Free Women on Gor

I am often asked by new comers what it is to be a Free woman on Gor. What are their role, duties, etc? I can speak from my own experiences and my own reading of the books. First I will discuss the role of a Free woman with no Companion, then I will discuss the role of a woman with duties to a Companion, these will be followed by some quotes from the books re:FW in general and a Free Woman's wardrobe.

Ok as a woman alone I have wandered and trained slaves. First thing to know is to be responsible for your own actions. You are Free and so you are allowed to make your own decisions and are responsible for the outcome of your decisions. Keep this in mind, be very careful of what you do. Also remember a Free Woman on Gor was often highly esteemed; act with respect and dignity or you will be at risk of losing your freedom. I speak harshly on this because Gor is harsh, a Free woman is not a slave and is not a Domme. With men she is a woman and as close to an equal a man will have. She is still subservient to men for it is the men who allow them their freedom.

On to the role of a Free Companion, I feel I am often there doling out opinions, which my Free Companion asks for, and hoping he will make the right decisions for us. A Free Companionship was the most common relationship on Gor in all reality as the population was about 40/50:1 Free to slave. A Free woman, however, was there to help her Free Companion. She ran his household while he was away, bore his children, trained the slaves of the home, etc.

Tarnsman of Gor 112 `Free women on Gor do not travel attended by only a single warrior, not of their own free will.'

Beasts of Gor 310 `“Love is found more often among slave girls than free women,” I said. “If you would learn love, learn slavery.”'

Blood Brothers of Gor 221 ‘Whereas a free woman may often make a man angry with impunity, she being lofty and free, this latitude is seldom extended to the slave.'

Priest-Kings of Gor 67 ‘The Gorean woman, for reasons that are not altogether clear to me, considering the culture, rejoices in being a woman. She is an exciting, magnificent, glorious creature, outspoken, talkative, vital, active, spirited.'

Explorers of Gor 205 `Masculinity and femininity are complementary properties,' I told her. `If a man wishes a woman to be more feminine, he must be more masculine. If a woman wishes a man to be more masculine, she must be more feminine.'

Captive of Gor 83'In every woman,' said Ute, 'there is a Free Companion and a slave girl. The Free Companion seeks for her companion, and the slave girl seeks for her master.'

Hunters of Gor 102 'The Goreans claim that in each woman there is a free companion, proud and beautiful, worthy and noble, and in each, too, a slave girl. The companion seeks for her companion; the slave girl for her Master. It is further said, that on the couch, the Gorean girl, whether slave or free, who has had the experience, who has tried all loves, begs for a Master. She wishes to belong completely to a Man, withholding nothing, permitted to withhold nothing. And of course, of all women, only a slave girl can be truly His, in all ways, utterly, totally, completely, His, selflessly, at His mercy, His ecstatic slave, helpless and joyous in the total submission which she is given no choice but to yield.'

Priest Kings of Gor 67 'This harsh treatment, incidentally, when she is thought to deserve it, may even be inflicted on an 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 irritable 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. It is the right of the Male in a Free Companionship to take the life of his companion at any time. Gor is a man's world.'

Tribesmen of Gor 333 'There's a difference between the pride of a FW and the pride of the slave. The pride of a FW is that of a woman who feels herself to be equal of a man. The slave's pride is that of the girl who knows that no other woman is equal to herself.'

Magicians of Gor 50 "The Free Woman is a riddle, the answer to which is the collar'

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THE ROBES OF CONCEALMENT

Worn by Free Women in the high cities are elaborate affairs, and are subject to the dictates of the current fashion in her city. They can be highly personal modes of garb, cut and fashioned in countless ways and in numerous styles, according to the whims and desires of the wearer and the restrictions imposed by local sumptuary laws. Nevertheless, they universally have these things in common: 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 Free Woman 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 Free Woman 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 Free Woman typically wears much jewelry, consisting of brooches, medallions and chains of office and rank, rings and armlets. Many Free Women 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 it is almost never worn by the suitably cautious Free Woman, and under no circumstances will a Free Woman 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 Free Woman 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 Free Woman 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 Free Women upon the streets and in the public gathering places of her city. The five basic veils worn by Free Women 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 free women; 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 Free Woman.

THE VEIL OF THE CITIZENESS:The second of the veils worn by free women; worn under the pride veil and over the last veil; it is worn by a Free Woman when she leaves her chambers for any reason. The right to wear this veil at all times is guaranteed to all Free Women 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 free women; worn under the house veil and over the veil of the citizeness, it is worn when a Free Woman 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 free women, 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 Free Woman 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 free women. 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.

She was not as the other women of the Wagon Peoples I had seen, the dour, thin women with braided hair, bending over the cooking pots. She wore a brief skirt leather skirt, slit on the right side to allow her the saddle of the kaiila, her leather blouse was sleeveless; attached to her shoulders was a crimson cape; and her wild black hair was bound back by a band of scarlet cloth. Like the other women of the Wagons she wore no veil and, like them, fixed in her nose was the tiny, fine ring that proclaimed her people." From Nomads of Gor, page 32

"Free women, incidentally, among the Wagon Peoples are not permitted to wear silk: it is claimed by those of the Wagons, delightfully I think, that any women who loves the feel of silk on her body is, in the secrecy of her heart and blood, a slave girl, whether or not some Master has yet forced her to don the collar."

From Nomads of Gor, pg 58