...and that which it defends

sorcha. an SCA side blog. ansteorran. rapier fighting, arts and sciences (dance, fiber arts, clothing), service.

[thebrightsword]

wanted to join the SCA sideblog club, following in the footsteps of @hopecarriesasword

my main is @bog-horse, and hopefully this sideblog will stay primarily SCA-related. ideally will be used for yip yapping about the society, as well as posting about eventing life, projects, rapier journaling, etc etc

[victusinveritas]

Could be Worse Comic

[vampurrring]

maybe growing up is just becoming who you were at 14 again but learning how to love her this time

[nerdintheforest]

[strawberryteabunny]

Finished this dress in time to celebrate the winter solstice with my friends last weekend! The days are getting longer and brighter from now on ☀️

[cwen-northwick]

It's only gay if the blades touch.

Agree

I'm homophobic

Voting ended onApr 30

[the-merry-otter]

Nothing quite the mix of delight and horror as being in an SCA court, turning around to talk to someone, and someone else behind me saying “oh hey, I know you from tumblr”

[the-punforgiven]

Strip poker at the knights order sucks ass this shit takes forever and we're running out of space on the table

Guy next to me took off one bessagew and you can't even see their face but you can feel their smug-ass grin beneath it

[loth-caatgirl]

[kosmogrl]

the goal is to always have days so good that you forget you have a phone

[innerchildabortionclinic]

you're watching my dead wife montage but I don't do anything aesthetic like run on the beach so it's just clips of me zoning out at work and playing the sims in my apartment

[thebrightsword]

i need to eat lunch but the idea of eating lunch…… insurmountable mountain……..

[virtualgirladvance]

[thebrightsword]

gulf wars drive home truly turning into Something Else but like. at least i’m not alone about it lol

[knightclubbing]

my liege is that item on the shelf too high for you to reach? fear not, i shall grab it for you. HNNNNNGHHH MMMMMHHGGH HHHHHHHH (cant reach it either)well shit my liege

[theforsakenprince]

Bet it feels good as fuckkk to rest your hand on the pommel of your sword when the newcomer steps a little too close to your lord who you’ve sworn to protect with your life

[aelianur]

Some pictures from my wedding last August in Wolin, Poland

[cwen-northwick]

I have a no doubt unpopular opinion that I would not express in the Facebook community, but I think my Lovely Readers here on Tumblr are ready for it. A great deal of ink has been spilled of late in the topic of "under represented genders" or URGs. In particular the focus has been on how many URGs are peers and how to see the peerages better reflect the demographics of the populace. According to the table, my own home of Ansteorra has only 14% of its MoDs as URGs.

"But Lady Cwenthryth, what could your opinion possibly be?" I hear you cry. Well, I simply dislike the fundamental concept of the "under-represented gender". For one, I do not feel when people say under-represented gender that they mean under-represented genders. I do not wish to call anybody in particular out, but it seems clear to me that when they URG mANY people just mean cisgender women. They do not mean transgender women, because us t-girls are rarely small and not in danger of getting pregnant. They don't mean transgender men because of the broad binary they make between "men" and URGs. Nonbinary people get handwaved as Women Lite with the "women and enbies" nomenclature. Intersex folk I've not even seen in the conversation. So to me the URG is just progressive language to reinforce the traditional gender binary.

And as someone who is an under-represented gender, I do have problems related to my gender. I frequently get referred to with the incorrect titles and incorrect pronouns: an issue my cisgender counter parts rarely have to deal with. I have to worry whether I am legally allowed to use the correct facilities at events--I frequently take my showers extremely early in the mornings at Wars to ensure I don't risk running into a women who decides she wants to ruin my life because she doesn't think I'm pretty enough to be a girl. But the URG conversation is dominated by the narrative of "URGs are smaller, and shorter, and weaker"--none of which applies to me, a fat, tall, muscular woman. I would feel less rancorous if I felt the URG conversation addressed my concerns as seriously as it does my cisgender companions'.

I don't think the people having this conversation are being mean or bigoted or anything. I do truly believe they are trying to support their community as best as they can. But the URGs conversation flattens and narrows a much more nuanced and complicated conversation about the extremely diverse needs of any community really. But while I wouldn't call the conversation problematic, neither would I call it productive. It has mostly spun its wheels as everyone agrees that URGs deserve representation among the peerage but no one actually does anything. And no one does anything because there is no one thing that can help everybody whose gender is not well represented among the populace. What supports I need are not the same as what the Ladies I usually fence with need, nor are those what the freshly minted men I've started with need. Everybody needs different supports depending on their situation. That's doesn't make for good Facebook posts however.

I can not give you Lovely Readers a simple solution. Simply support the people in your community as best you can. Give the lady with the baby a hand watching her tyke while she fences. Teach the trans man with a short reach how to strike offline and cheat his distances. And please dear God stop calling me "milord" when I am wearing a dress on the field.

[bad-system]