Thursday, December 5, 2013

Taking on a slave's debts?

In modern consumer society everyone is in debt. Everyone lives on credit. Even before we have reached full adulthood most of us have already acquired some level of debt. It is a pervasive fact of life. How then is a woman to give herself to the odalisque's life, where she is kept for sex in a state of occlusion, doesn't work and has no means of her own? An odalisque is "preserved from toil". She is not a work slave. By definition, an odalisque is outside of the workforce; she is preserved as an object of beauty and desire. She lives naked and wears no protective clothing or footwear. She does nothing that would blemish her skin or disfigure the beauty of her hands. Ideally, therefore, she does not have a job. She is not expected to pay her way. She is kept. So what becomes of her debts? Who pays her credit cards?

This question arose early in the history of Code d' Odalisque. A slavekeeper had found a woman who was willing to serve as his odalisque, but she had debts that required her to continue working a 35 hour a week job. This prevented her from serving and also from relocating to where the Slavekeeper lived. The question then was: could he pay out her debts for her if she agreed to live with him as his slave? Or could he take on her debts and meet the payments for her so that she could live in occlusion for him? The question provoked some controversy. According to some, this proposal amounted to a financial inducement to the woman and so constituted a type of payment for service. Thus it was akin to prostitution. They argued that this would be against the letter and spirit of Code d' Odalisque.

This point of view was finally rejected, although the grey area is acknowledged. It was decided that Slavekeepers can pay out or take on the debts of a prospective slave if this enables her to live in occlusion. This does not amount to sex for hire. Certainly, it is legally permissible and does not encroach on legal definitions of prostitution. The payment of debts cannot be directly connected to sexual acts (which would be prostitution) but otherwise it is no different to a man taking on the debts of his wife-to-be. The grey area is that, yes, it is open to abuse. There is a danger, for example, that young women might turn to odalisque service as a way of getting free of their debts. If a young woman is in debt, she can find a Slavekeeper and promise to serve as his slave so long as he pays off her debts. An odalisque makes no money from her service, but she can use service as a way of paying former debts.

It admittedly gets hazy but in the end it is more important that there is a way for an odalisque to serve in occlusion. Since everyone carries debts these days, the only prospect for a woman seeking to live in occlusion as a cockslave is to be debt free, or else she must continue working for a wage to meet her repayments. It is reasonable that a Slavekeeper can clear a path through this thicket of debt and release the woman from that financial burden so that she is at liberty to serve. Note, though, that it is not a binding agreement. If, for example, a man paid off a slave's debts but she then left his service, he could not claim he has been robbed. There was no agreement of a debt-for-sex nature. If a Slavekeeper wants to pay off a woman's debt in the hope she will be his odalisque, the risk is entirely his, and he must understand that the paying of the debt in no way places the woman under an obligation, legal or otherwise. Consent must be free of financial coercion. Regardless of what money a Keeper spends on a cockslave, under the terms of Code d' Odalisque, she must always be free to withdraw consent. The Keeper/slave bond is not a financial one for the simple reason that an odalisque is not a whore.

On this question then, as reflected in the protocols of the new edition of the Code, a Keeper may pay off or pay out the debts of a slave in order to enable her to serve and live in occlusion. This is not a binding financial arrangement. The Keeper does it merely to free the slave from the need to work.

















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