Friday, February 21, 2014

Short-term slave?

Tess writes to us:

I really like the idea of living as an odalisque, but not all the time. I think it would be... great for a while... Is it possible to have a contract for a short period of time, like a few months?

Yes, it is possible for a woman to limit her tenure as an odalisque to a short period of time. Every slave has a Contract of Submission. This contract specifies the length of time that the woman remains as a cockslave. The maximum length of time under the protocols of Code d' Odalisque is six years, but it is entirely possible for a woman to specify a shorter period of time.

Odalisque slavery can be intense. While an odalisque is a pampered slave and lives a life of comparative luxury and has many rights and benefits not enjoyed by a lesser slave (memlook), her role is nevertheless a sexual servant and she spends her time providing sexual pleasure to her Master and whatever other men he puts over her. This can be demanding. Few women have aptitude for full-time service year after year.

If a woman so wishes, therefore, she can stipulate a short period of tenure in her Contract of Submission. This might be a few months rather than years. It is a matter that is entirely up to the woman concerned. Her Contract of Submission is a statement of consent. If a short period of service is all she wants then she merely states so in her Contract of Submission.

A woman who makes many short contracts with various Slavekeepers is called a "Qoola" in the terminology of Code d' Odalisque. This is permitted but not encouraged.



Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Comparative sitting positions (repost)

The following picture illustrates the basic sitting position for an odalisque under Code d' Odalisque. It is sometimes called "Second Position" or "Lelune" meaning "like a crescent moon" referring to the curve of the woman's back. Notice that her hands are on her knees, fingers outstretched. Her eyes are looking at her fingers.


This position is usually used for instruction purposes or while the slave is waiting. The slave is silent and still.

Compare the Code d' Ode position "Lelune" to the following picture. It illustrates the basic sitting position for female slaves in Gorean slavery. By extension it is commonly used in slave play throughout the BDSM sub-culture. The slave sits on her haunches. Note the position of the hands; on the thighs, palms upwards.


This Gorean position is not used in odalisque slavery. Code d' Odalisque includes a complete system of distinct slave positions. "Lelune" is position two. Slaves who serve under Code d' Odalisque should be instructed and trained in the appropriate slave positions. Perfecting some of these positions is an art form of elegance. Other positions are for sexual access or sexual display.




Monday, February 17, 2014

Why slaves? (Repost.)

Why does this form of play have to take the form of “slavery”? The idea of a “slave” is archaic and offensive. Why “slaves”?

No one laments the passing of the institution of chattel slavery. The slavery to which African Americans were subject, for example, was archaic and offensive. All of that is gone, and rightly so. Code d’ Ode should not be confused with that type of slavery. Private, consensual slavery (in a post-slavery context) is an entirely different thing. It is a mode of self-expression. But of course the idea of “slave” does still carries stigma for historical reasons, which is unfortunate.

The role of “slave” continues in other ways because it is – divorced from any economic institution or any particular manifestation in history – an expression of deep reverence. People will be “slaves” to things they revere. To be a “slave” is the ultimate surrender.

The idea of the odalisque grows out of a common sentiment found in many relationships – as an expression of surrender (and/or love) a woman cries, “Take me! Do what you want with me! I’II be your slave. I’II do whatever you want!”

This is a transcending passion. At first the woman is agreeable. Then she is enthusiastic. Then she is passionate. Then, finally, her passion transcends her self-regard, she surrenders all, and she is then “slave”.

The idea of “slave” then is a measure of commitment, passion, submission and surrender. If you want to surrender to someone to an extreme or transcending degree you are willing to be “slave”. Question: To what degree will you submit to me? Answer: I’II be your slave! – which means, total submission, extreme submission, submission to the Nth degree. What else do lovers mean when they say, “Take me, I’m yours!”?

To be an odalisque a woman needs to want more than just sex play. She needs a consuming passion. She is saying, “Not only do I want to be used for sex. More than that! More than that! I want to GIVE MYSELF – surrender! – and do whatever I’m asked to do.”

“Slave” is a condition of the heart. Consensual slavery is an act of reverence and submission. That is why an odalisque is a slave. It is not a designation intended to degrade her; rather it is a measure of her commitment and submission, the degree of her surrender. For want of a better word, it makes her a “slave”. She finds fulfillment in this.

Friday, February 14, 2014

On the Service Paradox

In all consensual slave play, and all Dominant/submissive play, there is the so-called "service paradox".  It is part of "power exchange". What it means is that, while one player has an obvious position of power over another, the exercise of that power entails a reversal of roles such that the dominant player often ends up in service to the submissive. That is, while a slave obviously serves a Master, the conduct of play often means that a Master will need to serve his slave.

This is simply to say that the role of Slavekeeper entails responsibilities to the slave. A slave is a helpless servant, not a self-supporting free agent. A Keeper has an absolute obligation to protect and look after his slave. In this, he will often need to be in her service. His role is therefore paradoxical. He is the Master and she the servant, and yet the Master must serve. For example, a slave must be housed and fed. This is the Slavekeeper's responsibility. A Slavekeeper soon discovers that keeping a slave means devoting time and energy to her keep.

Gentlemen who aspire to own an odalisque should be aware of this. While owning a cockslave is a great joy and a means to exquisite pleasures, those joys and pleasures come with responsibilities and obligations. A Slavekeeper will find himself devoting a lot of his time - and perhaps some of his money - to the up-keep of his slave. This is especially the case for an odalisque, because she is not a work slave. An odalisque is preserved from toil and kept exclusively for sex. It is the Keeper's responsibility to look after her. She serves him, yet he is in her service too. The service paradox.

No one should underestimate this. It is important to realise that keeping a cockslave can be hard work. A Keeper must keep. Immature men fail to appreciate this and imagine that keeping an odalisque is one non-stop orgy of fun. A mature man appreciates that there are serious responsibilities in keeping a slave and that orgies of fun are only part of the deal. There is a pact of mutuality between Master and slave in any Master/slave relationship. There is a duty of care on the part of the Master. That duty of care is a form of service.

The service paradox is part of the beauty of the Master/slave relationship. Outsiders wrongly suppose that the relationship is entirely exploitative and one-sided. This is not the case. Under Code d' Odalisque the duties and obligations of both Master and slave are carefully defined. It is a mutual relationship calculated to allow the greatest exploration of male sexual pleasure while at the same time ensuring the safety and well-being of the female slave. People who are interested in Code d' Odalisque should approach it in this way, with a realistic appreciation of the paradoxical nature of service.




Disturbed women?

It was put to us recently that owning an odalisque is likely to be self-defeating - only a woman with mental disturbances and severe personal issues would want to live as an odalisque anyway, so she would be more trouble than it was worth. The gentleman explained that, in his experience, women in the consensual slavery scene are "all neurotic" as he put it and that acting as Keeper over such women is "not much fun". In some cases, he said, he had met women who were "quite disturbed" and were, or should have been, under psychiatric care.

Our response to this is to say that he is generalising and exaggerating. There are, no doubt, women such as he describes in this and in every other sexual subculture. Just as there are women - and men - such as he describes in the general population. But it is exaggerating to say that they are so prevalent as to make the dream of owning an odalisque futile. Our experience is otherwise: there are plenty of sane, self-aware women who are well-suited to the odalisque role and who would be a joy to own and use. Finding such a woman is not easy, and you may encounter loonies and neurotics along the way, but there are such women and they are very worthwhile.

It is a stereotype to think that women who would feel fulfilled by the odalisque's life must be crazy. It is the same stereotyping that proposes that all women who work as prostitutes must be damaged and were abused as children. Again, there are no doubt such cases, but we should not generalise and exaggerate. The fact is that many women who work as prostitutes are happy, well-adjusted women from ordinary middle-class backgrounds. Moreover, rather than being "victims" they enjoy their work. Similarly, there are women who - being sexually submissive by nature and inclination - enjoy the role of odalisque (cockslave). They are not "damaged goods". They do not come from terrible childhoods. They are not broken or crazy.

Likewise, it is a stereotype to suppose that sex-loving women are "insecure" or "looking for acceptance" or are "sex addicts" in need of treatment. Rather, it is a fact of nature that sexual appetites differ among people: some people have little libido and some people have more. Some women are cock-mad. Some men are cunt-mad. It's a fact of life, and we should not impose some abstract, puritanical standard of "normal" upon everyone. It takes all kinds. There are women for whom life as a sexual servant - where her task is to be used for male sexual pleasure - is very appealing.

Nevertheless, sanity is a proper issue to consider when a gentleman is shopping for an odalisque. It is quite proper to ask, is she stable and sane? A Slavekeeper does not want to take on a woman who is psychologically fragile and troubled. Apart from other considerations, it is a health and safety issue anyway. The odalisque's role can be demanding and intense. It is only suited to the psychologically robust. It would be ethically wrong to expose a woman who you knew to be psychologically fragile to intense service as a cockslave. An assessment of this must be made in every case. It is part of: safety first. The woman's safety comes before all other concerns. This includes her psychological well-being.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

A simulated slave economy (repost)

Code d' Odalisque includes a simulated slave economy. Legality is a first principle, so slavetrading is entirely simulated and no money changes hands between active players at any juncture. But a simulated trade operates as follows:

*Before purchase cockslaves are graded and priced. They are very expensive items! They are the most expensive of all slaves.

*A slave should demand that she be purchased, not taken freely like a slut. She is proud to be purchased.

*But her owner can "opt" to "commute" the slaveprice to alms. This means he makes a donation to charity instead. The purchase is only token (and indirect).

*Only some charities are acceptable for alms. These are: campaigns against child labour, forced prostitution and female genital mutilation, and all forms of non-consensual slavery. (You can't make a donation to your golf club and call it alms. It has to be directed to an appropriate cause.)

*The slavewoman has the right to nominate the organisation to which she wants her new owner to "commute the slaveprice to alms."

*The slaveowner has the right to decide the sum he will pay in alms to the charity his slave has nominated. Symbolically speaking he has paid the full price and the slave can wear her price with pride.

*A slaveowner is not required to reveal to his slave the actual sum of alms he has paid, nor is he required to give proof of payment to the slave or to anyone else. It is enough that he says to his new slave that he has "commuted the slave price to alms" with the charity of her choice.

*This constitutes full payment.

*It is improper for either slave or Keeper to ever mention either the fact or the sum of payment in any context again. It is a taboo topic in Code d' Ode play.

*It is a voluntary code. Men of good conscience will acknowledge that owning a cockslave is a rare privilege in life and will happily make a generous donation to a worthy cause in lieu of the slaveprice. This legitimizes the bond over his slave.

*Honesty is a cardinal virtue in a Slavekeeper. So when a man says "I have paid the slaveprice" (by way of a token donation to an appropriate charity) then we expect he is reporting the truth. It would be poisonous to begin a Keeper/slave relationship with a lie.

*It is the intent of Code d' Ode to foster and protect odalisques at all times. The whole Code works against illegal slavetrading, forced prostitution and exploitation.

*Odalisques are urged to demand that their owners pay the slave price. She should ask, "Am I to be taken for free like a slut?" An odalisque should SHAME her owner into paying a price for her.

*A key quality in a Slavetrader is the urge to protect and nurture odalisques. Such a man will abhor the ruthless maltreatment of beautiful, erotic women at the hands of underworld rackets and will happily give to charities that are devoted to helping such women.

*There are no obstacles to players holding (consensual) slave auctions or auctions-for-service so long as ALL proceeds go to an appropriate charity.

*Code d' Ode seeks to create a high-class, luxury, consensual cockslave culture where play incidentally assists charity work that is devoted to eradicating forms of non-consensual sex slavery.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

The Pearled Slave


A "pearled slave" under Code d' Odalisque is the most accomplished of odalisques. Specifically, the term refers to a slave who has successfully completed a full series of erotic ordeals. This is a feature of Code d' Odalisque - it includes a system of ordeals that are like steps in an initiation.

A freewoman becomes an odalisque by way of "discalcing" - a ritual stripping. This is an initiation ritual. But throughout the time of her service to her Master, he may impose upon her certain "ordeals". If she completes these ordeals then she is to be rewarded with a string of genuine black pearls. Thereafter, she is referred to as a "pearled slave."

Therefore, a pearled slave is one who has demonstrated service and prowess by undertaking the tasks set to her by her Master. A pearled slave is a slave who has risen to the challenge of the set ordeals. She has passed every test. She is accomplished in her arts.

Under Code d' Odalisque contract, a Slavekeeper may offer his slave a written 'Promise of Pearls' which sets out the details of the ordeals she must undertake. If she completes them, then she is promised a set of black pearls. An odalisque aspires to win her pearls.

The nature of the ordeals is up to the Slavekeeper's imagination. An ordeal is - as the name suggests - a difficult undertaking - acts of extreme intensity, endurance or both. The slave agrees to a program of ordeals to be accomplished during the period of her occlusion.  After the final ordeal, she is presented with her pearls. Under the Code, the pearls must be genuine black pearls - quite an expensive item.

A pearled slave is the highest and most respected of slaves. She is entitled to wear her pearls to signify her dignity and status.