|
Leonidas -> RE: A question about collars (3/23/2004 3:16:20 PM)
|
I will offer a perspective that is a bit different, and comes from the culture in which I have spent my time. I am only commenting about that culture, and your mileage will certainly vary if you come form a different background. In that culture, the slave begs a collar. It is always begged, never offered. It is taken as an overt sign that a person desires to surrender their freedom and become property. That is not something that, I feel, it is appropriate to ask someone to do. It should be done out of a deep personal need. By doing so the slave casts their lot with the owner, and is completely at the owner's mercy. They will be treated well, or poorly, trained or neglected, live well, or in poverty, and perhaps even given away, as the owner sees fit. Begging a collar shouldn't be done lightly, and should always be done of the free will and at the initiative of the one who is to be enslaved.
In my world, a collar doesn't equate to a wedding band, as many in the mainstream seem to think it might. It doesn't signify a "mutually committed and caring relationship". It means ownership. That is all. It does not mean that the owner has any particular obligation to the slave whatever, other than to own them. It does not mean that the slave has any particular claim to the master, or the right to place any exptectation on them. It does mean that the slave is bound to the will and discipline of the master. A wise and self-interested master will teach a slave to please him, and train and guide the slave to become more valuable as a slave, and accomplished as a human being. Not because they are somehow obliged to by virtue of the collar, but because they want to own a pleasing and valuable slave.
What I have said here shouldn't be construed to suggest that a master is precluded from caring for their slave. Most do, in fact. At the same time, there is no particular stigma or disgrace in a slave passing through several hands before being owned by a master that comes to care for them, and keeps them for the long haul. Mistakes will be made along the way. Heartaches and disappointments are par for the course and shouldn't be met with any deep sense of failure and remorse. My experience is that the notion of slavery and the mainstream victorian notions of romatinc love don't square very well with each other, try as many folks might to make it so. It is incumbant on the owner of slaves to be far more pragmatic about getting the most from them, and objective in his assessment of their potential, than is appropriate for a husband or boyfriend. I am sure that this sounds hard and harsh to many of you. I can assure you that it can be a very satisfactory way of life for both owner and owned. It is just a different culture and way of life than you know.
Take care of yourselves.
Leonidas.
|
|
|
|
