Friday, January 28, 2011
Psychopathic killers, Gor and You
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Thursday, January 20, 2011
"Illusions of Gor"
Okay, so let's chew on this hypothetical for a bit:
The newest Gor novel is due. Good for Dr. Lange! 2011 will be a good year! "Illusions of Gor" has a publication and a street date!
Much excitement ensues and the anticipation of the release is palatable. The magic day finally comes, and you (and you, and you, and you, and even you, the little one hiding in that corner over there) run out to your favorite bookstore and return home with your prize. You settle into your favorite chair, with a glass of your favorite beverage, and crack open the cover and begin to read.
You read this:
Chapter One
Ellen Markin awoke suddenly, sitting up in bed. Covered in sweat, she pushed the hair back from her face. Exhaling explosively, she had not even realized that she had been holding her breath. Looking across the room she could see through the curtains that the sun was just beginning to rise above the horizon. Slowly she rose and padded naked to the window. There was no need to be modest, no one could see her; a perk of having a condominium on the thirty-sixth floor.
The sound of running water attracted her attention. From across the room a sliver of light escaped from a slightly open door. Turning from the window Ellen smiled and tiptoed toward the door. As she entered she was aware of the change in both temperature and humidity. Through the frosted glass of the shower, a figure of a man in the process of bathing could be discerned. Ellen leaned on the sink as she spoke.
"I've had a bad night," she said.
From behind the glass an inquisitive grunt could be heard.
"Yes," said Ellen, continuing. "A bad night. I had a dream. It sounds kind of funny now, to speak of it during the daytime, but it bothered me all night."
The male figure in the shower continued with his bath, and gave no response.
"I dreamt that I was taken to another world, kidnapped in fact, in order that I might be sold as a slave." Ellen snorted. "A slave!
Me? Can you imagine anything more ridiculous?"
She paused for a response from the shower, and receiving none, she continued.
"It was a world where men are truly dominant, and many of the women submissive to them. Even the women who were free! But I was no free woman, oh no! I was told that I was a delicious slave simply waiting for a man to claim her and show to her the truth that is in her soul."
She shook her head smiling.
"A slave," she said, muttering.
The sound of the water abruptly cut off and the door of the shower opened to allow a tall and well-muscled man to step out. A shock of bright red hair crowned the top of his head. Naked and silent, he grabbed a towel from a nearby stand and began to dry himself. As he did so his eyes never left the woman in front of him.
"I think it bothered me most due to the fact the it was so ludicrous. No woman would allow a man to degrade her so; to take away her freedom; to reduce her to nothing but chattel. Yet, I felt that I was there, and remember well the fear of standing on a slaver's block, hearing the bids called out for me." She paused, then continued. "I've not felt such a fear since the twin towers were destroyed."
The man, kneeling now and drying his ankles, listened intently.
Ellen regarded him. "Tarl," she said. "Do you think I would make a good slave?"
Tarl, on his knees, looked up at the woman and replied.
"No, Mistress."
Ellen was pleased. "Good boy! I don't think so either. The thought of such a thing is truly repugnant to me. I could never find myself in such a situation."
She ran her hand through the red hair of the man kneeling at her feet. "Now you go and prepare breakfast. Eggs, I think. Toast, juice and do not forget the sugar in my coffee, again."
Tarl shivered at the reminder. "No Mistress, I shall not," he whined. He scampered out the door toward the kitchen to begin performing his daily duties.
End of Chapter One.
And it goes on in the same vein, chapter after chapter. It concludes with Tarl, again at the feet of his mistress, purring contentedly.
So.
My question to those reading here is simple:
Has anything changed for you, fellow Goreans?
The newest Gor novel is due. Good for Dr. Lange! 2011 will be a good year! "Illusions of Gor" has a publication and a street date!
Much excitement ensues and the anticipation of the release is palatable. The magic day finally comes, and you (and you, and you, and you, and even you, the little one hiding in that corner over there) run out to your favorite bookstore and return home with your prize. You settle into your favorite chair, with a glass of your favorite beverage, and crack open the cover and begin to read.
You read this:
Chapter One
Ellen Markin awoke suddenly, sitting up in bed. Covered in sweat, she pushed the hair back from her face. Exhaling explosively, she had not even realized that she had been holding her breath. Looking across the room she could see through the curtains that the sun was just beginning to rise above the horizon. Slowly she rose and padded naked to the window. There was no need to be modest, no one could see her; a perk of having a condominium on the thirty-sixth floor.
The sound of running water attracted her attention. From across the room a sliver of light escaped from a slightly open door. Turning from the window Ellen smiled and tiptoed toward the door. As she entered she was aware of the change in both temperature and humidity. Through the frosted glass of the shower, a figure of a man in the process of bathing could be discerned. Ellen leaned on the sink as she spoke.
"I've had a bad night," she said.
From behind the glass an inquisitive grunt could be heard.
"Yes," said Ellen, continuing. "A bad night. I had a dream. It sounds kind of funny now, to speak of it during the daytime, but it bothered me all night."
The male figure in the shower continued with his bath, and gave no response.
"I dreamt that I was taken to another world, kidnapped in fact, in order that I might be sold as a slave." Ellen snorted. "A slave!
Me? Can you imagine anything more ridiculous?"
She paused for a response from the shower, and receiving none, she continued.
"It was a world where men are truly dominant, and many of the women submissive to them. Even the women who were free! But I was no free woman, oh no! I was told that I was a delicious slave simply waiting for a man to claim her and show to her the truth that is in her soul."
She shook her head smiling.
"A slave," she said, muttering.
The sound of the water abruptly cut off and the door of the shower opened to allow a tall and well-muscled man to step out. A shock of bright red hair crowned the top of his head. Naked and silent, he grabbed a towel from a nearby stand and began to dry himself. As he did so his eyes never left the woman in front of him.
"I think it bothered me most due to the fact the it was so ludicrous. No woman would allow a man to degrade her so; to take away her freedom; to reduce her to nothing but chattel. Yet, I felt that I was there, and remember well the fear of standing on a slaver's block, hearing the bids called out for me." She paused, then continued. "I've not felt such a fear since the twin towers were destroyed."
The man, kneeling now and drying his ankles, listened intently.
Ellen regarded him. "Tarl," she said. "Do you think I would make a good slave?"
Tarl, on his knees, looked up at the woman and replied.
"No, Mistress."
Ellen was pleased. "Good boy! I don't think so either. The thought of such a thing is truly repugnant to me. I could never find myself in such a situation."
She ran her hand through the red hair of the man kneeling at her feet. "Now you go and prepare breakfast. Eggs, I think. Toast, juice and do not forget the sugar in my coffee, again."
Tarl shivered at the reminder. "No Mistress, I shall not," he whined. He scampered out the door toward the kitchen to begin performing his daily duties.
End of Chapter One.
And it goes on in the same vein, chapter after chapter. It concludes with Tarl, again at the feet of his mistress, purring contentedly.
So.
My question to those reading here is simple:
Has anything changed for you, fellow Goreans?
Friday, January 14, 2011
I am a brave man
My name is Bear, and I am a brave man.
I live with a disease.There is a history of it on both sides of my family, so it was all but inevitible that I would develop it one day. It is incurable. It will cause, directly or indirectly my death. Uncontrolled, it will shorten my life by years. It has cost me some usage of my hands, to this point. I struggle with it daily.
My name is Bear, and I am a brave man.
A gunman attacked Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and others on Saturday. 20-year-old intern Daniel Hernandez ran toward the shots to try to save those who were injured. He stopped to check pulses on several victims before finding Giffords, who had been shot in the head. Hernandez applied pressure to the wound, holding his boss of five days until his clothes were soaked with her blood. Hernandez, trained as a nursing assistant, lifted her head so that she wouldn't choke on her own blood. When an ambulance came, he climbed inside with her and held her hand.
My name is Bear, and I am a brave man.
I held my other's hand as she died. I watched as her body shut down. I watched her draw her last breath. I told her goodbye, again, although in truth she had left the shell of her body many hours ago. I straightened her arm and placed her hand back on the bed.
My name is Bear, and I am a brave man.
The longtime minister of 76-year-old Dorwan Stoddard, one of the six victims of Saturday's Arizona shooting, says he had a conversation with Stoddard's wife in the hospital that leads him to believe Stoddard died trying to protect her from the spraying bullets. "According to Mavy when I talked to her in the hospital, when the gunshots went off Dorwan pulled her down and ended up on top of her," Michael Nowak, minister of the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ in Tucson, Ariz., told HuffPost. "She was shot in the legs, and he was shot in the head. She believes in her heart that he protected her from damage."
My name is Bear, and I am no coward.
But I don't know the first thing about being brave.
But I don't know the first thing about being brave.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Answering the gamer apologists
(What follows is a reprint of a previous writing of mine that appeared in The Gorean Voice, which I co-created and served as editor for a few years or on my previous blog - The Bear Bitch Project. The webzine is long defunct, and the archives of the site are sadly incomplete, but it pleases me to present my thoughts then, to my audience here. As always, if you have a question or comment, use the e-mail link in my profile down there somewhere.)
Preface-2011: I've done the Gorean discussion board thing for a very long time - used them, read them, ran them.One thing I should know by now is that there is a cost for being out in public as a Gorean man. I've spent far too many years defending this lifestyle on and offline, and now like to think of myself as being in semi-retirement.
Still, it is fun to re-read some of these pieces, knowing that I'll never get back to that dark and wonderful place, again. ;0)
Enjoy.
Are you saying that you are opposed to people using the fictional Gor as a backdrop for a role-playing game?
Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.
If I understand you correctly, you have used the same fiction as the basis for a deviant lifestyle of some kind.
Actually, no, you are wrong on two points.
First, We have not used the *fiction* as a basis for our lifestyle, but the underlying *philosophy* contained within that fiction. That is a very important difference, if you take into account giant talking spiders and ten-foot tall praying mantises are hard to come by in this society. ;0)
Second, we are not a deviant lifestyle, at least not in the common perjorative use of the term. If you were trying to offend, simply save us all the time, it's boring, and it's been tried by better than you. ;0) If you were trying to offend, then I suggest that this place then is not for you. If you were not, then your choice of words is unfortunate, and you will have a rough time here regaining credibility. I urge you, if you are sincere, to choose your words more carefully in the future.
What does one have to do with the other?
The crux of the matter is simple: Very few people in this world know what the Gorean lifestyle is - indeed, the fact that we take the philosophy contained in a series of SF books and apply it to our lives means that we have a hard time convincing people of our validity in the first place.
With so many more gamers than actual Goreans in the online medium, the chance is huge that the general public will meet a poser; a gamer claiming to be Gorean (even in a game) before he or she ever meets a responsible, intelligent adult who lives this philosophy in thier lives. The very fact that people who know nothing about the lifestyle find practically nothing online but Gorgames and gamers; people playing characters, "asssassinating" one another, switching from slave to free to slave as the whim strikes them, referring to themselves as "muns" - only gives one impression: That all this GOR stuff is a weak D&D ripoff. Simply; D&D with tits and ass. Kids playing games - pretending to be what no one can be, like an elf or a Hobbit.
And that general impression has become widespread online and off over the last few years - this was not the case three and four years ago - but it has happened despite the efforts of myself and many others.
I said many times in public, over three years ago, that eventually the gamers and posers would swallow us up, and it would be us, those who live this, who would then be looked upon as the odd ones. ;0)
And that has certainly come to pass. ;0)
I don't see how any discerning adult could confuse the two, at least not for very long.
The important point here is that we are *NOT* well known at all as a lifestyle, and truly the lifestylers are in such small numbers compared to the gamers and posers as to make our impact insignifigant compared to thiers. Thus, through popular perception, things GOREAN are seen as nothing but games, pretend, and anything or anyone claiming to find some validity in the philosophy expressed in the source text is painted with the same disregard the gamers earn.
And simply, it is not our fault. How many times have I had people wander into the S&S on aust.net and plop down and ask me for the rules of the game, how to collar a slave in the game, etc? More than I can count, and this with the topic reading GOREAN LIFESTYLE DISCUSSION, plain as day.
It's kind of like someone saying that they are a real-life "Wizard" or "Sorcerer", and are offended by people who play D&D like games, because it mocks the "Wizard" lifetyle.
Yes, exactly! ;0)
It is exactly like that, and I know several people who do practice the craft, that feel exactly that way. And why not? Is it not so? How about if we play "Inquisition" with the tenets and practices of the Roman Catholic Faith? Or we could play "World Zionist Conspiracy" while calling ourselves Jews... Think they might object? ;0)
The difference is we are not talking about religion here. Paganism in general and Wicca and it's associated offshoots in particular are well-known enough in modern society that no one will ever think that they are simply someone's idea of a sex game. The Gorean lifestyle is not, and sadly when people see others playing it as a game, they draw the conclusion that that is exactly what it is.
And why not? Not many people play "inquisition", do they? ;0)
In the end, isn't it only the opinions of other "Wizards" that would matter to a "Wizard" anyway?
Absolutely not. We do not live in a world of only Goreans - if we did, it would be a moot point. We are the first generation to live our lives as Goreans. What we do, as Gorean men and women in this society, is try to live our lives as responsible, intelligent and worthy members of our modern society - while remaining true to what we believe as a philosophy. If we succeed, we will be seen by others as worthy of respect, and some of the difficulty we have in living this way, might be eased.
If not, however, if we are all seen as simply gamers and posers, people who are so shallow that they must *pretend* to be something that they could manifest in thier lives by a single act of courage and commitment, then we will simply fade away.
Who cares what society thinks? We do. We'd better, we have to live in it.
Surely you must know that to the vast majority of the population, being a real "Gorean" and holding the views that that implies would be considered just as disreputable, and probably more so, than being someone who just "plays" a Gorean.
Typical smokescreen.
What you are really saying there is this: 'Your lifestyle is already considered "disreputable" by some, so why can't I and my friends play and make it *just that much more so*?'
What I have found in most of these cases is simply that gamers and posers - in their heart of hearts - cannot accept the fact that people *can* live as Gorean men and women in this society, mostly due to the fact that *they* cannot. I have yet to see one Gorean man who has to go and pretend to be a character in order to portray what he actually is in his life. ;0)
Bad reputation depends on whom you talk to - I have numerous friends and aquaintances who know *EXACTLY* what I am, and *EXACTLY* what that entails (hell, I live with two women, one of whom refers to me as "master") and from whom I have earned regard and respect. No doubt some will certainly be opposed to what we are, and we are prepared to deal with that. What is so hard to understand is why a group of people who - for no other reason than *playing a game* - must make it so much *harder* for us to live our lives.
Think about it. If I played Skeeball, and that in some way made your life harder to live, every day, would you ask me to stop? Should I? If the situation were reversed, and I asked you to stop, would you?
If you accept that, and I can hardly see how you could do otherwise, unless you are deluded, I can't really see how you could argue that these people who play Gor games are a threat to your reputation at all.
I do accept it, and I just explained to you for the second time, how they do. That the games harm our reputation, at a time when we are literally fighting to be seen as sane, rational and responsible adults, is the simple truth.
One of us is deluded and I don't think it is me. ;0)
Bear-
Preface-2011: I've done the Gorean discussion board thing for a very long time - used them, read them, ran them.One thing I should know by now is that there is a cost for being out in public as a Gorean man. I've spent far too many years defending this lifestyle on and offline, and now like to think of myself as being in semi-retirement.
Still, it is fun to re-read some of these pieces, knowing that I'll never get back to that dark and wonderful place, again. ;0)
Enjoy.
Are you saying that you are opposed to people using the fictional Gor as a backdrop for a role-playing game?
Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.
If I understand you correctly, you have used the same fiction as the basis for a deviant lifestyle of some kind.
Actually, no, you are wrong on two points.
First, We have not used the *fiction* as a basis for our lifestyle, but the underlying *philosophy* contained within that fiction. That is a very important difference, if you take into account giant talking spiders and ten-foot tall praying mantises are hard to come by in this society. ;0)
Second, we are not a deviant lifestyle, at least not in the common perjorative use of the term. If you were trying to offend, simply save us all the time, it's boring, and it's been tried by better than you. ;0) If you were trying to offend, then I suggest that this place then is not for you. If you were not, then your choice of words is unfortunate, and you will have a rough time here regaining credibility. I urge you, if you are sincere, to choose your words more carefully in the future.
What does one have to do with the other?
The crux of the matter is simple: Very few people in this world know what the Gorean lifestyle is - indeed, the fact that we take the philosophy contained in a series of SF books and apply it to our lives means that we have a hard time convincing people of our validity in the first place.
With so many more gamers than actual Goreans in the online medium, the chance is huge that the general public will meet a poser; a gamer claiming to be Gorean (even in a game) before he or she ever meets a responsible, intelligent adult who lives this philosophy in thier lives. The very fact that people who know nothing about the lifestyle find practically nothing online but Gorgames and gamers; people playing characters, "asssassinating" one another, switching from slave to free to slave as the whim strikes them, referring to themselves as "muns" - only gives one impression: That all this GOR stuff is a weak D&D ripoff. Simply; D&D with tits and ass. Kids playing games - pretending to be what no one can be, like an elf or a Hobbit.
And that general impression has become widespread online and off over the last few years - this was not the case three and four years ago - but it has happened despite the efforts of myself and many others.
I said many times in public, over three years ago, that eventually the gamers and posers would swallow us up, and it would be us, those who live this, who would then be looked upon as the odd ones. ;0)
And that has certainly come to pass. ;0)
I don't see how any discerning adult could confuse the two, at least not for very long.
The important point here is that we are *NOT* well known at all as a lifestyle, and truly the lifestylers are in such small numbers compared to the gamers and posers as to make our impact insignifigant compared to thiers. Thus, through popular perception, things GOREAN are seen as nothing but games, pretend, and anything or anyone claiming to find some validity in the philosophy expressed in the source text is painted with the same disregard the gamers earn.
And simply, it is not our fault. How many times have I had people wander into the S&S on aust.net and plop down and ask me for the rules of the game, how to collar a slave in the game, etc? More than I can count, and this with the topic reading GOREAN LIFESTYLE DISCUSSION, plain as day.
It's kind of like someone saying that they are a real-life "Wizard" or "Sorcerer", and are offended by people who play D&D like games, because it mocks the "Wizard" lifetyle.
Yes, exactly! ;0)
It is exactly like that, and I know several people who do practice the craft, that feel exactly that way. And why not? Is it not so? How about if we play "Inquisition" with the tenets and practices of the Roman Catholic Faith? Or we could play "World Zionist Conspiracy" while calling ourselves Jews... Think they might object? ;0)
The difference is we are not talking about religion here. Paganism in general and Wicca and it's associated offshoots in particular are well-known enough in modern society that no one will ever think that they are simply someone's idea of a sex game. The Gorean lifestyle is not, and sadly when people see others playing it as a game, they draw the conclusion that that is exactly what it is.
And why not? Not many people play "inquisition", do they? ;0)
In the end, isn't it only the opinions of other "Wizards" that would matter to a "Wizard" anyway?
Absolutely not. We do not live in a world of only Goreans - if we did, it would be a moot point. We are the first generation to live our lives as Goreans. What we do, as Gorean men and women in this society, is try to live our lives as responsible, intelligent and worthy members of our modern society - while remaining true to what we believe as a philosophy. If we succeed, we will be seen by others as worthy of respect, and some of the difficulty we have in living this way, might be eased.
If not, however, if we are all seen as simply gamers and posers, people who are so shallow that they must *pretend* to be something that they could manifest in thier lives by a single act of courage and commitment, then we will simply fade away.
Who cares what society thinks? We do. We'd better, we have to live in it.
Surely you must know that to the vast majority of the population, being a real "Gorean" and holding the views that that implies would be considered just as disreputable, and probably more so, than being someone who just "plays" a Gorean.
Typical smokescreen.
What you are really saying there is this: 'Your lifestyle is already considered "disreputable" by some, so why can't I and my friends play and make it *just that much more so*?'
What I have found in most of these cases is simply that gamers and posers - in their heart of hearts - cannot accept the fact that people *can* live as Gorean men and women in this society, mostly due to the fact that *they* cannot. I have yet to see one Gorean man who has to go and pretend to be a character in order to portray what he actually is in his life. ;0)
Bad reputation depends on whom you talk to - I have numerous friends and aquaintances who know *EXACTLY* what I am, and *EXACTLY* what that entails (hell, I live with two women, one of whom refers to me as "master") and from whom I have earned regard and respect. No doubt some will certainly be opposed to what we are, and we are prepared to deal with that. What is so hard to understand is why a group of people who - for no other reason than *playing a game* - must make it so much *harder* for us to live our lives.
Think about it. If I played Skeeball, and that in some way made your life harder to live, every day, would you ask me to stop? Should I? If the situation were reversed, and I asked you to stop, would you?
If you accept that, and I can hardly see how you could do otherwise, unless you are deluded, I can't really see how you could argue that these people who play Gor games are a threat to your reputation at all.
I do accept it, and I just explained to you for the second time, how they do. That the games harm our reputation, at a time when we are literally fighting to be seen as sane, rational and responsible adults, is the simple truth.
One of us is deluded and I don't think it is me. ;0)
Bear-
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