FREEWOMEN

On Gor a woman normally travels only with a suitable retinue of armed guards. Women,on this barbaric world, are often regarded, unfortunately, as little more than love prizes, the fruits of conquest and seizure. Too, often, they are seen less as persons, human beings with rights, individuals worthy of concern and regard than as potential pleasure slaves, silken, bangled prisoners, possible adornments to the pleasure gardens of their captors.

Outlaw of Gor, page 50

The Gorean girl is, even if free, accustomed to slavery; she will perhaps own one or more slaves herself; she knows that she is weaker than men and what this can mean; she knows that cities fall and caravans are plundered; she knows she might even, by a sufficiently bold warrior, be captured in her own quarters and, bound and hooded, be carried by tarn back over the wall of her own city. Moreover, even if she is never enslaved, she is familiar with the duties of slaves and what is expected of them; if she should be enslaved she will know , on the whole, what is expected of her what is permitted her and not; moreover the Gorean girl is literally educated, fortunately or not, to the notion that it is of great importance to know how to please men; accordingly, even girls who will be free companions, and never slaves, learn the preparation and serving of exotic dishes, the art of walking, and standing, and being beautiful, the care of a man's equipment, the love dances of their city, and so on.

Nomads of Gor, page 63

This harsh treatment, incidentally, when she is thought to deserve it, may even be inflicted on a free companion, in spite of the fact that she is free and usually much loved. According to the Gorean way of looking at things a taste of the slave ring is thought to be occasionally beneficial to all women, even the exalted free woman. Thus when she has been irratable or otherwise troublesome even a Free Companion may find herself at the foot of the couch looking forward to a pleasant night on the stones, stripped, with neither mat nor blanket, chained to the slave ring precisely as though she were a lowly slave girl. It is the Gorean way of reminding her, should she need to be reminded, that she, too, is a woman, and thus to be dominated, to be subject to men. Should she be tempted to forget this basic fact of Gorean life the slave ring set in the bottom of each Gorean couch is there to refresh her memory. Gor is a man`s world.

Priest Kings of Gor, page 67

Gorean Freewomen are those who dwell within the insulae of family, home, and shops, or behind walls and guards in the secret pleasure gardens and relaxation pools of the city, performing their labors, managing their households, taking their pleasures and seeing to the birth, maintenance and correct training of the children of Gor. It is a difficult and perilous undertaking for a Gorean Freewoman to maintain her status... in fact, a Gorean Freewoman is expected to choose the option of free and honorable death rather than accept the fate of living in slavery. In practice, however, this rarely occurs. Few women, even Gorean women of high caste and social position, will willingly choose to suffer a grisly death rather than brave the degradations of bondage.

Many Gorean Freewomen would rarely visit, much less frequent, a public paga tavern, as such places are, in essence, a Gorean cross between a strip-joint and a brothel. The men who visit such places do so because they have come to have sex with the slaves for the price of a cup of paga, or because they wish to take their ease and comfort in such a den of disrepute.

The key trait a Gorean warrior expects to find in the Freewomen of His city is "virtue". To the Gorean mind, any woman who possesses the raw lust and submissive desire openly displayed by ko lared slavegirls deserves to be one, and if a Freewoman's actions seem to suggest that she either secretly or openly wishes to be enslaved, sooner or later she will be called forth to disprove such accusations. Nevertheless, the Honor in which a true Freewoman is held is so great that normally several such offenses must be committed before she is stripped and ko lared. In such a case, a Freewoman will first be warned to abstain from slave-like behavior... if she continues to behave so, then to the mind of the Gorean male, and according to the rules of Gorean society, she is actively seeking enslavement. Similarly a Freewoman who willingly places herself into a perilous situation in which enslavement might be the outcome is assumed by most Gorean males to be "courting the ko lar". In such instances it is generally accepted practice to bestow upon the Freewoman the very thing which she so seems to want, a brand and ko lar of her very own.

Facestripping

Perhaps the worst offense which can be performed against a Freewoman is that of public facestripping, i.e. when the veils of a Freewoman are removed from her by force. This is the equivalent of stripping her naked, though even the loss of her Robes of Concealment is not so great an insult as the loss of her veils. It is regarded as the right, duty and privilege of Gorean Freewomen of the high cities to remain veiled... even when captured by the Warriors of an enemy city, the Freewoman will commonly be allowed to retain her veils at least until her final fate has been decided.

Freewomen and male "Silk-Slaves"

Many Gorean Freewomen possess kajiri, or male slaves. These serve many purposes... often they are servants and retainers, though they also may be used as pack bearers or manual laborers. Often a Freewoman will be borne through the streets of her city in a curtained palanquin carried upon the backs of such male slaves. In addition, the wealthier and more free-thinking of Gorean Freewoman will also have within her household one or more "silk slaves," male slaves chosen for their handsomeness and sexual vigor, who have been trained to serve a mistress sexually.

The Rite of Submission

If at any time, or for any reason, a Freewoman decides that it is in her best interests either to become a slave or to openly submit herself to a male for his protection and use, she performs a formal gesture of submission, invoking the ancient Gorean "Rite of Submission". Many Freewomen would rather die than perform such a subservient act. It is important that a Freewoman understand that when this rite is invoked, there is no going back. Typically there are only two possible outcomes when a Freewoman submits so: either she is enslaved and becomes the personal chattel of the male, His to do with as He sees fit, or she is found lacking in desirability by the male in question and is driven from Him in disgrace. In the case of a Warrior, the consequences are even more dire, since a Warrior is not permitted by his codes to abandon the female while she is still alive. Therefore, most Warriors have no qualms whatsoever against putting an undesired, submitting female to death on the spot. Indeed, to a Warrior's mind, it is better by far to take the supplicant's life than to abandon her to be randomly enslaved by the first person who comes along. Believe it or not, in such a situation a Warrior is acting to preserve the Honor of the former Freewoman and her caste and family.

The way the rite is invoked is this: the Freewoman facestrips herself, publicly announces that she willingly submits to the individual she has chosen, and then assumes "The Position of Female Submission," wherein the Freewoman kneels at her captor's feet and leans her body back, sitting upon her heels, with her arms extended upward, crossed at the wrists, and her head beneath them lowered in supplication.

If the male accepts her, she becomes His slave and forfeits all titles, rank and property immediately. If He does not, she accepts the consequences of her actions, even if it means her death.

It should be obvious that a Freewoman does not invoke The Rite of Submission hastily or without much consideration, as the very act can cost her her life.

The Robes

The Robes of Concealment worn by Freewomen in the high cities are elaborate affairs, and are subject to the dictates of the current fashion in her city. They consist of several layers of thick, opaque cloth. Normally opaque hose are worn beneath them, and gloves, to insure that no part of the wearer's body is visible. The typical garments worn by a Freewoman of the high cities includes a shaped and fitted brocade gown with an ankle-length hem and a high collar which reaches to just below the chin. Atop that is worn a loose fitting robe to further conceal the lines and shape of her body. A quilted or brocade headpiece, similar to the Arab kafiyeh, is worn pinned or buttoned in place to cover her head, and drapes to the shoulders. The various veils are then attached over the wearer's face through the use of pins and ties, completing the ensemble. A Freewoman may wear slippers or even close-fitting boots beneath her robes, and it is also the custom for women of extremely high rank to wear ornate platform shoes which increase her height by as much as ten inches. Such adornments as those are normally worn only within doors, however, since they are exceedingly difficult to walk in over uneven surfaces. A wealthy Freewoman typically wears much jewelry, consisting of brooches, medallions and chains of office and rank, rings and armlets. Many Freewomen are very careful about wearing wristlets and bangles of precious metal, however, or even close fitting necklaces and especially ornamental "chokers". Such jewelry is thought by many to be an ornamental derivative of the collar and slave-bracelets of a kajira; therefore this type of jewelry is almost never worn by the suitably cautious Freewoman, and under no circumstances will a Freewoman wear any sort of jewelry or even a tied scarf about her left ankle, since the left ankle is universally acknowledged by Goreans as the "slave ankle," and any sort of adornment there by a Freewoman is unthinkable. Her avoidance of such jewelry is part of her ongoing effort to distance herself from women who have fallen to bondage.

The Veils

A Freewoman will, depending upon the customs of her household and city, wear up to five separate veils simultaneously, each with a different purpose of concealment. These veils range in function from thin, gauzy ones worn close to the skin, all the way up to the heavily brocaded street veils worn by Freewomen upon the streets and in the public gathering places of her city. The five basic veils worn by Freewomen are, in the order they are donned: the Last Veil, the Veil of the Citizeness, the Pride Veil, the House Veil, and the Street Veil.

The Last Veil: the innermost of the five veils worn by Freewomen; it is worn under the veil of the citizeness, and is often very sheer. Also known as the "privacy veil" or "modesty veil," it is worn in all places except within the private chambers of the Freewoman.
The Veil of the Citizeness: the second of the veils worn by Freewomen; worn under the pride veil and over the last veil; it is worn by a Freewoman when she leaves her chambers for any reason. The right to wear this veil at all times is guaranteed to all Freewomen upon attaining their majority and pledging citizenship. To strip this veil from a citizen of your own Home Stone is considered a violation of basic Gorean law.
The Pride Veil: the third veil worn by Freewomen; worn under the house veil and over the veil of the citizeness, it is worn when a Freewoman is in her house. Unlike the last veil and veil of the citizeness, this veil is completely opaque, and provides true concealment of her features.
The House Veil: the next-to-last veil worn by Freewomen, especially when in the company of men not of her own family; worn over the pride veil, and under the street veil upon leaving the house; when guests are within the walls of her house or when the Freewoman is in the company of anyone who is not of her household, she wears this veil at all times.
The Street Veil: the outermost veil worn by Freewomen; worn over the house veil when leaving the house; typically a heavy, fitted face-covering of thick brocaded or quilted cloth, equipped with numerous pins and fastening devices.

Freewomen and Combat

There are no restrictions upon the weaponry owned and used by Freewomen, apart from the general prohibition of technological items sanctioned by the Priest Kings. Nevertheless, the Freewomen of the larger and more civilized cities of Gor seldom carry weaponry which cannot easily be concealed. The two primary weapons in use by such women are the dagger and the poisoned needle, both of which can be secreted among the many folds of her robes and drawn forth for use at a moment's notice. In fact, most Gorean Freewomen spend many hours practicing such movements, knowing that a moment's hesitation may one day make the difference for them between a life of ease and honor or a life of imbonditude. Bladed hair combs and the long, razor sharp pins which hold her many veils in place are often used by the Freewoman in such an instance. In general, the typical Gorean Freewoman doesn't carry a weapon large enough to be perceived beneath her robes... she knows that there is little chance she will prevail in open combat against a trained Warrior. Her weapons are of stealth and surprise, combined with the desperate desire to remain free at all costs.

Remember your status! A Freewoman is proud, but she does not challenge or insult. To do so is to invite a face-stripping. Nearly all chat rooms are typically full of Warriors, and one of the things that Warriors do is collar and enslave Freewomen. To draw attention to yourself by being a nuisance to such men is foolhardy to say the least. Be attractive, witty, graceful, and behave with Honor, and you will be treated with the respect due to one your station.

In the Camp of the Tuchuk, the Member Warriors of the Council will protect you from overzealous Masters in search of a slave, as long as you do not actively provoke such unwanted attention. Act like a slave, and you will wind up as one. Behave like the lady you are expected to be as a Freewoman, and enjoy the respect of Gorean males.

A Gorean Freewoman does not draw a weapon against another Freeperson unless she is under attack. Beware! According to His codes, to draw a weapon against a member of the Warrior Caste is to place yourself within His capture rites. This includes drawing weapons and placing them on a table or displaying such objects in a threatening manner to others in the room, without suitable provocation.

A Gorean Freewoman may own and use slaves, both male and female, as she sees fit.

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