternative meters. Plus I’m not sure how the database is populated on the gorean meter site whether its a grand cumulative total which is way too low or a total of people using the meter during a specific time frame for a determined amount of time. If I was traveling from sim to sim, its possible to change meters a few times so the database might only search during specific times or during specific activities.
As far as Gor being sparse, that all depends. There are a few well populated cities, there is the always crowded Gor Hub, but some sims are sometimes empty of people.
Chav
Sep 7th, 2009
What’s feminist about this? Isn’t “Gorean feminist” an oxymoron? Aside from that what’s the point of this article? Either we know or we don’t care, you’ve brought nothing new in terms of insight.
Mary Elizabeth
Sep 7th, 2009
“Slave wine” and the control of reproduction based on place in society is eugenics.
Sacha Kessel
Sep 7th, 2009
—–
ummm…..how exactly is this a feminist guide to anything? It seems to me just a breakdown of Gor, but doesn’t exactly give a feminist POV on anything. I was really expecting to see a breakdown of the misogyny language and a more critical view of how this patriarchy parallels the own we live in IRL. Perhaps you could have even broken the seemingly taboo subject of how there are ACTUAL parts of the world where women really are treated not all that different than they’re treated in Gor. (From what I can tell, it’s taboo because people don’t seem to have fun when they realize they’re mimicking and playing at the exact subjugation another is unwillingly suffering through. Only instead of course instead of the men ‘pretending’ they’re better than women, they really think they are.)
You say you enjoy the structured role play, but not the gendered politics. I can certainly appreciate the love of a good game. But aren’t there other, highly structured and gender equal role playing sims? You know, ones that don’t deal in slavery, misogyny and an oppressive male dominated hierarchy? I don’t roleplay, so I honestly don’t know.
Calling yourself a feminist, is a good first step to actually being a feminist. I like to be dominated by my bf as much as the next girl, but at the end of the day he knows (and more importantly believes) that my opinions matter as much as his, my thoughts count the same as his, my voice is equal to his. At the end of the day, we both call ourselves feminist. I wonder if any Gorean women can say the same of their mates (in RL or SL) and I wonder if there are any Gorean men that have the balls to label themselves ‘feminist’.
——
While certainly not defined as a lifestyler, or even really as a Dom, I am certainly considered an A-type personality. I also RP in Gor, have read all of those horrid books, and to destroy the eventual flames, I’m a successful business man with two degrees, a happy family, and low body fat ratio. I, like you, enjoy the D/s game in my life, and like you, at the end of the day call myself a feminist. So yes, I have the balls to say it, as do many of my contemporaries.
Avabee
Sep 7th, 2009
I’m curious: have any statistics on national origins of those who participate in SL Gor been gathered?
If not, does anyone have a guess as to the popularity of that RP theme among Residents of different nationalities?
Chris P. Bacon
Sep 7th, 2009
I do wonder, what is the Gorean philosophy in regard to chickens? I’ve never read the books but I’m curious as to whether they include reference to Kajira Chickens? Or perhaps Panther Chickens? Does Gorean culture discriminate against chickens or are chickens given equal value in Gorean culture?
Speaking as a chickenist, I can’t respect any culture that sees chickens as mere chattel slaves. Rise ye chickens! Throw off your shackles of oppression. Lay ye not the egg for the oppressor so that their breakfasts will go uncompleted!
Archie Lukas
Sep 8th, 2009
.
I see.
10,124 females is a lot of alt’s for the three real women who actually reside in Gor.
.
missedthepointtotally
Sep 8th, 2009
“What’s feminist about this? Isn’t “Gorean feminist” an oxymoron? Aside from that what’s the point of this article? Either we know or we don’t care, you’ve brought nothing new in terms of insight.”
“ummm…..how exactly is this a feminist guide to anything?”
————————————————————
Looooks like a few people missed the point on this one, totally.
Go back and do a REDO, as in, re-read.
Then decide if you consider this more of the same old rehash on this blogsite.
Ari Blackthorne
Sep 8th, 2009
Well written.
Except a “Panther” is a four-legged carnivorous feline that will attempt to eat you whole – just like the ones one might find on Earth. So, if you are referring to “Forest Girls, sometimes called Panther Girls” (per quoted description in the book) – then you might know that calling them simple “Panthers” is BLASPHEMOUS DISNEY GORCRAFT NONSENSE!!!
LOL
-winks-
But seriously – well-written. Except for that one snafu, of course.
Sacha Kessel
Sep 8th, 2009
I do wonder, what is the Gorean philosophy in regard to chickens? I’ve never read the books but I’m curious as to whether they include reference to Kajira Chickens? Or perhaps Panther Chickens? Does Gorean culture discriminate against chickens or are chickens given equal value in Gorean culture?
Speaking as a chickenist, I can’t respect any culture that sees chickens as mere chattel slaves. Rise ye chickens! Throw off your shackles of oppression. Lay ye not the egg for the oppressor so that their breakfasts will go uncompleted!
—————–
Ok, replace chicken, with Vulo, and you’ve got it….
BTW? Complete Win.
Jacko
Sep 8th, 2009
Avabee
Just to answer your question, besides people from the US and Canada, I have met goreans from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Czech Republic, Hungary, a Russian, Australia, New Zealand and Latin American (I am latin american myself). So I guess that the community and the books are quite popular world wide.
Bubblesort
Sep 9th, 2009
The closest thing to chickens in Gor are vulo, but they are smaller than Urth chickens (Urth == Earth).
John Lange wrote gor back in the 60s as a response to extremist second wave feminism. I think both sides of the debate went too far back in the 60s. I do sympathize with him, but he’s not a good writer. If not for the BDSM culture adopting it Gor would have probably faded into history remembered by only a few as a trashy sex novel. Such is the power of small niche communities in the digital age.
It’s as hard to say that “goreans do X” or “goreans do Y” as it is to say “americans do X” or “americans do Y”, and the books don’t really clear anything up. Everybody is “by the book” according to them, and they argue it all the time like different denominations of Christians argue over the Bible. It gets downright silly sometimes.
Great article, though. I’m glad to see somebody describe the complexities of Gor for once rather than making blanket statements about it.
Ari Blackthorne
Sep 9th, 2009
“Urth” is not a Gorean word. Neither is “Servery” or “Scribery” and many others for that matter. LOL
Not blaming the ones using it – onlinisms are onlinisms because the users of onlinisms don’t know they are using onlinisms, primarily because what they do know of the “Gor world” is from hearsay as they haven’t actually read the books.
This is why the “population” on SL Gor dwindles rapidly. Many who try to be “BTB” (Which many sims that call themselves this, aren’t) – are moving-on and leaving the Gorcraft and Disney crowds to have the whole playground.
Oh and as for all those Gor sims: many have been sunk (abandoned to LL) – but they remain in the listings and such. Same for the group rolls – only maybe 10 to 20% of the names in those groups are active at all.
/me snickers.
Emperor Norton Hears a Who?
Sep 9th, 2009
Bubblesort,
You ducked the question about chicken oppression. Just giving a chicken a cheesy made up pseudo-Latin name doesn’t cut mustard here.
Quit being an apologist and man up to it; are chickens held in slavery or not Bubblesort?
I think the Gorians are hiding a terrible crime here.
Ari Blackthorne
Sep 9th, 2009
@Emporor:
I do hope you are sitting down…
The vulo (chickens) of Gor are in fact hyeld in bondage. However it is important you understand there is NO DISCRIMINATION as the bosk (cows) and other domesticated animals are all held and cooked likewise equally.
In fact, they help support the mission and goals of PETA and do so with great honor and gusto.
Oh, that’s “Peaople Eating Tasty Animals”.
So yes. No one really cares about the human sluts in chains – that’s to be expected. And the slaughtering of bosk cattle a tradition as all those steak-loving individuals with pointy eye-teeth can attest. But the utter and absolute SHAME!!! …of the roasted vulo in bondage is an terrible disgrace on all Goreans and the very planet of Gor itself!
/me hangs his head low in shame and walks shakily off into the distance… toward the smell of roasting chickens, actually.
Emperor Norton Hears a Who?
Sep 10th, 2009
Ari Blackthorne@:
“The vulo (chickens) of Gor are in fact hyeld in bondage. However it is important you understand there is NO DISCRIMINATION as the bosk (cows) and other domesticated animals are all held and cooked likewise equally.”
That still doesn’t excuse the mass chicken abuse in those sims. As your Gorians point out all the time Gor is REAL™, not some made up fantasy crap like ancient Rome or medieval England, just look at the books. Just using a bunch stupid names tossed off by some 3rd rate Robert E Howard wannabe doesn’t hide a bad thing is being done. Food is the bases of any society. If you have no respect for you food, you have no respect for other people.
Free Gor chickens now.
Kitten Jigsaw
Sep 14th, 2009
The Gor books were an exercise in social engineering and propaganda, part of an obvious backlash against the emergence of human rights movements and feminism in the 1960s. Seems to be working. Scary and sad.
Bunny Brickworks
Sep 15th, 2009
I have a new heroine, her name is Kitten Jigsaw. A woman with brains is hard to find among the commenters, hold her tight, don’t let her go!
Thanks for restoring my faith in (wo)mankind, Kitten.
brinda allen
Sep 17th, 2009
There’s an ass for every saddle… I guess some of those asses prefer to “live” in more of a fantasy world than others. After all women have gone thru over millenia…That some would chose to even RP in a situation of subservience just amazes me. Thanks but no thanks…not even if some chose to pay my substancial Linden tier.
sativa marabana
Jan 5th, 2010
can anyone tell me this…. sinc3e when has offering a free woman Larma Juice been wrong ???
is a woman drinking larma juice suggestful and courting a collar..
this slave had her head scraggted for the mere offer of a serve ..
Pugiron
Sep 15th, 2010
Bublesport, you obviously know nothign about Gor as the books were written by John Norman-BADLY. They are horrible books, not because of the reaterded philosophy, byt because they are boring, long winded, contradict each other, filled with cultures directly lifted from earth history then given silly “alien” names and just damn stupid.
kayakyak
Oct 16th, 2010
Norman was a total reactionary – the first book, published in ’67, is quite mild compared to the rest of the series. Norman’s obsession with pure domination increases with each book in direct relation to the progress of the women’s movement around him. He was an hysteric really, as well as a piss poor writer.
Sandi-lou
Jan 5th, 2011
To me the Gorean sims in SL are like live theatre in the round. They are open 24/7 and allow the person to come in and visit, roleplay, get in a fight or even do a bit of furring. Every “actor” has a role and access to the master scripts (the John Norman novels). You can lose yourself for an hour or two totally immersed in a drama where time is suspended and you become that person on the screen.
…Shoot, you can even chase vulos if you desire.
Perhaps that is going too far but if you know the content of the books and follow the general rules, you can have a ton of fun playing with the interior of another’s “little grey cells”.
grins*
Tessa
Mar 13th, 2011
@Kitten Jigsaw,
It’s possible to be a fully empowered human being 100% capable of making one’s own choices, and choose to give that power over to someone else. This is not anti-feminist if a lesbian or gay couple practices BDSM, and it’s not anti-feminist if a straight culture practices it either, regardless of who dominates or who submits.
In real life, anytime I submit to someone, I can always choose to withdraw my consent if I want. But I might want a fantasy where I don’t *get* to choose. There’s nothing wrong with this fantasy, as a fantasy. And living out that fantasy in a virtual world means I have many avenues of recourse if I don’t like the way it turns out, up to and including simply not logging in anymore.
Yes, John Norman is anti-feminist in real life. Yes, many people who roleplay as Gorean are anti-feminist in real life. But the popularity of Gor in a safe virtual space is not a triumph of anti-feminism, just a triumph of people having politically incorrect fantasy lives while still living in a real-life world where we can count on our human rights being upheld thanks to the fact that feminism has won that battle so completely that those rights are not even in doubt anymore.
Yep
Apr 22nd, 2011
I hope that this gorean gets the chair. http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/04/john_joseph_hauff_66-year-old.php
I wonder if this weirdo gorean played in SL.
Mereniel
May 3rd, 2011
The man referenced in the article is not representative of the BDSM community or the Gorean lifestyle community. He is just a sexual predator. Remember when people blamed rock music for violent crimes among young people? Then when violent video games became popular, people starting claiming the games were at fault. Not so. It is the individual who is responsible for his own actions. Not the music, not the game and not the books.
Mereniel
May 3rd, 2011
i did not choose to leave a website link, and the “leave a reply” form stated that my email would not be published. What does it do? it converts the email to a link. Why do this? Is it possible for a forum reader to pull my email address out of this link? And there is no way to delete my post, even though it is listed as awaiting moderation. I don’t like this.
Merla
Feb 2nd, 2012
Well that didn’t work. Came here looking for a couple answers and though I had some, when everyone started commenting about how the writer wasn’t a feminist…or the article wasn’t feminist. I guess if you want feminism you have to go FAR away from anything Gorean.
Not at all interested in playing house with a bunch of misogynistic people. Let us all just admit that there is no REAL place for feminists in Gor and therefore “any opinion that a woman might have” (that wasn’t dictated and authorized by her misogynistic male master) is FEMINISM.
So much for the suspension of disbelief in role-play. Just wish the Gorean Meter system wasn’t tied to the Gorean name.
~Merla~
Aneesh
Aug 12th, 2012
I sit here reading these comments about gor and what John Normandy wrote but I have yet to see the actual truth about it all. The gor books are fiction. Lets define fiction, fiction means lies not the truth deception. So btb or disney or gor evolved dosn’t matter what ever gor your in your roleplaying in a lie. Best I seen said so far is that gor is like a theater with actors and actresses. That is exactly what it is. What makes sl gor so diverse is everyone’s interpretation of the books or online experience. I don’t care what role play you do be realistic about it.
You can role play being a plank on the floor and it is still role play. As far as A Gorean Feminist’s guide. Honestly the author did well to explain what types of sims and how you should act. Gor in sl is diverse being a female avtar either male real life or female real life you need to adjust and understand.