The Gorean lifestyle. Gorean lifestylers. Lifestyle issues. Lifestyle discussion. The word is used over and over, in Gorean fora... often with very little explanation, or even understanding, of what exactly does or does not constitute a Gorean lifestyle.

This column will be devoted to that subject, those issues, those people... so, to begin, I’d like to explain exactly how I’m going to be using the word, what people I’m writing about, what sort of issues I’ll be discussing.

What is a lifestyle? The definition (as if it hasn’t been quoted before) in the American Heritage is this: A way of life or style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group. So what does that mean? Well, several things. Firstly, it means that not all ways of life are lifestyles. How you choose to live does not make a lifestyle... even if the way you live superficially resembles someone else’s lifestyle. Rather, the fact that it is a lifestyle as opposed to simply a way of living comes from why you choose to live the way you do: the "attitudes and values" of the definition.

Also, it is not the lifestyle you lead which defines membership in the group; rather, it is the fact that you are already a member of the group, that you share the attitudes of the group, which leads you to live that lifestyle. A Gorean isn’t Gorean because he owns a slave... he owns a slave (if he owns a slave) because he’s Gorean.

So what is "the Gorean lifestyle"? Well... the definition doesn’t say the way of life, it says a way of life. There are an infinite number of possible ways for a person to live, which reflect the attitudes and values of the group called "Goreans"... but you have to be Gorean by philosophy, first, before you can live a Gorean lifestyle. And if you are indeed Gorean, and if your way of living is in agreement with your beliefs (and for a Gorean, how could it be otherwise?) then any lifestyle you lead is by definition a Gorean lifestyle

When I speak of the Gorean lifestyle... or, more accurately, about Gorean lifestyles... I will be writing about ways of life which reflect the attitudes of a certain group of people, people whose ideas and attitudes and beliefs resonate with the ideas and attitudes and beliefs described by John Norman in the novels we all know. When I speak of Gorean people, I will be writing about people who are Gorean by beliefs and attitudes first, and by action only as it derives from belief: not people who go out of their way to "act Gorean", but people who simply are, with every action they take.

You know who you are. This is for you.

Gabriel will be writing a monthly column about issues pertaining to the lifestyles of Goreans on Earth. Questions, comments, and suggestions or requests for topics can be addressed to Gabriel@gor-on-earth.com