Trevelyan
Posts: 528
Joined: 6/12/2006
From: Mountain View, CA
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quote:
ORIGINAL: RoughFN
I'll be upfront and say that I know squat about Gor beyond the vague notion that there's a series of sci-fi books with a lot of sex in them. I have a vague notion that people talk about being gorean when they want to emphasize that they're really extreme in the [DM]/s relationships. I don't know if that's accurate.
I'll also say that I'm not trying to be rude, I just genuinely am unfamiliar with this.
But I've been wondering...what's with all the emphasis on this series of books? I mean, they're just fiction and just sci-fi, right? And when I look at it from that perspective, the whole thing starts to sound kinda silly. It strikes me as the same type of people that run around dressing up as Star Trek characters or wishing they could be in the Star Wars universe riding a Bantha. I knew of someone once who insisted she was a Decepticon. Not just identified with their philosophies or anything like that. She actually insisted she was really a 40 foot tall robot from outer space.
So how does the gorean lifestyle differ from daydreaming or following the philosophies of any other series of sci fi books? If I said that I followed the philosophy of Battlestar Galactica, I'd be considered a loon (or eccentric at best). If a bunch of people got together and said they followed the philosophy of Star Wars (and according to internet lore "Jedi" has been listed as a religion on British census forms), we'd still be widely considered nuts.
But Gor seems reasonably acceptable or tolerated (at least in the bdsm world). Sure, they may be viewed as fringe players, but that's about it.
And I question - is that due to the sci fi reference? Is it all just about a deeper more serious level of power exchange? And, if so - why need the association with the books at all? Can't you just say that you operate at a more serious level and be done with it? Why try to bring in a series of books that are clearly fiction (and marketed as such?) and use that as the overarching metaphor?
Rough,
A couple of folks here have already given you the very best advice if you want to understand Gor:
1. Read the books
2. Read the posts here
However, since I feel like it, I am going to do my best to answer your question directly.
First, you are right, the books are fiction, and science fiction to boot. Fiction, as someone once said, is an artfully told lie that manages to convey something of the truth. For example, have you ever heard of a book called The Red Badge of Courage? It is a novel about a young man going into combat for the first time during the Civil War. The man who wrote it, when he wrote it, had never been in combat. He had, however, spoken to a number of veterans and wove what they told him into his story, and the result is a very realistic description of what it really is like to be in combat. An artfully told lie that managed to convey the truth pretty well.
Perhaps you have heard of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. The theme of the novel is that slavery is evil and cruel and should be abolished. It had a tremendous effect in strengthening the Abolisionist cause and in it's way helped bring about the end of slavery in the United States.
Novelists write novels for different reasons: to make money, to have fun, to tell a story, to convey emotion, to support a theme (like Uncle Tom's Cabin did). I think that John Norman probably had several reasons for writing the novels, but one of them was to address a problem he saw in society and show a possible solution to that problem.
He felt that many people in the United States in the last 40 years have been and are unhappy, unhealthy and unfulfilled. He is not the only person to address this issue - lots of writers, musicians and other artists, along with sociologists, psychologists and others would probably agree with that statement. Norman's theme in the novels is that the reason people are unhappy, unhealthy and unfulfilled is because American culture is out of sync with the way that evolution has shaped human beings to live and to thrive.
Modern humans are members of the genus Homo, and of the species Homo Sapiens. Although timelines are inexact other members of genus Homo have existed for about the last 2 million years, and Homo Sapiens for about 200,000 years. For almost all of that time, we and our ancestors lived as hunter-gatherers. It was only about 10,000 years ago that we figured out agriculture and could develop civilization. What this means is that evolution has adapted us to be effective hunter-gatherers and that relativly little evolutionary time has passed since we stopped being hunter-gatherers. Certainly this is apparent in our physical and mental adaptations. Physically and mentally we are essentially the same as our hunter gatherer ancestors.
Hunter gatherers lived in small, cohesive, nomadic bands who spent their entire lives struggling to stay alive. That struggle shaped us not only physically, but also in terms of what feels good to us, what feels right to us, what we believe and what we value.
In describing "Gorean" culture and philosophy, Norman is essential explaining his ideas about a culture that is more in sync with the beliefs and values formed in our evolutionary past. His ideas have also been shaped by his study of philosophy.
Ok, now for an example: one key "Gorean" idea is the Home Stone. A Home Stone is literally a stone, a rock. Every home on Gor has one. So does every village or city. (The city-state, like in ancient Greece and Rome, is the largest political entity on Gor. There are no modern nation-states.) A Home Stone is a symbol, very similar to a flag. It symbolizes territory and sovereignty. So when a Gorean man places his Home Stone, he is saying "this is my territory" and within his territory he is sovereign. A Gorean also swears an oath of allegience to the Home Stone of his village or city. Consider these ideas in the light of our hunter-gatherer past. I think that a man who can stand on his own two feet and be loyal to his band would be an evolutionary asset, and one who can't and won't would be a detriment. Now think about today - how many people do you know who are sovereign in their own lives? Can you think of one? Do you think that people would be happier if they were determined to be sovereign? How many people would you say are loyal to a group larger than themselves? Norman (and I) think that, in general, people are happier, healthier and more fulfilled when we identify with and are actively loyal to a group larger than ourselves, and that evolution has shaped us to be happy when we are and unhappy when we are not. Oh, and on Gor, if a man betrays his oath to the Home Stone of his city he will probably be impaled. A hunter-gatherer band probably had to demand active loyalty and elminate those who could not give it.
Another example: on Gor, nearly everyone has a "Caste." Don't think of Caste like in India. Think of a group of people who share a common profession or trade. Some of the Castes are Builder, Physician, Scribe, Warrior, Merchant, and Metal Worker. Caste gives a Gorean a sense of identity and pride. Consider the situation today. How many people do you know who gain identity and pride from their work. There are some, and I think they are probably much happier, healthier and more fulfilled that the masses who hate their work, do a poor, unethical job of it, and spend all day complaining about it. Think back to our ancestors - think about the pride you would have to feel to help you go up against the sabertoothed tiger with a sharpened stick.
A third example - the Gorean morality. A "morality" is a system of ideas of right and wrong conduct. Here is the United States many of our thoughts about right and wrong conduct are based on the idea that "all men are created equal" which has morphed over the years into "every is equal." Very few people would say to someone "I am better than you." About the only field where that might be acceptable is sports, because it can be demonstrated. And heaven help the employer who fails to treat his employees equally, even if they are not equal. The basis of the Gorean morality (the Gorean system of ideas of right and wrong conduct) is the idea that people are not equal, and that people must actually BE equal to be considered equal. Their morality is bent toward conquest and defiance rather than resignation and acceptance; and encourages honor, courage, hardness and strength rather than tenderness, pity, gentleness, and sweetness. Good qualities during our hunter-gatherer past, but not much in evidence today.
A fourth example - the order of nature. During our hunter-gatherer past, the role of men and the role of women were very different. The men went out and killed the wooly mammoth. When another band attacked, the men fought them. The women gathered food that did not have to be killed, and took care of the children, and when their band was attacked they fled or hid until the danger had passed. Men evolved a taste for beautiful, pleasing women, and women evolved a taste for strong, courageous men and it worked out well for both sexes. Generally, men tended to be dominant, and women tended to be submissive to them. Today, those roles are gone and our culture forces us to act as if our ancient tastes did not exist; we are well on the way to becoming unisex interchangable work units. Goreans, on the other hand, feel that defined male and female roles are good, and that the natural, and most fulfilling, relationship between men and women is that of dominant and submissive. Again, it worked well for most of our existance.
Lets not forget your question about Gor's relation to extreme D/s. On Gor, as probably during our evolutionary past, a slave is a slave - ie property. It is a slave's job to serve and please. It is the slave's owner's job to decide what is pleasing. The owner owns the slave. There is no negotiation. There is no safe word. There is no vanilla time. On the other hand, a slave is valuable property, so an owner wants to do everything to maintain and increase the slave's value, not lessen it. Goreans in the books do not practice what BDSMers would consider to be extreme play. Gorean slavery is mostly service based - both domestic and sexual. Bondage is used to restrict the movement of the slave and to remind her that she is a slave. A slave is whipped to improve her through punishment or to remind her she is a slave. Goreans also feel that when a woman is placed in this sort of total, uncompromising slavery that she finds her true fulfillment.
So, what is it about the Gor books that attracts some people enough to want to call themselves Gorean? It is these ideas about how to live a happier, healthier and more fulfilling life. All of these ideas can be adapted to life here on earth. Most of us do not spend time pretending that we are on Gor, instead we try to live here on Earth as Goreans.
Trevelyan
< Message edited by Trevelyan -- 1/15/2008 4:11:41 PM >
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"In short the differences between the men of Earth and those of Gor were almost certain to be primarily cultural, and not physiological."
Mercenaries of Gor
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