Ordering vs Begging, or how to use speech to your own advantage

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May 2012

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[Shikhandi Panthar]

I have been wondering about the meaning of some of the most common types of interactions between masters and slaves, both in the books and in role-play.

These interactions often revolve around a particular type of speech act. Mainly issuing a command on the side of the master and begging on the side of the slave. For instance, a master can say things like: "Submit to me!", "Serve me!", "Please me!", "Strip off your clothes!", "Leave me!", etc. A slave however would often say things like: "Please, take me for yourself!", "May I serve you?", "May I please you?", "Would you care to use me?", "May I go?" and so on.

It is quite obvious that these are performative utterances that differ greatly in their form. The first one is a series of directives, the other is a series of suggestions. But they are all in the same realm: they all mean to ask someone to do something, and therefore share the same goal. In other words, the expression is different (one is a direct order, the other is mediate), but the structure is in fact the same. One could be easily deceived by appearances however, but the intention underneath could be quite different from what it seems to be.

Granted, the consequences of such speech acts can be very different: should a master wish to disregard the slave's plea, he would simply dismiss her without further ado. Should the slave, on the contrary, decide to disobey, she could face punishment or death… Therefore the strength of the speech act does not rest upon itself but upon the possible consequences down the line.

But in RP things may be different still: if a master wishes to engage a slave, he just has to issue such commands as I have mentioned before and see what happens… A slave can proceed exactly in the same way with a petition to a master. But she still has another card to play if the master is reluctant to follow suit on the RP, which is, precisely, to disobey or to respond in an unexpected manner. And in that case, the master may feel compelled to act and punish the slave, thus paying attention to her and providing her with some nice role-play… The same sort of dynamic could be applied, to some extent, to OOC interactions, by the way.

Which brings up (or begs!) the question: in that sort of interaction, have you not sometimes been feeling that the balance of power was exactly the other way around than the one it would seem at first? In other words: as a master, have you not been feeling that the slave, through her apparent plea or response, was compelling you to act in such and such a way? Or conversely, have you not been feeling at times that, when issuing an order, you were in fact in a begging position, the slave holding the upper hand in the interaction? And as a slave, haven't you been aware of the leeway you might have had at times to turn the situation around, begging or disobeying in order to get exactly what you wanted?

[Babybear Serenity]

 I have to just say that I don't find any reason at all for a man to feel that any word he utters isn't a command for a slave. And likewise, I don't feel for one moment that the outcries of slaves are "commands".

Again, I feel compelled to point out that on Gor, the role of man and woman is so utterly and completely assumed in what one would call a "natural state", that there is almost no evidence at all of gorean men being insulted by the choice of words of a mere slave. Of course, there are instances we see where a man corrects the choice of words, or where he grows tired of the arguing, but men on Gor have this beautiful patience and seem to genuinely appreciate and even adore the personalities and vitality of their women. But these men are born and raised in an environment that fosters dominance. It doesn't in any way bend and twist men, force them into roles, it doesn't encourage "macho" attitude, because dominance on Gor isn't forced.. its as natural as breathing, they do it without thinking.. they just ARE. And my advice to men who play Gorean masters... please, stop trying to act like a dominant, just be YOU. Dominance isn't the commands you issue, it isn't the demands you make, its your confidence, your pride, your aura and persona. In silence, just being, the most dominant men I know just are. And those men, even when they say "please kneel." make my thighs quiver for want to find the ground as quickly as possible.

Frankly, topping from the bottom, as the OP sorta alludes to, and passive aggression from the part of men or slaves or free women even, doesn't exist in a gorean context. It just doesn't have a place on a male dominated planet where the women are not given a choice of being slaves, they are made slaves. They don't get to pick and chose anything at all. To say that women and men in any relationship do not affect one upon the other in some shape or form, and that if a woman makes a recomendation, slave or not and a man follows he is wearing the collar is a failure to appreciate how relationships work. Emotions exist between master and slave. Even very deep and intense ones. And besides men on Gor are never so insecure as to think that even if a woman screams for something and stomps her feet, that he is any less a man for giving her what she wants, because, point is.. he might want it just as well. Or, he might not and toss the poor writhing wench aside as he laughs and takes the next willing slave who is screaming for her use. But he is no less a man in either case.

And my all time favorite "man's man" is of course Kamchak. There is never, for a moment any doubt of his power, his presence, he commands respect from all around him. But he loves women, and he makes Aphris of Turia is lifes ambition, to own her, to have her grovel for him, need him, desire him.... and then, in the end what does our dear Kamchak do?.. He frees her. Ain't no insecurity there. Lots of teasing through!! Men love to tease other men about their obsessions with the lesser sex. How they pay gold for a mere worthless slave! How they go to war for love.

And back to the whole "issuing a command" I personally notice far more supposed commands in the novels then anything akin to what many would consider appropriate slave speak. How quick would the SL slaves of Gor get pigeon holed as princesses for speaking like real gorean slaves?

"And I," howled Kamchak, "have only miserable cookingpot
wenches!"
Kamchak and I were standing up. Aphris suddenly put her
head to his thigh, looking down. "Tonight," she whispered,
"make me a slave."
Kamchak put his fist in her hair and lifted her head to stare
up at him. Her lips were parted.
"You have been my slave for days," said he.
"Tonight," she begged, "please, Master, tonight!"
With a roar of triumph Kamchak swept her up and slung
her, hobbled as she was, over his shoulder and she cried out
and he, singing a Tuchuk song, was stomping away with her
from the curtained enclosure.
Nomads of Gor [Gor Series Book 4] page 248

"What will you do to her?" I asked.
"Cut off her feet," said Kamchak, "and her nose and ears,
and blind her in one eye—then release her to live as she can
among the wagons."
Before I could remonstrate with the angry Tuchuk the
hunting sleen suddenly seemed to go wild, rearing on their
hind legs, scratching in the air, dragging against the chains. It
was all Kamchak's kaiila could do to brace itself against their
sudden madness.
"Hah!" cried Kamchak.
I spied Elizabeth Cardwell approaching the wagon, two
leather water buckets fastened to a wooden yoke she carried
over her shoulders. Some water was spilling from the
buckets.
Aphris cried out with delight and ran to Elizabeth, to my
astonishment, to kiss her and help with the water.
"Where have you been?" asked Kamchak.
Elizabeth lifted her head innocently and gazed at him
frankly. "Fetching water," she said.
The sleen were trying to get at her and she had backed
away against the wagon, watching them warily. "They are
vicious beasts," she observed.
Kamchak threw back his head and roared with laughter.
Elizabeth did not so much as look at me.
Then Kamchak seemed sober and he said to the girl, "Go
into the wagon. Bring slave bracelets and a whip. Then go to
the wheel."
She looked at him, but did not appear afraid. "Why?" she
asked.
Kamchak dismounted. "You were overly long in fetching
water," he said.
Elizabeth and Aphris had gone into the wagon.
"She was wise to return," said Kamchak.
Nomads of Gor [Gor Series Book 4] page 257-258

[Tertionus]

These interactions often revolve around a particular type of speech act. Mainly issuing a command on the side of the master and begging on the side of the slave. For instance, a master can say things like: "Submit to me!", "Serve me!", "Please me!", "Strip off your clothes!", "Leave me!", etc. A slave however would often say things like: "Please, take me for yourself!", "May I serve you?", "May I please you?", "Would you care to use me?", "May I go?" and so on.

Depending how you look at them, either all of these speech acts are directives, or the commands are directives and the 'begs' could be considered to be expressives, where the slave is expressing her desire to perform said act, but doing so in a way that is widely accepted within the society. So "May I please you" = "I would like to please you", for example(which could of course be taken as a straight expressive of a directive expressive, dependant upon the context and relationship between transmitter and receiver).

Given that we are (I think) talking about these speech acts performed within the context of a Gorean society, I would class the 'begs' as expressives for the most part. Of course, occasionally they would/could be directives, but do I feel that my character is being 'bossed about' every time a slave begs? No. Not any more than I would imagine a child asking for sugary sweets full of chemical crap to be giving me an order.

As for the power difference - it can be fun to play with it. The more 'leeway' you allow a slave character, the more shocked they tend to be when you bring them back down with a thud. I enjoy that interaction with other players.

And as for whether I feel that someone else's role play choices affect me as a master? No. I'm not a master. I'm a role player, and I'd enjoy the interaction, though of course regardless of who I'm interacting with, that character's actions will mould and shape my reactions. If they didn't, there'd be no point logging in. I'd just write solo!

[Bara Mayako]

To the OP:

Are you commenting on the fact that you think it strange that the player playing a slave has equal rights to drive the RP as the player playing the master?  Or that sometimes, a player playing a slave is a stronger player than the player playing her master and will actually have more influence over the direction in which the RP goes, than the player playing the master?

Or are you commenting on slaves whose RP consists of trying to TFTB in Gor?

Just so I know whether I should agree or disagree with you.