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CallaFirestormBW -> RE: Code d' Odalisque (8/22/2009 5:11:18 AM)
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quote:
I don't think there is so many domestic service orientated slaves that would be willing to take up a poly house hold where they get to do all the low work and I sit on my pampered arse filing my nails. Totally impractical if you have children (try not being busy then).
I would disagree with this, sea. I think it is a matter of perspective, though. The thing people are missing is the disconnect between sex and love in this situation. The position of the odalisque was considered to be a position that must be continually entertaining and never a burden on the Keeper -- therefore, she must -always- be attractive, always be soft-spoken, pliant, and 'ready'. She was never allowed the luxury of expressing her opinion if it would disturb her Keeper or the household, and must hold those burdensome thoughts inside. She must never intimate that she is unhappy in her role, or that she aspires to something different (though, if she is lucky, she may catch her Keeper in a good mood and perhaps be given a moment to express an interest in changing her situation -- but if he likes her as she is, then she must maintain, whether or not she is happy -- and never let on that she is anything -but- happy and ready at all times).
She must keep up her lessons in deportment and entertainment (dance and instrumental music in particular), she must typically be intelligent, well-read, well-spoken, and of quick wit, as she may be required to provide conversation or to act as a stand-in in any game of chance or skill that the Keeper enjoys (chess, cribbage and other card games, etc.). and must be perfectly coiffed, scented, and dressed for both the visual and tactile pleasure of her Keeper -and- any friends that he brings into his demesne.
She must be skilled in the preparation of any refreshment he and his friends might require. She must attend to his study, as no other servant would be allowed within this particularly male space, and accept that, on occasion, hospitality will require that her Keeper offer her services to a business associate, friend, or that she might be used to solidify political or social aspirations of her Keeper by being shared out, and she will not be allowed to say whether she likes the man to whom she is lent (or perhaps even gifted), nor indicate that she is anything less than pleased with the arrangement her Keeper has expected of her... and she would not be loved... cherished, perhaps, and well-used sexually for sure... but she would be, like any other servant in the household, a tool for the pleasure of the Head of the House.
With that in mind, she would be no different than any of the other servants, and any servant -aspiring- to her position would need to be able to master all of the things that she does. The odalisque would only -rarely- be 'sitting on her arse'. When the Keeper was occupied with work, social, and family obligations, she would be working as well -- practicing diction, deportment, music, and learning other necessary skills. She might -also- have responsibilities to attend to the Lady of the Household's attire, wigs, and cosmetics, as a stipulation of justification for her presence in the household.
It is a completely different world -- and one that, particularly in the States, has never really been well comprehended. That being said, I know, for a -fact- that there are plenty of servants who, as long as they were well cherished in their given roles in a household, would be perfectly comfortable with serving alongside a servant who was dedicated as an odalisque, because I have served alongside them, and have, later on, had such arrangements in our own household, when it was large enough to sustain such things.
Dame Calla
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