Ideologies

Although it might not be immediately obvious, much contemporary slave play and much of the dom/sub subculture has a definite ideological background – especially in the American context. It is an ideology that affirms and celebrates what are deemed natural types of dominance and submission. This defies the assumptions of ‘political correctness’ which are based upon an ideology of egalitarianism. Specifically, much male dom/fem sub play – such as Gorean slavery – is based on the idea that men are naturally rulers over women; men are the dominant gender, females the submissive. You only need to read the philosophical works of John Norman, creator of the Gor system, to appreciate this. He is an advocate of a type of Nieztchean law-of-the-wild philosophy in which the strong and brave can and should rule over the weak and frail. It is a type of social Darwinism – survival of the fittest. And men, by nature, are stronger and braver than women. The fullest expression of this law of nature is for man to rule over woman and for woman to serve man. In this view, politically-correct egalitarianism is a violation and denial of nature and allows the weak to prosper at the expense of us all. Men are reduced to weaklings and women are masculinized, to the detriment of both. In earlier historical versions of this same ideology, survival of the fittest was attributed to skin-color and race: the white race is naturally superior and has a natural right to rule over the black races – to pretend otherwise is to bring peril to society as a whole because the natural order has been violated.

Code d’ Odalisque – a revival of odalisque slavery in a modern, consensual form – is not based in this same ideology. It has quite different ideological underpinnings. John Norman’s Gor novels are set in a barbaric tribal world, a frontier world of naturalism. Code d’ Ode belongs, instead, to a world of urban sophistication. Instead of celebrating the brave hunter type, Code d’ Ode is about the pursuit of pleasure and celebrates a luxurious hedonism. The whole reason for the Master/slave relationship in Code d’ Ode is to facilitate sexual exploration. The Slavemaster is not a rugged warrior, he is a sophisticated urban trader who, secure in his wealth, wants to enjoy the decadent delights of a female sexual servant. For her part, the slave is not subservient because, as a woman, she is a natural inferior; she serves because she has a special calling to do so. There is no ideological imperative that men should rule over women, per se. Men are not necessarily superior to women. It is not regarded as the “way of nature”. Sexual slave play under Code d’ Ode is unashamedly decadent. It is a lifestyle of the wealthy and decadent. It is male dom/fem sub but only because this allows for a certain order of sexual delight. The philosophical background to Code d’ Ode is enlightened hedonism, not rugged naturalism.

In principle, men and women are equals under Code d’ Odalisque. Certainly, free men and free women are equals. They don’t live by the law of the jungle – they are modern, urban, sophisticated people. An odalisque is subservient because that is her calling, her character – she is not subservient merely because she is a woman. Code d’ Ode does not subscribe to the ideology that says that all women should serve all men because women are inherently inferior creatures. That is not the basis for odalisque slavery. And nor, of course, is it based on any racial theories and distinctions. Instead, it is based in the idea that, in a world of leisure and plenty, a gentleman ought to be able to own a cockslave for his personal enjoyment. And, in such a world, there are certain women who find fulfillment in such a role. There is no political judgment that insists that man ruling over woman is the ‘natural way’. This is one of the things that makes Code d’ Ode different to other genres and styles of consensual slavery. It does not have a political sub-text. It is certainly politically incorrect; the whole idea of a female sexual servant is as un-feminist as you can get! But its background philosophy is not based in the idea that men are naturally above women. The Code itself explains that there are some types of pleasure and some excesses of erotic adventure that can only be found in a Master/slave relationship. That is the reason why odalisque slavery exists; it is a vehicle for calculated hedonism, not a statement about the natural leadership of the male of the species.