There is a group of women who, for one reason or another, have associated themselves with the Gorean lifestyle, and yet are not - and more than likely will not be - collared to a man. These women have their freedom - they are to be respected as people, treated with fairness (if not kindness). They, of course, will be treated as they treat the men; if they become haughty, arrogant, spiteful...they will be dealt with swiftly.

     The free women I have met online have been of two major catagories: there are the respectful, submissive types, who have become part of the community and retained their sense of self - call these type "A"; and there are those who feel they have something to prove, the ones who think they can best a man, and show up online wielding swords and carrying on like a drunken sailor - call these type "B".

     Type "B" women are best characterized by the Panther Women. These are the ones who are "out of the norm" and going against society. We learn about these women most intricately in Hunters of Gor, written in 1974. I was pretty young then, but I do know this was at the end of the conflicts in Vietnam, and in the middle of the 1970's sexual revolution, started in the late 1960's. The Panther Girls seem to me as representative of the "bra burning" parading women who didn't dare be molded by what was considered up to that point "normal" and "proper" for females of society. These Panther Women lived outside of normal Gorean society - and so does our "modern, liberated" woman of today.

     The type "A" woman is one who knows and understands what society is like, and what their desires are. They, however, don't want to give up their sense of self and be completely owned by anyone. They feel strong enough to be able to stand on their own, and do not wish to be subjected completely to the whims of any man. There are those who have become Free Companion to a Gorean man - they are the women who have found the one man they submit to, and yet are also held with some regard, respect, and love, from the man.

     This is probably the one difference between a free woman and a slave, that of the free admission of love for one another, basically as equals, between the man and woman. A slave will never truly achieve that freedom of emotion on an equal level with her master. Yes, she will probably love him, and deeply, but he may not return the emotion - he may not even return a feeling of friendship for her. He also may just discard the slave, and have no second thoughts about the matter, because she has been displeasing to him in some way.

     There are a few free women I have spoken with online, and have found their manner respectful. In turn, they are worthy of the simple respect as an acquaintance, or even the deeper feeling of friendship. We can discuss things as equals; they are not limited to say only what they feel is pleasing to me because I am a man. Yet, when we do disagree, their manner is still respectful, all the while presenting their views. Again, this is a difference between them and slaves; a slave could never just tell a free person their feelings, unless granted permission to speak freely - or ordered to...

     This question was asked of me before I even entered the Silk & Steel tavern on Dalnet IRC:

     Which would you rather have: a free woman sitting beside you, or a slave kneeling before you?

     I haven't made a choice in this matter, but it does show something of a difference between the two. Would I rather have someone who is basically my equal within society, albeit respectful of my position, and submissive to me as such, or rather the girl who, for all intents and purposes, is only there to please me, to worship at my feet in hopes that I might regard her in some way...

     ...I leave you with that thought.

I wish you well,

Greylin `//olffe