Rant on slavery

[limyaael]

This is the rant on slavery.

Comments

[maureenlycaon]

*takes careful notes, with plans to use this on slavery in Raven's and Palin's world later*

Thank you for this one -- I can see I've got work to do.

How about that rant about demons?

[limyaael]

You're welcome.

Demons will probably be next.

[tiferet]

The problem is, in Rome and the American South, some slaves did like their masters well enough, even when they didn't particularly like slavery..

The biggest problem I have with slavery in fantasy and SF is that it's so very often used as a pretext for the writing of bad porn or to create sexual-abuse angst.

[kadaria]

For one of my Latin exams, I had to translate an epitaph (part was written in first person the other was second) of a young man who as a boy was bought by a wealthy family. When he was about 14 they officially adopted him into their family as their son. Before that he worked for them in the man's shop and was trusted with money and accounts. The second part was written by his masters/parents praising him as a dear and kind son (filius carus).

[limyaael]

Would they like masters whipping and cursing and beating them, though? Would they really give up a chance at freedom to stay with someone who did that? It might be all right to portray a slave-master "friendship" where there was no chance at freedom and the slave knew there wouldn't be a chance at equality, either, but for a slave to stay with someone cruel when they can run is going to take a lot of convincing writing.

[tiferet]

Of course not! But one of the problems I have with fantasy writers who write about slavery is that in slave societies, the vast majority of masters are not sadistic, because they're ordinary people. They may not see slaves as equals, but most people don't see animals as equals, either, and we still condemn cruelty to animals.

Don't get me wrong; I agree with 99.9% of the literate world that slavery is a Bad Thing. It's just that being in a slave society doesn't automatically make people evil, y'know?

There'll be cruel masters who whip, curse and beat their slaves. There'll also be kind ones and indifferent ones.

[peri_peteia]

I enjoyed this

[sythyry]

World Tree prime society has debt slavery and crime slavery, and term bondage (selling yourself into slavery for twelve years). It's a society with slaves -- and not with very many of them. There's a continuum of lower-class people, from the free poor (say, 95% of the lower class) to slaves (half of the remainder) to people forced into the most despised jobs and positions (prostitutes and cley-sellers

[lnhammer]

Also, please everyone, disinguish between not just the several types of slavery, but also sefdom/villeinage and indentured servitude. And, especially, the social differences between the latter two and wage servitude.

---L.