FREE WOMEN

“The Pani free women, incidently, seem, except for the companions of high officers, and such, to have much lower status than the typical Gorean free woman, certainly one of upper caste.  For example, an older sister, even a mother, mus defer to a male child, bowing first, and such.  — Mariners

“Their outburst earned them a cry of rage from the Pani woman in charge of the slave hut, who tore away their sheets, and gave them several stinging strokes of a bamboo switch.” –Mariners

“Inquiries suggested, though, that the two new slaves were not unpopular with the hut’s clientele.” –Mariners

CONTRACT WOMEN

“Lord Nishida had two contract women, as the expression is, at his disposal, sumomo and Hana.  These women, I gathered, were not slaves.  Certainly they were not collared.  On the other hand their contracts could be bought and sold, and the women would accompany the contracts, which did not, to me, seem all that different from being slaves.” – Mariners of Gor

“To be sure, they had a higher status, and were presumably respected and treated with courtesy.  The Pani, did of course, keep slaves, as the gifting of Saru would make clear, as well as the likely disposition, sale or such, if land were ever reached, of the lovely beats normally housed in the Kasra and Venna keeping areas.”  – Mariners of Gor

“These women, demure in their kimonos, their tiny hands in their sleeves, would sometime, in their short, careful steps, visit the kenneled slaves. They looked upon them much as one would look on caged verr. Sometimes they spoke softly amongst themselves, laughed, and turned away.”  – Mariners of Gor

“The blackness of teeth was apparently regarded as cosmetically appealing.  Indeed certain beauties of the Pani. I would learn, blackened their teeth to enhance their charms.” –  Swordsmen of Gor

“To one side I saw two women in the kimonos, with their small steps, being ushered forward by one of the Ashigaru.” (these are peasants serving as warriors in time of battle) “I supposed they had been concealed somewhere.  I took them to be Sumomo and Hana.  They were being brought into the open, I supposed, for their security.  We controlled this area.  Buildings might be especially dangerous.”    Fugitives might take shelter within them, turning them into small fortresses. One would not wish them to be seized as hostages, though I did not think the Pani would be excessively concerned with them, as they might be replaced, I supposed, with others.  On the other hand, I was sure they would be taken as of greater value than, say, a common collar girl. “ — Swordsman of Gor

“I caught sight of Tajima, now, again, in the clearing.  He approached Sumomo.  She turned away.  Though she was a female, and he a male, and though she was a contract woman, and he a free, she had not bowed to him.   I understood this to be an insult of some sort, and I noted that Tajima’s body, briefly, stiffened with rage.” — Swordsman of Gor

“She has nothing to fear, said Pertinax.  She may have more to fear than she understands, I said. I do not understand, said Pertinax. Contracts may change hands, be purchased, and such, I said. ” –-Swordsman of Gor

“I suppose Tajima had been interested in whether or not Sumomo might serve at such a feast. She would not. She was a contract woman, and above such vulgar applications.”  –Swordsmen of Gor

“I glanced to the two women of the “strange men” on the lacquered platform. The were looking upon Cecil, but I saw no sign of envy, hostility, or jealousy.  This was quite different from the way in which a Gorean free woman would look upon a slave girl.   They see the slave girl as a vulnerable, but hated rival, with whom, for the interest of men, they could not begin to compete.  These women, however, seemed to view Cecily more as one might have a lovely pet, doubtless of great interest to men but not really constituting a threat to themselves, and their position.  — Swordsmen of Gor

“I would later learn that these were, indeed, “contract women,” who, as girls, were often sold to pleasure houses, most often by their parents.  Sometimes, too, they would sell themselves to such a house, to be trained in arts of pleasure, for example, music, dancing, singing, conversation, and such.  As their contracts could be bought and sold they were, in effect, slaves, but they were not thought of as such.  for example, they occupied an understood, accepted, and generally respected niche in their society.  They were not tunicked, not branded, not collared, and so on. They were not “collar-girls.”   Indeed, they regarded themselves, without arrogance, and with much justification, as far superior to collar girls.  they were in their view, in a different category altogether.  — Swordsmen of Gor

Slaves

“When a client enters the hut, if he thinks he might find one of the slaves of interest, he has her stand before him, her head down.  He then lifts away the sheet and considers her.  If he is pleased, he instructs her as to how he wishes to be pleased.” — Mariners of Gor

“Their outburst earned them a cry of rage from the Pani woman in charge of the slave hut, who tore away their sheets, and gave them several stinging strokes of a bamboo switch.” — Mariners of Gor

“Cecily had heeled me into the pavilion.  After entering with me, she had gone, as was proper, to first obeisance position, beside me, a bit back and to my left.  In first obeisance position, often assumed by a slave in the presence of a free man, she kneels with her head to the ground, and the palms of her hands down on the ground on either side of her head.  The usual second obeisance position has the slave go to her belly, her hands on either side of her head. “Please allow her to kneel up,” said Lord Nishida, “Kneel up,” I told Cecily.”  “She then knelt up,her back straight, her head up, her hands on her thighs.  As was appropriate the circumstances, she kept her knees modestly together.  — Swordsmen of Gor

Not every girl is publicly sold at auction. Indeed, some high slaves are exhibited privately to rich clients, in the purple booths. Even on the shelves, of course, as well as in the purple booths, a girl may be expected to perform to some extent, that some sense might be conveyed to the client of the possible value of the merchandise. It is only in the purple booths, of that a girl may be tried out by a prospective buyer, and woe to the girl, should she not prove satisfactory. –  Mariners of Gor

“The collar-girl was an animal who might be put to the straw in a stable, and would not even be permitted within the refined precincts of the pleasure house.  The collar-girl was ignorant of the simplest things, even the proper serving of tea, the careful, delicate, symbolic arrangements of flowers, and such.  She would be of little interest to a gentleman, save for her performance of lengthy, servile labors, and her squirmings, gaspings, moanings, thrashings, and beggings, perhaps back-braceleted, in his arms. — Swordsmen of Gor