One key driver to the restraint of our better forefathers (and mothers) was the pox. Syphilis killed in a brutally horrific way that was quite publicly visible. The white face, sunken eyes , the gory hole where the nose once was, and the inevitable madness helped keep the chins and knickers up. If you look at a classic circus clown, what you see is an early version of a PSA, “enjoy the show… but not too much.”
I must say that I have enjoyed reading this, and am glad that you had the gumption to write it.
"This fails to recognize quickly the law can disintegrate as social norms become more decrepit."
should be "recognize HOW quickly".
"The Rotherham scandal shows how pathetic the arm of the law can be."
Going off on a tangent here, but that's not incompetence, but malice. The UK gov't is essentially terrorizing its own people with foreign mercenaries.
Other than that, this is a fine meditation on our broken sexual dynamics, and how hedonism lures the unwary into bondage with its siren song of liberation.
This was a great article, I must admit to while I did read several Gor books I walked away pretty disturbed, and have found most of the 'rape fantasy' books out there disturbing to think about as they become ever more common. But it seems to me like trad-pub and the media want to push for something like Gor at their core, and are constantly pushing stranger and stranger sexual dynamics.
It's only by reading older literature that you can see healthier dynamics in fiction, so that we should pass those down as you said to our sons' in place of the new stuff.
Some of the battle scenes and dialogue was excellent. You could have had those domination elements if he was more vague and tactful. It fit the world he made, and people explore fantasy societies that don't adhere to our morality all the time. The constant attention to the subject actually took me out of the novel and made the entire thing feel gross.
Great article, Alan. You touched on a lot of points (and articulated them) on this topic that I've been waffling on writing about myself since I made the mistake of reading that one book I mentioned in the comment you linked to. I have friends - mostly young single men - who are convinced that female sexuality and, in general, women's interests in a partner boil down to thinly veiled (or in some cases, not veiled at all) rape fantasies. I can't help but sympathize as some experiences with exes of mine left me with the same impression for a while, but having relationships with women I can only describe as "more well adjusted" disabused me of that notion. I still understand why it's so difficult for them to move away from that idea when A) it's all they've had the misfortune of experiencing themselves and B) seemingly every woman in their age bracket is reading (and very clearly enjoying) what amounts of abuse pornography. It's pretty bleak to condition an entire generation into believing that all women want is to be chained up and smacked around. After all, there's a vast gulf between "decisive and dominant" and "abusive and controlling" (but I suspect the lack of men that are decisive and dominant may be contributing to this problem, since the latter may be all that some know). The fact that the readership that enjoys it refuses to even acknowledge it as erotica only makes the problem all the worse because they internalize it as "okay" because it isn't "smut". It's all very pernicious and my inclination towards the conspiratorial tells me that this isn't coincidental that it's being pushed so hard. And, given that a good third of the hip, trendy new bookstore in my area is nothing but abject smut with increasingly esoteric theming (the erotica written about NHL players that's wildly popular on TikTok will never cease to astound me by its basic existence alone), it is being pushed because... well, it makes money. But we need to call a spade a spade if the issue is ever going to be fixed, but since there's so much money wrapped in this, I doubt it's ever going to be meaningfully addressed.
Thanks for the shout out, by the way. It's appreciated.
I actually met John Norman at an east coast SF convention once in the early 90s. I thought it was ironic that such a small, frail-looking man had a wife who was significantly taller than he. He even said that he finds it confusing, the people who LARP Gorean society. I can't say for sure if he actually believes the philosophy from his books, or if he just found a lucrative niche (Which might explain the tonal shift after the first 6 books).
One key driver to the restraint of our better forefathers (and mothers) was the pox. Syphilis killed in a brutally horrific way that was quite publicly visible. The white face, sunken eyes , the gory hole where the nose once was, and the inevitable madness helped keep the chins and knickers up. If you look at a classic circus clown, what you see is an early version of a PSA, “enjoy the show… but not too much.”
I must say that I have enjoyed reading this, and am glad that you had the gumption to write it.
A couple things, in the second to last paragraph:
"This fails to recognize quickly the law can disintegrate as social norms become more decrepit."
should be "recognize HOW quickly".
"The Rotherham scandal shows how pathetic the arm of the law can be."
Going off on a tangent here, but that's not incompetence, but malice. The UK gov't is essentially terrorizing its own people with foreign mercenaries.
Other than that, this is a fine meditation on our broken sexual dynamics, and how hedonism lures the unwary into bondage with its siren song of liberation.
This was a great article, I must admit to while I did read several Gor books I walked away pretty disturbed, and have found most of the 'rape fantasy' books out there disturbing to think about as they become ever more common. But it seems to me like trad-pub and the media want to push for something like Gor at their core, and are constantly pushing stranger and stranger sexual dynamics.
It's only by reading older literature that you can see healthier dynamics in fiction, so that we should pass those down as you said to our sons' in place of the new stuff.
Some of the battle scenes and dialogue was excellent. You could have had those domination elements if he was more vague and tactful. It fit the world he made, and people explore fantasy societies that don't adhere to our morality all the time. The constant attention to the subject actually took me out of the novel and made the entire thing feel gross.
I can get that and do understand your sentiments.
Great article, Alan. You touched on a lot of points (and articulated them) on this topic that I've been waffling on writing about myself since I made the mistake of reading that one book I mentioned in the comment you linked to. I have friends - mostly young single men - who are convinced that female sexuality and, in general, women's interests in a partner boil down to thinly veiled (or in some cases, not veiled at all) rape fantasies. I can't help but sympathize as some experiences with exes of mine left me with the same impression for a while, but having relationships with women I can only describe as "more well adjusted" disabused me of that notion. I still understand why it's so difficult for them to move away from that idea when A) it's all they've had the misfortune of experiencing themselves and B) seemingly every woman in their age bracket is reading (and very clearly enjoying) what amounts of abuse pornography. It's pretty bleak to condition an entire generation into believing that all women want is to be chained up and smacked around. After all, there's a vast gulf between "decisive and dominant" and "abusive and controlling" (but I suspect the lack of men that are decisive and dominant may be contributing to this problem, since the latter may be all that some know). The fact that the readership that enjoys it refuses to even acknowledge it as erotica only makes the problem all the worse because they internalize it as "okay" because it isn't "smut". It's all very pernicious and my inclination towards the conspiratorial tells me that this isn't coincidental that it's being pushed so hard. And, given that a good third of the hip, trendy new bookstore in my area is nothing but abject smut with increasingly esoteric theming (the erotica written about NHL players that's wildly popular on TikTok will never cease to astound me by its basic existence alone), it is being pushed because... well, it makes money. But we need to call a spade a spade if the issue is ever going to be fixed, but since there's so much money wrapped in this, I doubt it's ever going to be meaningfully addressed.
Thanks for the shout out, by the way. It's appreciated.
The fallen man turns every blessing into a curse.
All the rest is commentary by way of demonstration.
I decided to try reading the first Gorean Saga book because I figured I might enjoy a book that triggers people I don't like. Boy was I wrong.
I gave up after the first few chapters because all the info dump exposition bored me to death.
I actually met John Norman at an east coast SF convention once in the early 90s. I thought it was ironic that such a small, frail-looking man had a wife who was significantly taller than he. He even said that he finds it confusing, the people who LARP Gorean society. I can't say for sure if he actually believes the philosophy from his books, or if he just found a lucrative niche (Which might explain the tonal shift after the first 6 books).