Bonded Service

Odalisque slavery is an application of bonded service. A whore is for hire but a slave is for sale. The odalisque is a woman who sells her sexuality to a man - her owner and Keeper - and is bonded to him for continuous use, not at a rate per hour. In many respects the whore and the odalisque are similar. Both are women who regard the sexual service of men as their occupation, or even as their vocation in life. Both are women who decide that sex is preferable to other forms of work.

But they go about their business in very different ways. The whore rents her body out by the hour. The odalisque serves one man. He has free use of her at all times and she is bound to obey him and serve him sexually. But he has a responsibility to her. Her preserves her from toil. An odalisque is a precious thing. It is a travesty to see her working in a factory or in meaningless jobs where her beauty and eroticism is wasted. A Slavekeeper protects an odalisque from the savageries of the labour market. She is neither maid nor cook. And neither is she expected to go out to work. She is kept. Kept for sex.

The advantage of bonded service is that the slave is within the protective, continuous care of a Keeper who is charged with the responsibility of putting her welfare first at all times. The whore has to fend for herself, or she is subject to a pimp. Pimping is forbidden in Code d' Odalisque. An odalisque cannot be rented out. But her Keeper has free use of her. He can exercise his imagination and use her as a fuckpuppet in his fantasies. Usually, in Code d' Ode, this will include sharing her with others.

In some ways odalisque slavery counters whoredom. An odalisque is a bonded sex worker. She serves under a Keeper. Her task - like the task of a whore - is to provide an (often extra-marital) sexual service to gentlemen. Her Master keeps her, feeds her, pays her bills. She lives a life of leisure and never dirties her hands. She is devoted exclusively to the erotic arts.

***

Imagine the following scenario:

A woman is a captive slave in the slave dens of the ancient east. She cooks, cleans, toils and also serves the bed of men. It is a hard life of little dignity and few rewards. But one day a wealthy gentleman notices this woman slave and finds her very attractive. He thinks to himself, “It is a travesty to see a creature of such beauty wasting her talents in the kitchens!” So he purchases her and elevates her to the status of an “odalisque.” She is now preserved from labour and is kept for her beauty and her eroticism. She is pampered compared to low slaves. He keeps her as an object of beauty and pleasure.

Such slaves (odalisques) were common in the ancient slave traditions, along with concubines, courtesans and temple prostitutes. Code d’ Odalisque is a revival of the institution of odalisque in a modern, consensual form.

If a slave works, then she is a memlook, an ordinary or “low” slave, not an odalisque. That is fine in itself, and it may be an arrangement that suits some Slavekeepers and some slaves. But an odalisque – properly speaking – is different. She is kept for sex. Indeed, she may even have memlooks serving her, such is her special status.

Odalisque slavery is a special type of slavery. It is important to see how it differs from ordinary slavery. Sex is the focus of odalisque slavery. If a Slavekeeper does not need lots of sex then he probably doesn’t need an odalisque. And – even where there is lots of sex – an odalisque will inevitably enjoy lots of free time, time spent sleeping, relaxing, preening, luxuriating. An opulent captivity, but captivity all the same.

Odalisque slavery is a platform for sexual exploration. The revival of odalisque slavery should be accompanied by the revival of the erotic arts to which an odalisque is dedicated. Code d’ Odalisque is a creative undertaking in this regard. It seeks to revive the institution of odalisque - consensual bonded service -, and to stimulate the erotic arts that go with odalisque slavery.