Re:in character (fwd)

[clevin@ripco.com (Craig Levin)]

Poster: clevin@ripco.com (Craig Levin)

Magdalena de Hazebrouck:

> Forgive me for bringing up an old subject, but that is exactly why I,
> personally, don't want to indulge in or encourage re-enactments of courtly
> love and am a chilly neutral on the subject of having a male "help" me
> carry my basket..  In your list of Pedro's prejudices, you did not include
> his ideas about women and family responsibilities.  If you would like to
> hear why I don't think that courtly love "empowers" women, I will be glad
> to explain.  But you do not really need to understand someone else to be
> considerate and respectfull of their wishes.    There is a very simple way
> to avoid making a woman feel patronized by your chivalry.  Ask her, gently
> and kindly, if she needs or wants your assistance, praise, etc. before
> giving it and then heed her answer.  Be understanding and accepting if she
> does not.  If she is rude, shrug it off as you would any other rudeness.  
> It's that simple. 

I've never forced my aid on anyone. Also, I believe that you've
confused amour courtois with 19th century ideas about ladyhood.
One who is a courtly lover is devoted to his lady, not to all
ladies.

Also, Pedro is not what I call a fully realized persona. A fully
realized persona is, for all practical purposes, a second
personality that is, in fact, a mediaeval person, with a
mediaeval viewpoint. I do not think I have ever seen a fully
realized persona-even Cariadoc speaks English and not Berber or
Arabic. I don't think I'd want to see a fully realized persona-
the poor person would be confused and enraged on an almost
constant basis.

-- 
http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~clevin/index.html 
clevin@ripco.com
Craig Levin
=======================================================================
List Archives, FAQ, FTP:  http://merryrose.atlantia.sca.org/
            Submissions:  atlantia@atlantia.sca.org
        Admin. requests:  majordomo@atlantia.sca.org