When Goreans talk about natural order we are reaching back into our evolutionary past and drawing forth the functional methods of primitive society for examination. These methods in ancient times had the purpose of species survival. Those instinctual responses, which support species survival, are still very much a part of the human psyche. What began with primate pecking order evolved into a social order of shared power. I was watching a documentary on the Discovery channel and the following illustration seems to fit well as a comparison between patriarchal social order and matriarchal social order - and the nature of the participants.

It is, perhaps, easier to observe the evolutionary difference between a patriarchal society and a matriarchal society by examining the social differences between chimpanzees and bonobos. These two primate species have the same ancestral roots, but evolved on opposites sides of the Congo River. Chimpanzee society is patriarchal and aggressive. The most powerful male controls the band and subordinate males work together to protect the group from outsiders, provide food, and patrol territory. Sexual preference is given to the most powerful males. All females are subordinate to mature males, though mature females are often shown respect by maturing males depending on the rank of the female in the band. Bonobo society is matriarchal and non-aggressive. The groups are widely interrelated, non-territorial and sexually openly expressive. Males are subordinate to females. When two bands meet there is often female-to-female sexual expression. Indeed researchers found that bonoboes spend most of their time eating and fucking. From this very broad overview it is easy to see that human primitive society echoes Chimpanzee society rather than bonobo society. Much as we might admire the easygoing bonoboes we don't, as a species, behave that way.

Humans, thankfully, can reason the merits of bonobo-like social goals. It's a nice ideal to value the freedom of a non-territorial open range. It is a nice ideal to value open sexual expression. It is a nice ideal to be free from fear of aggression. However, humans were not free to entertain these ideals until they adapted some social methods of controlling the aggression of territorialism. Humans discovered that by cooperation and sharing power outside aggression could be held off, and the structures of internal society began to evolve. Participants within the group determined social values and morals, and over time modern society evolved.

John Norman (Professor John Lange) wrote a series of science-fiction fantasy books based on an offworld primitive human society that had been artificially prevented from developing technology beyond the rudimentary stages. Whereas here on Earth humans advanced crop production and manufacturing, on fantasy Gor the population is kept at low numbers by the restraints of natural crop production and an enforced lack of industrial advancement. The result is a warlord state of rivalries in a patriarchal society echoing the primitive values and ideals similar to the structure of chimpanzee society as opposed to bonobo society as illustrated above.

So here we sit at our computers with our stack of science-fiction fantasy books that appeal to our basic social instincts, trying to recreate online a primitive social structure. This chaotic medium with its inherent unpredictable elements (connection dynamics, identification dynamics, integrity dynamics) is a fair breeding ground for primitive society. With very few authoritative dynamics this medium feeds the desire for open range territory, open sexual expression and broad social alliances. Those elements, teasingly enticing from bonobo society, lure modern evolved humans, tamed by generations of social structure, into this fresh new territory of the mind. There our instinctual aggressions run free amongst the tamed bonobos of human society. Goreans are like the chimpanzees, and we do not wish to be reformed.

Gorean social structure is explained and alluded to in Norman's novels. He goes into great detail to explain the evolution of a man's thinking process from Terran references, to a point of Gorean functionality. He explains and illustrates the interaction between Gorean Masters and their female slaves and indeed this single topic takes up the majority of the novel's progression. Norman offers known examples of non-ideal stereotypes and then draws parallels and opposites to explain his ideals. So for the ideal of a Gorean Master, the weaker Terran male is held up for comparison.

In modern Western society the push for equality between the genders, equality between the social classes, and equality between cultural and ethnic groups has resulted in a sharing of power that had previously been held primarily by white upper-class males. This equalizing of power has filtered down so that all men are beginning to feel the loss of power across the social structures of culture, ethnenticity, and class. "Men's groups" have been appearing in number since the mid 1970's. Western men identify with the Norman's fictional comparison between the Gorean Master and the Terran male because their personal experiences and first hand accountings bear out the truth in the comparison. A great many men self-identify with the Gorean Master, and would like to manifest his ideal traits. In online Gorean circles there are far more Gorean Masters than there are their social opposites, the Gorean male slave or kajirus. In my five plus years of online Gorean social interaction I have become aware that most men exploring the role of Gorean Master are in fact average men. They are indeed free as opposed to slave, but they are barely able to master themselves, let alone anyone else. We hold the ideal in high regard, but few actually meet the mark.

So much more the ambiguous position of the Gorean free woman or Mistress, as Norman gave us no model examples of free women for comparison. His heterosexual preferences indicated a need for female slaves at the beckon call of his idealistic Masters, so to illustrate the meaning of the Gorean female slave, or kajira, he stood up an icy cold bitch who did not communicate her acceptance of her place in Gorean society. As a result these "freewomen" were, without exception, "shown her place at the feet of men." This example was repeated so often that it is nearly impossible to find a good illustration of how a good free woman should behave. But her manner and behavior is alluded to in some of his comments and reference points. For example, he indicates that less than 3% of the female population was kajirae. This indicates that over 96% of the population of women was free. He maintains that it is a patriarchal society. Therefore the vast majority of women *must* be at least companionable if not downright pleasant. The frigid, ignorant, aggressive 'freewoman' so often converted to slavery cannot possibly be the norm, as the number of slaves would increase. It is further illogical to imagine that this patriarchal society would put up with vast majority of women behaving with such rude and abusive manners. A realistic look at free women must account for an overwhelming majority of pleasant, happy, expressive, intelligent, socially participating women who were respected and enjoyed by the male population. So since Norman didn't give us an example of a good freewoman, we are left to look amongst our own society for women of merit and value who retain their personal freedom.

It is apparent by the enormous number of online kajirae that there are women who self-identify with the sexually expressive socially repressed examples given in the novels. There is an apparent starvation for masculine expression, power, dominance, and support as evidenced by the number of women married, single, and divorced who flock to the illusion of the Gorean Master online. There, women have three types of names. Upper cased women are supposed to be free women. Lower cased women are supposed to be kajirae. And then some lower cased women bear a bracketed indication of her ownership by a man, woman, couple or group association (Inns, taverns and home stones). This basic duality between upper and lower cased names online is a manifestation of Norman's observation that inside every woman is a Free companion seeking her mate, and a slave seeking her Master. This claim is an echo of the basic female duality between social subservience to men, and individual personal integrity in a patriarchal society.

To understand what a free woman is one must understand Norman's concept of a kajira or female slave. Repeatedly in the novels Norman uses emotionally inflammatory words and phrases to entice people to reexamine the definitions, and thus think about how the reader defines his world. The kajirae are slaves, but in modern society slavery is very wrong. The kajirae are often branded, collared and treated as chattel; they can be sold. They have no rights, and yet they are often shown to be ecstatically happy in their slavery. When a slave is used sexually it is often called rape, or slave rape. Norman gives example of male aggression but not cruelty, as western society would define it. In some instances he gives an erotic allusion to the master wringing such pleasure out of the woman, as she has never expressed before - indeed that he does not allow her to hide her sexual expression. This is to modern western ears more on the order of an aggressive seduction rather than a violent rape. Her "unwillingness" is not an unwillingness to engage in the sexual act, but an unwillingness to let go of her perceptions of what she is allowed socially to express. The master enables her, encourages her, to express her full feminine beauty and sexual power, and as a result enjoys his own ability to bring this out in her. This is hardly an undesirable state for either party.

This reward of expression is strictly monitored by the men through this institute of sexual slavery, on Gor. With a little effort examples of similar, less ideal 'slavery' can be found in our society as well - women staying with abusive husbands because he offers conditional affection as well - as one example. It is difficult for those not in such a relationship to understand why a woman stays, but it is the punishment/reward process of training that reinforces the sometimes barely veiled threats of violent men. Where Gor is an ideal, the manifestation in modern society is rarely responsible or honorable. However, through social interactions online, and personal accountability from male peers… reaching back to that primate pecking order… online Goreans do police their own to the best of their ability. Goreans reach to the philosophy of Gor to enforce community standards. People in association interpret the philosophy relative to themselves and each other. This allows for some variance between separate and interactive associations.

The philosophy, as I understand it, asks me to be the greatest human being I can be, and to attain the maximum of my potential. Be whom I am inside, without the masks society teaches us to pretend. Ideals challenge the individual to stand by your word, speak the truth, value yourself, and manifest your beliefs in your actions. Question your beliefs that you might know their source and be strong in your convictions out of truth, not rhetoric. Hold yourself accountable for your words and actions - do what you say you will do, and do not make empty promises. Hold others accountable for their words and actions. Do not accept responsibility for those things that are not within your control. Stand with others when they are right, even if you don't ascribe to their beliefs, or agree to disagree. Do not compromise your standards. Aim high.

I was asked, prior to writing this paper, what it means to be a free woman. For me, it means I have made a commitment to myself to manifest those philosophical ideals I just listed. It means that I am not playing some online role game, but actually living this philosophy to the best of my ability. It means that no man, in whom I have invested, finds me to be a kajira. I am free by the will of men - this is a manifestation of that primate pecking order first mentioned. The powerful men in my life do not see me as a kajira; therefore I am not a kajira. Does this make me in any way less a woman? Not in the least. I manifest my inner beauty. I express my sensuality. I articulate my intelligence. I express my respect for the men in my life, and am subservient to their recognized authority.

Gor is an inherently dangerous "game" to play as we are striving to reach an ideal, and most of the time falling short of that ideal. Those who participate, particularly the kajirae, absolutely must keep in mind that they are messing with the top predator on the planet and his nature is not 'bonobo', but 'chimpanzee.' Very few of the online Gorean Masters who posture around playing Gor are truly masters of themselves and capable of the care, attention, love, responsibility, accountability, honor and personal discipline that is vitally necessary to be the Master of a kajirae. It is wonderful that this ideal and the philosophy that supports this ideal is an available example for some men to strive to manifest, but the potential risk is high when he fails to meet the mark. This is particularly so because "the mark" is difficult to define.

This difficulty is not exclusive to the male gender. Free women rarely meet the mark either. So many capped nick women run around seeking collars by their ill manners and appalling behavior that I am more inclined to believe they are simply not Gorean than that they are anything close to an example of what a free woman "should" be. I can understand why some women have been back and forth between free and slave many times; the men who collared them failed to find them at all pleasing and released them again upon society in hopes that perhaps the next man will find some merit in her ungraceful manners and disrespectful behavior. I can only point to the novels as the source of this misconception as Norman's examples of free women, and the need for a diametric opposite to explain the kajirae, offers only poor examples who without exception ended up in a collar or a panther camp.

Online there is often an expressed hope that someday the released companion or freed slave will become comfortable with her position in Gorean society and will learn to express herself in a respectful and pleasing manner, as befits a truly free woman, or that she will eventually find the man to whom she can finally fall to her knees and devote herself. These hopes are most often lost in the lack of community correction and misinformation spewed out in the form of out-of-context quotes from the novels. Yes, a free woman is *allowed* to mouth off to a free man of her city, but is that really the wisest course of action? Does it really illustrate the kind of person she is inside? If so then those women will find themselves loathed for the ugly creatures they are inside. But please don't call them free women, as it mars the beauty and power available to those women who truly strive to manifest the philosophy.

I try express my understanding of my place on Gor not just to those few men who have power over me, but to all people with whom I interact. No one is likely to go knocking on my Ubar's door to call for an accounting of my behavior. I endeavor to represent myself in such a way, that there is no question of my integrity. I accept that some people will simply not understand me, and I do not take responsibility for each individual's understanding. Nor do I accept responsibility for other people's feelings, emotions, or responses to me. These things are beyond my control. I might knowingly or unknowingly influence others and for that I will give an accounting, but it's not my job to preserve other people's personal integrity. I operate upon my own will. No man owns me. Though under the right circumstances I am willing to surrender my will to an authority, I choose very carefully those in whom I place my full trust.

I speak politely to people in general, until it's time to not be polite. I laugh. I tease lightly. I speak intimately with men. I find comfort in the embrace of a Gorean Master, and often friendship in his manner in response to mine. I am afforded respect and status by my words and behavior, and I trust in the judgment of those who have named me free. I am direct in my approach with both words and actions. I do not make a move without some logic and reasoning behind me. I do my best to not stick my foot in my mouth, although when that does happen I do my best to pull it out gracefully. Grace, I believe that is the key to being a free woman. Poise, intelligence, grace, politeness, respect and honorable intentions are the tools of self-empowerment. Women who throw these things aside and are abrasive, confrontational, rude and disrespectful demonstrate to the community how very unlike a free woman is their behavior and manner.

Perhaps someday some man will step into my life and place steel around my neck and name me kajira. That is a reasonable possibility. I trust that if that should happen, he would be able to back up his claim and show me that manifestation of myself. I will not discount this possibility. However, so far no one has taken that action. I presume I am valued high enough as a free woman to warrant the status I am granted. I revel in my place in Gorean society. I am content. I am free.

So the question then begs asking: Why are there not more 'good' free women to be found in online Gor? After all, the above essay simply vocalizes what is well known about Gorean society by a denizen of Gorean association. Obviously anyone else making similar observations will come to similar conclusions, so why aren't there more free women of Gor who epitomize this good Gorean freewoman example? The answer is dependant on the men of Gor. Where the men hold the free women accountable for maintaining standards, there you will find ideal free women. Where the men consistently support their free women, there you will find ideal free women. Where the men value the presence of free women, recognize the beauty and complexities of women, and delight in the variety and complexity of women both free and slave, there you will find ideal free women.

-Kestrel ©2003