Re: Escorting ladies

[Corun MacAnndra <corun@access.digex.net>]

Poster: Corun MacAnndra <corun@access.digex.net>

Esclarmonde wrote:
>
>  Let me toss a new brand on the fire and see if it illumantes the problem.
What 
> do the proponents of mandatory escort say about those women who have male 
>personae and are dressed as such at events?
>  If this is a matter of "historical" or "customary" courtesy to female 
>personae, then the person should not be escorted. If it is some "customary" 
>courtesy to biological women, then it should be.
>  Any thoughts on the tangle woven?

I think this particular thought brings a whole new level of complexity here
that is unnecessary because we haven't really addressed the real issue in
all this.

It occurs to me that what we really need to ask ourselves is; Are we
treating women the way they were treated in a specific period of the
timeline we inhabit? Or, are we treating women the way romance writers (of
almost any period) would have us believe women were treated throughout the
Middle Ages?

If the answer to the first question is yes, then we need to ask which time
period and whether we should also adopt the mores of other time periods and
cultures, all of which leads to a serious bout of Multiple Medaeval
Personality Disorder and a whopping headache. Actually, this could be easily
cured by simply treating the lady in question as a woman in *her* period
would expect to be treated. Still, if it was common to mistreat a woman,
then I doubt any woman would want that, and we might see a huge increase in
female personas of that one specific time period. 

If the answer to the second question is yes, then we have another problem
entirely, and it has to do with the level of historical research we're doing
and how truly authentically medaeval we really want to be.

Now for myself, while I was raised in the north, my mother, being from
southern Kentucky, raised me to have a healthier attitude toward women,
wherefore I wouldn't think twice about escorting a lady, and might even be
taken aback at first when the courtesy is refused (but, being an aware 20th
century male, it would only be a momentary lapse).

My personal opinion? I think it's good to make the offer. I think it's bad
to *insist* the lady have an escort (let's make her take off her knives too
while we're at it). So, make the offer, and if it's refused, bow out
gracefully as the courteous and chivalrous gentleman you are.

In service,
Corun



===============================================================================
   Corun MacAnndra   |			They also serve
 Dark Horde by birth |		     who only lurk and pry
   Moritu by choice  |					Dark Horde Proverb

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