Friendship

It is a little acknowledged fact of contemporary life that all bonds and relationships have tended to merge into a non-descript sludge usually covered by the word “friend”. Husbands are no longer husbands to their wives, but rather try to be “friends”. Wives are no longer wives, merely “friends” to their husbands. The modern parent doesn’t want to be Dad or Mom to their children – they want to be “friends” with their kids. The modern boss wants to be “friends” with his employees. Teachers want to be “friends” with their students. And so on. All relationships are reduced to “friendship”.

Of course, friendship in itself is a fine and honourable thing – but it should be between friends and it should not consume all other relations. Yet that is what has happened.

It is a cardinal mistake to treat an odalisque as a “friend”. A Slavekeeper should not treat his slave as a “friend”. If he needs friendship, he should seek it in friends, not in his slave. A slave should be treated as a slave. The Keeper treats her with compassion and proper care, but he keeps her in her place.

Similarly, a slave should not look to her Keeper as her “friend”. He is her Keeper and she should have a realistic appreciation of what such a bond entails.

Odalisque slavery is not for the purposes of friendship and companionship. It is not a cure for loneliness. Both Keeper and slave should understand the nature of odalisque slavery. The Keeper must act as slavekeeper and he must treat his slave as a slave. The slave, for her part, is obedient, deferential, compliant, humble like a slave. She is never familiar like a friend.

Moreover, Master and slave have a deep and mutual respect, a level of respect that goes beyond merely “friends”. It is a bond built on the slave’s dedication to selfless service and the Keeper’s commitment to consent and safety. “Friend” is a shallow relation by comparison.

Code d’ Odalisque delineates the form and dynamics of the Keeper/odalisque bond. An appropriate level of formality and etiquette prevents relations from degenerating into the sludge of mere “friends”. The Code works to keep Slavekeepers as Slavekeepers and slaves as slaves without such roles and distinctions collapsing into a bland niceness of contemporary “friendship”.