A proper FW knows how to conduct herself with a male, whether in PM or in public. There should be no sexual flirting out in the open, no lap sitting, no heavy petting, no remarks that are sexually teasing. FW should not be making blatant sexual comments, nor describing a private part of a FW's body to a Male in the open. FW should not be making challenges of a sexual nature. In short, do nothing to make You seem like a slave with upper case lettering.
Mannish behavior includes not trusting your family enough to know you are safe. You shouldn't be stepping into a man's boots so to speak. FW do not use "truckers" language, swear, spit, etc. You shouldn't be acting like a warrior, in speech, dress and posted actions. FW should not be riding ON tarns. FW rode in a basket under the tarn, or if captured, over the pommel of the saddle on her back in front of the one who captured her. When choosing your Caste, just because you are of a caste that sounds cool and manly, doesn't mean you do not act like a FW anymore. Example: Being a Slaver doesn't give a FW the right to act like a cigar chomping man and be mouthy. She is STILL a FW. She just has to work more diligently maintaining her status as a Gorean FW and being true to her Caste/clan.
Avatars
No FW should be forced to wear an avatar, but if she does, these guidelines will be enforced in this room....
Wearing AVs that show too much flesh for your culture. A note on some cultures for those who don't have the books...
Red Hunter FW: went bare breasted in the summer and it was considered normal.
Wagon People FW: Did not wear veils, they had a gold nose ring pierced through the septum (middle of the nose, not the side). They wore leather dresses.
Rencer FW: had bare arms and very short rence cloth clothes for ease in movement though the delta on the rence craft. They would show more legs than others.
Torvaldslander FW: Were not required to wear veils in Torvaldsland and did not wear nose rings. They did wear a dagger on their belt. (Note: using that dagger against a man is another thing entirely.)
Thentis FW: Do not wear veils, there is no wearing of any facial jewelry, no nose rings or earrings. They do wear robes, no cloaks. No weapons are carried because they are protected in Thentis as long as their behaivor is appropriate. Hairpins are concidered to be poisoned, so if you wear them be prepared to defend the action.
"Any woman, it is said, with pierced ears, is a slave girl."
---Marauders of Gor, pg 8
Disrespect
Do not act like you know more than the men. Do not stand up to a Male in a belligerent, argumentative manner (mouthing off). Note: A debate or difference of opinion, or when informing someone of the room rules, when done in a calm, intelligent manner, does not constitute mouthing off. Do not draw a weapon on a Male (unless protecting your home/self). FW should not be speaking out of line to any Male, no matter the home, if living there or just visiting there. Do not give uncalled for looks to a Male (raises brow/glares..etc). FW do not use "truckers" language, do not swear, and should be above yelling. Disrespectful behavior also includes not adhering to the Administrator and/or your male family's direct orders.
Appropriateness
A FW is polite, sensual (beautiful) but not sexual, she is graceful and intelligent. A FW has loyalty, honor, and trusts her family. FW should wait for the men to defend you (ie: not jumping in but giving them the chance to be Gorean males in the time of conflict with others). You should be speaking up to other FW in your home (in PM for a first offence) when you see they are doing things not in keeping with a Gorean FW. You should be concentrating on FW issues and items, and leaving the male ones to the men. If you see something that is wrong (unGorean, against your home's rules, or something transpiring that you know is going to cause problems) you should PM your concern to your FC and/or Brothers so they can deal with it.
Sparring/Fighting
Women do not spar on Gor, they are not Warriors, they do not enter spar competitions. Women may receive instruction on self-defense, with their family's permission, in their own home.
Raiding
FW do not go raiding. There may be exceptions to this rule, but those are a female mercenary or a female outlaw. Note: Even a female mercenary or a female outlaw risks capture rights when drawing steel on a Gorean male. FW who are of the homestone being raided will act in accordance with their room's rules. For roleplay purposes, a free woman of your room may be used as a Raid Scout to scout out a suitable room for your warriors.
Weapons
FW have weapons they can use and still maintain their status as FW. This would depend upon their culture, and what their men have allowed them. FW do not use swords, not even panther girls. Exception: Female mercenaries and outlaws have used a scimitar, in the books.
Castes and Clans
FW were not Warriors, Initiates, Players or Assassins. Castes were in the cities, clans in the wagon camps. FW lived in cities, villages, steadings, towns and wagon camps. They were not normally found living outlaw lairs, war camps, paga taverns and slaver houses. You might be Free and a woman and live in one of these places, but you would lose your caste status. This is the penalty you pay for living in such a place. This doesn't mean you cannot use these talents, for they do not simply "disappear" because you live in one of these places. You simply cannot be "Caste of (fill in caste)" if you live there. Example: A FW who is the Caste of Physicians is caught outside her city and spirited away to an outlaw camp. They are impressed with her and ask her to join, since a Healer would be an asset. She stays and is now "a Healer" instead of "Caste of Physicians".
THE VIRTUES
Courage
The Courage I speak of is not the courage to battle. In a million ways Gorean Society challenges our values. On Earth, in r/t we are legally equals to men. On Gor, we are not. This courage stems from within, telling your character to be who you are meant to be on Gor, and live your life there as it shall be. If Sally in the next wagon tells you that you are being too weak and subservient, while she runs around acting like a man, who is right? Is this the way to get ahead and be accepted in Gorean society? No, live the way you are meant to as a Gorean Free Woman.
Truth
The second virtue, is Truth. It is a word that holds so much in its definition, and includes such a wide variety of moral and philosophical beliefs that we were all drawn to it as a simple statement of what we stood for.
At least one of the reasons is the simple issue of honesty. Words to live by: "if you don't want people to know about something, don't do it." Truth, in the sense of honesty, is essential to personal honor and also to any system or morality that is not based on rigid legalism. If one is to uphold an honor code, one must be brutally honest with oneself and with others.
Truth is also the Truth that comes with a capital T--the kind of Truth that one talks about in terms of religion or morality. It's common to talk of different peoples having different "truths," but it's equally important to remember that while we acknowledge that each person or people has their own belief as to what Truth is or where to find it, there finally is a single Truth. This is not the Truth as we believe it, but ultimate Truth. While we may respect other people's "truths" and seek our own, we must never forget our search for The Truth. Like the Holy Grail of Christian legend, it may never be ours to reach, but when we cease to search we perish.
Honor
Honor is the basis for the entire Gorean moral rationale. If anything comes out in the things we do it is that without honor, we are nothing. Remember two types of peoples from ancient times: those whose honor was so clean that they shine as examples to us and those who were so without honor that their names are cursed a thousand years after they lived. We should always strive to be among the former.
However, honor is not mere reputation. Honor is an internal force whose outward manifestation is reputation. Internal honor is the sacred moral compass that each of us should hold dear. It is the inner dwelling at peace which comes from living in accordance with ones beliefs and with ones knowledge of the Truth of what one is doing. It is something deeply personal and heartfelt, almost akin to an emotion. It's a "knowing" that what one is doing is right and decent and correct.
In many ways while the most important of all the virtues it is also the most ephemeral in terms of description. It is all the other virtues rolled together and then still more. The best way I have found to describe honor is that if you are truly living with honor, you will have no regrets about what you have done with your life. You may have made mistakes, but you learned from them and grew, moving on.
Fidelity
Fidelity is a word that is far too often defined by it's narrow use in terms of marriage fidelity. By the dictionary it simply means being faithful to someone or something. In a Free Companionship this means being true to ones vows and partner, and this has been narrowly defined as limiting ones sexual experience to ones spouse, with the exception of slaves unless the two decide otherwise.
While I have found this to be great practical advice, many treat fidelity as if there were no other ways in which one could be faithful or unfaithful. For Gorean Free Women, fidelity is most important in terms of our faith and truth to the Caste. We must remain true to our HomeStones, Our Sisters, to Ourselves, and to the Man who will one day be our Companion.
Discipline
In any discussion of values, discipline is best described as self-discipline. It is the exercise of personal will that upholds honor and the other virtues and translates impulse into action. If one is to be able to reject moral legalism for a system of internal honor, one must be willing to exercise the self-discipline necessary to make it work. Without self-discipline, we have the mess we currently see in our Earthen culture.
Hospitality
Hospitality is simply one of the strongest core values at the heart of virtually every ancient human civilization. In a community such as Gor, it is the virtue that upholds our social fabric. In ancient times it was essential that when a traveler went into the world he could find some sort of shelter and welcome for the night. In Gor it is just as essential that a traveler find friendship and safety.
In our Homestone, we need to treat each other with respect and act together for the good of our community as a whole. This functions most solidly on the level of the kindred where non-familial members become extremely close and look out for each other. It can mean hospitality in the old sense of taking in people, which we do, but in Gor it could mean a warm beverage, a compassionate ear, a meal, or help out a friend or sometimes even a stranger in need.
Part of hospitality is treating other people with respect and dignity, even Strangers. The virtue of hospitality means seeing people as if they were all individuals with self-respect and importance. In terms of Gor as a whole, I see hospitality in terms of frontier "barn raisings" where a whole community would come together and pool their resources. This doesn't mean we have to forget differences, but we must put them aside for those who are of our Family, and work for our common good.
Industriousness
We must be industrious in our actions. We need to work hard if we are going to achieve our goals. There is so much for us to do. We've set ourselves the task of restoring Honor to it's former place as a mainstream faith and by doing so reinvigorating our society and culture. We can't do this by sitting on our virtues, we need to make them an active part of our behavior. Industry also refers to simple hard work in our daily vocations, done with care and pride.
Here's a few concrete examples. Are you are reading and don't agree with what I'm saying here? Well, be industrious! Write your own articles and arguments. Start composing an answer to me and suggest this material is horrible and tell me why--better that than passivity. Get the blood moving and go out and do it. That's how it gets done. The Gods do not favor the lazy.
The same holds true for our lives. As Free Women we should offer a good example as industrious people who add to whatever we're involved in rather than take from it. We should be the ones the camps and villages can't do without and the ones who always seem to be able to get things done. When people think of the Gorean Free Woman, they should think of people who are competent and who offer something to the world.
Self Reliance
Industry brings us directly to the virtue of Self-Reliance, which is important both in practical and traditional terms. Going back to the general notion of this page, we are dealing with a form of morality that is largely self-imposed and thus requires self-reliance. We rely on ourselves to administer our own morality.
Traditionally, our folkways have always honored the ability of a man or woman to make their own way in the world and not to lean on others for their physical needs. This is one of the ways in which several virtues reinforce and support each other. Hospitality cannot function if people are not responsible enough to exercise discipline and take care of themselves. It's for those that strive and fail or need assistance that hospitality is intended, not for the idle who simply won't take care of themselves.
In mundane terms being self-reliant is a simple way to allow ourselves the ability to live as we wish to. In simple economic terms, if one has enough money in the bank one doesn't need to worry as much about telling off ones boss. We can look him in the face and tell him just where he can put it. It's also nice to have something in the bank to fall back upon.
On the other side of this is self-reliance in the sense of Henry David Thoreau, who advocated a simple lifestyle that freed one from the temptations of materialism. Again, here we are able to live as we wish with those things that are truly important. One of the most important meanings for being self-reliant is taking responsibility for ones life. It's about refusing to blame ones failures on someone else. Gor is in fact unfair, but it's our own responsibility to deal with it, get over it, and move on.
Perseverance
The final virtue is Perseverance which I think most appropriate because it is the one that we most need to keep in mind in our living of the other values. Life teaches us that the world is an imperfect place, and nothing comes easy. We need to continue to seek after that which we desire. In this imperfect world there are no free lunches or easy accomplishments--especially in the subjects we have set before ourselves. If we truly wish to build a successful reputation for ourselves, one that people will hold up as an example of what committed people can do, then we must persevere through the hardships that building it is going to entail. We must be willing to continue on when we are pushed back. If one is hurt, the answer is not to go and hide, but to continue until one finds a place where one can move forward and live as a Free Woman should, with honor and dignity.
Finally we must persevere when we simply fail. If the camp feels as if it is falling apart because of internal strife, one should push ahead and keep going. Pick up the pieces and continue on. We must be willing to continue in the hard work of making our camp strong--not just when it is convenient and easy to do so, but when it gets hard, inconvenient, or just plain boring. To accomplish without striving is to do little, but to persevere and finally accomplish a hard fought goal brings great honor.
To live a Virtuous life a Free Woman and every Person on Gor must follow the codes of their Caste....Truth to self, Courage to live life as you must, Fidelity to your code and self, Discipline to keep the codes, Hospitality to A/all who enter your home in peace... Industriousness - Do, Be, make happen, get involved... Self-reliance - take responsibility for Your own actions...Perseverance to continue uphill even though the wind and rain may drive you back, all tempered with the Honor from within..
"Virtues Author is unknown. Great gratitude is given to LadyNyx on her guidance in the ways of Free Women of Gor. May we all learn to be the best we can be for our Home and our Men." - Kassina