Gorean slavery and TPE

Drawing by Sir John Everett Millais,
Image courtesy ClipArt.com

Gorean Slavery and Total Power Exchange

"But the slave girl, standing outside the protections of such devices, stands before her master as an exposed, raw human female, without rights, his to do with as he pleases. Similarly the master, owing the slave nothing, and knowing that she is completely his, his very property, may relate to her freely in the order of nature. In his treatment of her he is untrammeled by either conscience or law, and this she knows, and loves, and, accordingly, hastens to obey and be pleasing. She knows that she is owned, and that he is her unqualified master. The order of nature, and the obdurate and thematic equations of dominance and submission, denied, though they might be, and even if hysterically repudiated, will continue to lurk in the microstructures of every cell in the human body. The master/slave relationship is the institutionalization of dominance and submission. It is, under the enhancements of civilization, the institutionalization of the primitive biological relationship of the human male and female, he the master, she the slave."
John Norman, Rogue of Gor, p. 240

"To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to know its pleasures, we must go to those who are seeking it."
Charles Caleb Colton

Probably the closest thing to Gorean slavery in the D/s world is something typically called Total Power Exchange, or TPE. (Sometimes also known as Absolute Power Exchange.) However similar the two may be, it is arani's belief that the two are not identical. she will attempt here to discuss both the similarities and the differences between them.

The term "Total Power Exchange" was first coined in the mid-1990s by Stephen S. Davis, in the newsgroup "alt.sex.bondage." Here is how he defined the term later, in 1999:

"A TPE (Total Power Exchange) relationship, sometimes described as an absolute lifestyle d&s relationship (that such relationships can actually be neither "total" or "absolute" is agreed; these are ideal states to be worked towards but which will not be achieved, which is why TPE may be better seen as a process or goal than as a state), is a relationship in which no impediment to the exercise of the owner's power is accepted (some may, of course, exist, and what prudent owners do is to avoid direct collisions with these impediments, while working to overcome those that can be overcome (since the laws of gravity can't be overcome, a sane owner isn't going to ask a slave to fly (w/o appropriate equipment, of course), nor will a sensible owner try push a slave into things that are hard limits for hir (but the owner *might* push a slave up against what the slave thinks are hard limits but which sie can in fact overcome)). Such things as safewords, contracts, negotiated limits, and anything else which recognizes/acknowledges/formalizes limits on the owner's power are inimical to TPE."

S. Davis¹

In the last several years, many people have written their own definitions for TPE. Others have tried to model their own lives after those definitions, and still others have found that the term applies to the lifestyle they had been living for years.

Here are some of the definitions for TPE that arani found while doing a search of the web:

"TPE is the empowerment of the Dominant by the submissive's surrender to His/Her control. The power exchange is consensual and should be well negotiated. The depth of power yielded by the submissive is equal to the level of responsibility assumed by the Dominant."

P. Miller & M. Devon²

TPE: the acronym for "total power exchange," usually referring to a lifestyle relationship (see above) in which the submissive grants the dominant blanket consent to make all decisions, erotic and otherwise.

G. Brame³

arani will first attempt to describe the similarities between Gorean slavery and TPE. The women who are in both kinds of relationships can be said to be "slaves." Their Masters, or Dominants, have total control over all facets of their lives. They are property in every sense of the word; they can be bought and sold, and they can be treated in whatever manner the Master chooses. Any limits that exist are those which the Master has set upon Himself, or that He has granted to the slave -- they are not limits that have been dictated by the slave prior to or following the formalizing of the relationship (the giving of the collar). There will usually be no contract, or document stating what each party in the relationship will or will not do, or for how long; the only formalization of the relationship will be in the minds of the participants.

It is total, absolute, all-encompassing and non-negotiable from the start. And something that is already total cannot get any larger. Compare it to a lightbulb: flip the switch and it is ON. Flip the switch again and it is OFF. And these are the exact two choices, a slave has in a TPE relationship: he or she can either be the full and total slave of the owner - or leave the relationship altogether.

Hans Meijer⁴

arani has often said to her friends that the main difference between their relationships and hers is not in HOW she serves, but WHY she serves. On the surface, if one would visit for the first time the home that arani shares with her Master, they would see her serving Him in much the same way that a TPE slave might serve her Master. There are other subtle differences, but to find out what they are one must spend some time with arani and her Master. It is necessary to observe how we interact with each other over a span of time, and also to understand why we do what we do -- in other words, to get into our minds.

The first major difference that exists is this: In Gorean slavery, there is no "exchange" that takes place. Look again at a portion of the Miller & Devon definition. "TPE is the empowerment of the Dominant by the submissive's surrender to His/Her control." Or, from the Brame definition, "the submissive grants the dominant blanket consent to make all decisions, erotic and otherwise." This implies that the submissive/slave has decision-making powers equal to the Master in the formation of the relationship; that she has just as much say over what form the relationship takes as He does.

After arani and her Master had been communicating for a time, He said to her, "Well, I guess I could collar you." He claimed her as His. Yes, He questioned arani at length about her experiences and her knowledge of certain matters, but it was He who determined (and who still determines) the form that our relationship takes. A slave may beg the Master's collar, but it is His choice as to whether to give it to her or not.

If one looks at the Davis definition, he speaks of TPE being a process or a goal, rather than an absolute state of being. Most Goreans would not agree with this concept of slavery. One can no more be "almost a slave" than she can be "almost pregnant." Either she is or she isn't. A slave may be in training, insofar as she is learning what her slavery is all about, or coming to terms with these new feelings inside her, or learning how to please a particular Master. Some (including arani) view it as a life-long learning process, that continues until the day a girl dies. But that doesn't make her any less a slave than a girl who has served for years.

The Miller and Devon definition speaks of negotiation that is necessary before a Master and slave enter into a TPE relationship. Well, arani will agree that the Master and slave need to spend a lot of time discussing what He will expect or allow her to do. This man will very literally hold her life in His hands; she needs to be sure she can trust Him with that life. But, this is not a negotiation in the way that arani sees it; rather it is a matter of the Master informing the slave as to what will be in His world. The American Heritage Dictionary defines negotiate as: "To confer with another or others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement." The only agreement that Master and slave can come to is whether she will take His collar or not. Everything else is up to the Master.

There are some who say that the submissive/slave who enters into a TPE relationship gives the Master power over her. While this is true, as all relationships of this type MUST be consensual, there are certain elements that some TPE couples incorporate into their relationship that most Gorean Masters and slaves will not. There are some who will say that the slave makes a conscious decision to enter into such a relationship because it is stimulating or rewarding in some way. While arani will certainly attest to the fact that she gets an incredible thrill inside her when she serves her Master, her need to serve goes far deeper than that. It is not just something she WANTS to do, it is something she NEEDS to do. And, when one accords a slave this kind of power over a relationship, it is an easy step, from there, to infer that because she chose to enter the relationship, she can also choose to leave it. There are many TPE slaves as well as Gorean slaves who will attest to the fact that they can no more leave their present relationship than they can stop breathing. The "gift of submission" cannot be taken back, once given.

Now, arani will say that she knows of many Master/slave relationships, outside the Gorean lifestyle, who are so similar that they cannot be readily distinguished by even someone who is very familiar with those involved. The only difference between one of these couples and a Gorean Master and His slave is this: one pair incorporates His/her interpretation of the Gor books into their personal lives, the other does not. arani once met a Master whom she considered to be very Gorean in His personal philosophies as well as the way He treated His slave -- with one exception, in that He considered the Gor books to be full of nonsense.

In the end, we must all live our lives in the way we feel is right -- based on our heritage, our up-bringing, and our experiences. What we choose to call our relationships with others -- does it really matter? Only in terms of whether we are deceiving others by doing so. Or, what is worse, deceiving ourselves. In the words of John Norman:

"Do not ask the stones or the trees how to live; they cannot tell you; they do not have tongues; do not ask the wise man how to live, for, if he knows, he will know he cannot tell you; if you would learn how to live do not ask the question; its answer is not in the question but in the answer, which is not in words; do not ask how to live, but, instead, proceed to do so."
John Norman, Marauders of Gor, p. 9

References:

¹Stephen S. Davis, soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm (8-3-1999)
²Philip Miller & Molly Devon, "Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns"
³Gloria Brame, A Glossary of Scene Slang
⁴Hans Meijer, TPE Home Page

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