Re: Escorting ladies

[smithjh@ed.concord.wvnet.edu (Jason Smith)]

Poster: smithjh@ed.concord.wvnet.edu (Jason Smith)

>
>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.

You've always seemed wise to me Corun, although I do not know you. I agree
with your statments completely esp. the last sentence. Thank you for stating
what I *OBVIOUSLY* cannot do with any effectiveness.

Ciaran MacGhabhain




Be true to thy self, and in doing so, ye be true to all...
or 
The dream is what we ALL make of it...If it is wrong, look within first...
then without...

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