RE: Pennsic Seneschale's Court and Requirements This Year

[Becky McEllistrem <beckymc@MICROSOFT.com>]

Poster: Becky McEllistrem <beckymc@MICROSOFT.com>

I think Philip mentions my concern over the whole matter.  

This is my problem with the rules on the page:
-------------------------

A reasonable attempt at pre-17th century dress for the landed nobility of
European medieval or renaissance culture, or a visitor that adapted to that
culture, does not include: 

Elf ears 
Fangs 
Any other physical enhancement that suggests supernatural origins 
Star Trek/science fiction costumes 
Eighteenth or nineteenth century military uniforms 
Blatant and highly visible modern clothing items unless coming into or
leaving camp site 

----------------------

my problem with this kind of list:

Does that mean me and my "obvious" tennis shoes are not welcome?  
Does that mean every time I go out walking I have to explain why I'm wearing

tennis shoes again?

And what if they don't believe me when I explain my health problems?  Do
I have to have a Dr.'s note to explain this?  The problem with setups
like this is that there's too much chance at abuse and I can easily
see myself ending up in a court like this because of "obvious modern
items" every other day.  

The fact is, that Pennsic is gotten to be such a huge monster to manage
that the rules are getting to be too much.  I don't like seeing elf ears
but I understand it.  I tolerate it but if the subject comes up THEN I
mention it's not SCA.  I also understand when someone spends their vacation 
in a murderously hot summer spot and wants to wear a bikini.  Pennsic is so 
huge that those involved in such rule-breaking don't break the mood for me.

I always liked the fact that we discourage elf ears verbally but tolerated 
it because any large group always attracks its share of fantasy types.  I 
don't see a reason for a special court over it.  I worry that the Period
Police are getting a bit out of control. 

Rebecca


-----Original Message-----
From: Phillip Jones [mailto:jonesj@InfoAve.Net]
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 1999 8:08 PM
To: Merryrose
Subject: RE: Pennsic Seneschale's Court and Requirements This Year



Poster: Phillip Jones <jonesj@InfoAve.Net>

Well, I wonder about the specificity of it all. I don't object too much to
not seeing elf ears or vampire teeth, but just which items of leather does
our friend fine evocative of S&M or slavery? Some squires wear chains: marks
of their bondage? As Herveus has pointed out, there is no support in corpora
for our choosing to wear them, but he certainly never advocated that I be
forced to remove mine or leave an event.

Who is defining courtesy? Will I be hauled up on charges if I say that I
find the concept heavy-handed and repugnant? Will we have authenticity
police monitoring conversations? Will Martha Stewart or Miss Manners come in
to consult? Where is this monolithic vision of what Pennsic ought to be
coming from (ohno. He ended a sentence with a preposition! Take his land.)
Could we see charges brought because of land envy?

 Is slavery now non-period? Is nudity? Whose sensibilities are being
normalized? Whose marginalized? Those damn tuchux sure are offensive, aren't
they? How about them blue feathers? Sodomites, Sademites.

custodiat custodians, or something like that.



Phillip Jones
Triplette Competition Arms
336-835-7774


=======================================================================
List Archives, FAQ, FTP:  http://merryrose.atlantia.sca.org/
            Submissions:  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org
        Admin. requests:  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org
=======================================================================
List Archives, FAQ, FTP:  http://merryrose.atlantia.sca.org/
            Submissions:  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org
        Admin. requests:  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org