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Chain gang | page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Tim Perper, a biologist who has studied human courtship for two decades, notes that "if some men fantasize that sexy women exist for male sexual pleasure, it is because such men want -- but do not have -- female sexual slaves." Perper also points out the paradoxical nature of many women's submission fantasies, which, he says, "operate as masturbatory consolation." In a woman's fantasies of being dominated, she is directing the action. Her "Master" does everything that she wants, and does it according to the imaginative specifications of her desires. Again, inside our heads (or in the pages of our fictions), we are always in charge. The reason most women would not like such things to happen in real life is that the essential condition of control would be gone. Marcus of Ar says that "our fantasies are a barometer whereby we can measure what we desire, and what we feel we are lacking." Historian G. R. Foote draws parallels with other fictional worlds that have caught our imaginations: "I wonder what would have blossomed on the Internet if it had been around at the time of Ayn Rand or "Stranger in a Strange Land" -- both of which offered powerful and coherent 'alternate universes' ... When I was a teenager I was fascinated by Rand, the simplicity and certitude of her worldview." Simplicity and certitude seem to be particularly important needs for many people, especially in a society in the midst of cultural upheaval. A simple organizing principle like biological determinism or theological creationism can offer enormous comfort and sustenance to people struggling with personal dissatisfactions or intimate failures, or who are frustrated by the insignificance they have in the power structure of their society. In researching the "character" profiles of many role-playing men, I was struck by the fact that, besides descriptions of their great height, rippling muscles and impressive physical prowess, many of them referred to romantic betrayals, the perfidy of a woman in their character's past or the general untrustworthiness of the female gender. To a man who has experienced romantic rejection, manipulation or treachery, a slave woman who would never leave him and would be utterly obedient to his every whim -- and, especially, who would even enjoy being obedient -- would have particular appeal. A universal complaint from Gorean men is that today's society is crippling or damaging their manhood, that they are not allowed to express the full flower of their masculinity. ("I wondered if a man could be a man without a slave," one Norman character muses.) Contemporary customs and civilization are all at fault in the stifling and destruction of modern men, Gorean men say, but most culpable is the feminist agenda. When men feel this way, the appeal of the unbridled "hypermasculinity" portrayed in the Gor novels is not hard to understand. Elaborate attempts at re-creating the fictional world of Gor, even in role-playing, give men the relief of action, a feeling of "doing something" about their masculine distress. And the imaginary hostilities and real arguments about who is doing this most "properly" provide an outlet for the anger and frustrations they experience in the larger reality. Online Gorean life offers an arena in which men can compete for leadership and dominance of the subculture. The Internet Gorean community gives them an opportunity to win, to conquer enemies, to control women and to influence a society. What's not to like? Women, on the other hand, seem to have more complex reasons for embracing Goreanism, says Fern Maiden, a role-playing Gorean. "For some," she says, "I think they simply have extraordinarily submissive and nurturing natures." Whether submissiveness is innate or socialized, it would be foolish to pretend that human behavior and psychological needs do not extend into the extremes. What Goreans claim is true of most women probably is true of some. And dissatisfaction with the culture's demands and gender constraints is not just confined to men, either. Feminist backlash rhetoric also plays to women. Many women dislike the pressure that they think feminism has imposed on them to be cold, decisive and independent, and are thus seeking a form of relief from that perceived pressure. The embrace of Gorean slavery is just the most extreme variety of this reaction. In "Mercenaries of Gor," one character, watching a female slave dance, pities female earthlings: Fern thinks the attraction may lie in an even simpler human -- and not solely feminine -- wish to adopt infantilism to avoid the rigors of responsibility: "They wish to avoid having to make decisions for themselves and want someone else to deal with all life's difficulties," she says of Gorean slaves. This seems like an especially resonant explanation for women like sura, who utterly reject their own former strength and self-sufficiency because they have always been unhappy with the hard necessities they experienced in taking care of themselves. Many psychologists would say that the completeness of the rejection or repudiation of former personal truths is in direct proportion to the depth of the unhappiness a person felt trying to live with them. While many women can see the basic appeal of the "dominant male" Gor scenario, some experts think the appeal has more to do with the fact that strong, intelligent women need to be able to respect their partners and less with the fact that they may find female subjugation or groveling a delicious erotic prospect. Few women respect bullies or the swaggering jerks so commonly associated with the myth of machismo. Virtually everyone I talked to, men and women, could understand the value of the domination-submission kink in a couple's erotic life. But the consensus, in consonance with Julian's realization about this society's understanding of rapists, was that men who need total control outside the bedroom in order to feel "manly" are pathetic or laughable. I wonder where the challenges and entertainment are in a relationship based on such a static power structure. Once you've conquered the woman and bent her utterly to your will, where's the fun? Still, it's true that many of us do find a genuinely strong and confident man appealing. "I do too," Fern says, "but it's not because I'm submissive -- it's because I'm not submissive. Weak men bore me."
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