The male pleasure slave

A high price for a male is a silver tarsk, but even a plain wench, of low caste, provided she moves well to the touch of the auctioneer's coiled whip, will bring as much, or more. An exception to the low prices for males generally is that paid for a certified woman's slave, a handsome male, silken clad, who has been trained to tend a woman's compartments - Hunters of Gor.


The female slave on Gor, knowing herself owned, is usually in little doubt as to what can occur to her in her slavery. The next level of slaves is that of male silk slaves. These usually bring higher prices, on the whole, than female pleasure slaves. This, it seems to me, is purely a matter of supply and demand. Female pleasure slaves, given slave raids and the sackings of cities, are relatively plentiful on Gor. Male silk slaves are not. The explanation for this, I think, is reasonably clear. Gorean males seldom make good silk slaves. The explanation for the much smaller number of male as opposed to female slaves on Gor, speaking now generally of male work slaves, is also clear. First, the female tends to be the desirated object of the slaver's seizure. She brings higher prices than male work slaves. Secondly, in battles, often male defenders have been slaughtered or driven off. Their, females thus remain as spoils for the chains of the victors. Too, male captives are often killed. Female captives, on the other hand, particularly if comely, are usually spared for the collars of their conquerors. They learn to yield well to their masters. - Fighting Slave of Gor


On Gor, it is woman that are natural slave.  As we seen last week, the male slave is more of an animal used more for heavy labor and who would have a short and often brutal life.  A female slave is still an animal under the laws of Gor but her sex normally saves her from the mines and salt pits.  


What would have been the purpose of a male silk slave?   Certainly given the Gorean attitude towards male slaves in general his "jobs" would have been limited.  They may have been expected to protect his mistress when out of the house, but again given the fact that he would most likely not have been armed what protection could he truly provide?  


He would and could be used as a draft animal, pulling his mistress about in a cart.  Generally however they are seen as the playthings of rich free woman, and yes they are used sexually.  They are handsome, even "pretty" by Gorean standards.   They are often muscular and manly, which may seem dangerous to the Free woman, having such a beast at her feet!



While a male silk slave would have several functions; and we see some of these functions in the Jason Marshall series of books one function that is hinted at is serving sexually.   Norman even uses a male slave to lure a free woman into slavery.   So much for the "Frigid" nature of the free woman.   

Some cities have enacted "couching" laws, which in effect makes any free woman a slave automatically if she sleeps with a male slave.  Often, a male silk slave is killed on sight when a city falls.  For these reasons a male silk slave is a rarity indeed.


But they did exist, and there had to be a market for them.  Norman often stated that Free Women are "Frigid" and reserved.  Free Women are expected to act in certain ways and owning a male silk slave may set tongues wagging on Gor.   Yet a Free Woman does purchase silk slaves, partly because owning a male silk slave would have been seen as a status symbol, and partly because it would have flown in the face of polite society. 


Homosexuality on Gor, at least man on man sex, according to Norman was rare.  Lesbianism, either forced or not is a interesting debate, but not the focus of this topic.  As I have discussed before, I can not help but wonder if it's due to the authors own "hang up's", or the feeling of his publishers considering the times the books were being written.


A male silk slave however, could be purchased by a man and we see that here:  It might also be mentioned, however, that there is a market for handsome male slaves which caters to rich free women, and, to a lesser extent, to rich free men. There is very little male-to-male sex on Gor, though it is not nonexistent. 


So what would have been the main purpose of a male silk slave?  As we have seen, they demand a high price because of their rarity.   They were often killed when a city was taken, which is odd because they were slaves...trained and valuable beasts.  Which, frankly does not make sense, unless they were somehow seen as an affront to the Gorean vision of "Manhood" or "How dare a man serve a mere woman!"


The male silk slave then has only one main purpose.   Sex.  It is his fate to serve either sex as their Master or Mistress see's fit.