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amelliagrace -> RE: FW Dialogue (1/15/2008 10:20:43 AM)
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Time to tell you about myself, I suppose. Different font than usual, to make this easier to follow. Remind me to tell you sometime about why I use color when I "talk" online.
I'm curious as to what age you were when you
A. Became interested in Gorean philosophy and life My upbringing had, in many ways, a rather gorean flavor to it. Certainly not "by the books", though I dare say that my father would have been completely at home among the GM I've met in this forum. I have strong reason to believe that he read the books, though I can not prove this, and he is no longer with us for me to ask. My mother I would describe as submissive to the point that you could flip a coin as to whether she was "slave" or "submissive partner". In time she became an FW, though always submissive (with notable, unforgetable exceptions) to my dad. Anyway, my upbringing predisposed me to looking at couple, family, and community dynamics and seeing them as fascinating to study. Long before I knew the word "Gorean", many elements of Gorean philosophy and viewpoint were a part of me.
As a teenager my first exposure to the Gor series could be summed up as "interesting concepts, but not enough for me to endure reading these." (I have, however, begun reading the series again, but I'm not making headway very fast.)
About 8 years ago I began to run into people online and off who spoke of Gorean life. I found them far more interesting than the books - even the ones that I considered to be idiots or lunatics. The living Goreans of this forum I don't tend to think of as idiots or lunatics.
B. Began to think of and identify yourself as Gorean Thusfar, I don't. I am what I am, and certainly there are aspects of Gorean philosophy which area part of me.
C. Became a slave (if you were one prior to being a FW) I've never been a slave, and never thought of myself as one. Certain aspects of my upbringing, however, would probably have qualified as slavery or slave training in the minds of many. Interesting, in light of part D...
D. Became an FW I was raised by a free Man to be a free Woman. Specific lessons were giving to me as a child and young woman, to instill in me the differences between slave and free, and to ensure that I would seek a life consistent with my nature. Essentially, my father was wise enough to see what was in my, and tailor my upbringing to it. Had I been a slave at heart, he would have tailord my rearing to that.
and if there were any particular life events that fascilitated, mandated, or precipitated a the change in your status. Freedom is a fascinating thing. One can be a free person on the inside, and not be so on the outside. One can seem so on the outside, and not be so on the inside. The free person may find themself at times having their freedom limited, or restricted. There is always the choice of whether to accept this, forfieting personal freedoms and sovereignty for expediency, or to fight to reclaim. (I view such situations as far different from making the choice to subordinate one's actions out of the best interests of home stone, or out of cooperative endeavor as a means to an end.)
There are a couple situations and circumstances in my life which cost me part of my freedom and personal sovereignty for a time. Though the circumstances were far different than those of Tarl and Jason, and though I did not lose nearly so much of my freedom, I too fought and worked to regain those, for they are supremely important to me.
Were you at any point a non-Gorean slave prior to becoming a FW? No
At what age did you become a slave?
An FW?
Do you differentiate between being "submissive" and being "slave"? Yes. Within the BDSM subcultures this is definitely the case. Within what I've seen of Gorean life, there are also slave personalities, submissive personalities, and dominant personalities. This has to do with the human spectrum, seperately from status. With regard to status, I think in terms of slave, FP, FC.
Do you consider yourself to be a dominant? No, though it can appear otherwise at times. That may have something to do with me being an INFJ on the Myers-Briggs personality assessment scale. I'm an introvert who often looks like an extrovert.
Were there any specific events in your life which either fascilitated, mandated, or precipitated this change? There were definite events and situations which caused me to seize liberties temporarily lost or impinged upon. That is all I'm prepared to share at this point.
What particular points of philosophy and lifestyle keep you from identifying as a Gorean? My preceptions of the apparent double standards with which some Gorean principles are applied to men and women, my inherent skeptisism of any belief system that is overly strictured, deep seeded resistance to doing much of anything "by the book" without plenty of good reasons to. "That is just the way it is" or "the way it is done" doesn't go very far with me.
What aspects of Gorean philosophy and interaction with Goreans cause you to spend time in this particular Gorean forum? The living Goreans here, and some of the non-Gorean regulars to this board are people who've proven over and over again that they have substance to their thought processes. The values they claim to revere in thier lives are ones I too value. The quality of the conversations are superior to most discussion environments I've been exposed to. There is depth to the people and the discussion. This obviously isn't a role play haven. Discourse here is quite civil.
Yeah, I know, way TMI, but there you have it-
Grace
Edited to add a minor point of clarification
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