thegirlsclub

[Melisende]

[Kottr]

[Isabella E]

My MPD isn't from trying to meet people's expectations. It's from wanting to try and do so many different things. I realized a couple of years ago that people are either going to accept me for who I am or not. And if they choose not to or want me to conform to their misguided expectations of what I am or should be doing it's their problem.

[Jesmond]

To some degree, I think the perceived MPD is really beause female fighters have more socially acceptable choices. Example: I am helping a female fencer make Elizabethan garb.

We had to have a conversation that most guys don't have.

"You want to wear pants?"
"Yes."
"Is your persona male? (exclusively male clothing) Are you a female dressing as a male? (exclusively male clothing) Are you a female wearing pants? (pants and clothing that may include female elements, like a female cut bodice)"

[Doireann]

[Naqid]

I always portray a women fighter, but there are times I get treated more like a lady then just another fighter. Sometimes it is annoying but I try and find something else to help with when that happens.

As to the pants to dress problem. I went Andalusian where I get to wear both together.

[Mouse]

I'm creating my persona right now, and I gave some thought to this specific issue. When I first heard about the SCA and first thought about joining, I did at first consider a male persona since I'm more interested in stereotypically male activities (fighting). But I look female and I sound female - I cosplay and usually cosplay as male characters, but I've never once been taken as male. People are going to call me 'Lady' no matter what I wear and call myself.

So, I created my persona as a memeber of a mercenary band - I've lived and fought beside men for most of my life, but am still a woman. Wearing male clothing comes naturally to me, so I wear it as casual clothing. If I had the luck to be invited to a particularly noble event, I'd be happy to wear a dress - as elaborate as I can afford (or plunder).

[Isabella E]

I also think there is a certain amount of latitude we're afforded in the SCA because our organization is not often incredibly historical. We are our own culture and thus have decided as a majority that women can do whatever they please.
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It's not the most powerful animal that survives. It's the most efficient. -Georges St-Pierre
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[JanxAngel]

I never once thought of having a male persona or "disguising" myself as one for fighting. For one thing, I look undoubtedly female due to my assets, and for another one, there were undisguised women on the field in Japan. They were few and far between, as far as documentation, but if there were a couple in the books, there were probably more that weren't.

Maybe this part is a little silly, but I've always thought that standing up and fighting and being strong and then hiding behind a male name sort of defeated the purpose. No offense to those that choose to be male on the field, this is just my personal feeling.

Then again I didn't start caring about being feminine until I was in my mid 20s. I'd dress up occasionally, but for the most part I was happy in hippari and monpe (shirt and pants). Nowadays I still don't worry about it, but I do try to have a few kosode to wear when walking around camp.

I have never had anyone ever tell me I'm not being girly enough, even back when I didn't care. I've never had anyone tell me that I'm not living up to expectations of how I should present myself in relation to my gender. Pretty much every fighter I've interacted with hasn't treated me differently from their fellows, especially once I start swinging.

Maybe I've been lucky, maybe I hang out with cool people, maybe it's just the culture where I live... I just read these words here and think how odd it all seems when I've never had to deal with situations like that.
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Umimoto Tsukime

Onna-Bugeisha: A Long Road.

[Luciana]

I don't have multiple personalities to fight. I am always Lady Luciana, but that does not mean I want to be treated like a lady on the field. I want to be treated with the respect you would give any other fighter. On the field I am all business, but off the field I like to be a lady. I am not normally a "girly" girl, but I still like to dress up off the field. I guess my distinction is like going to work. You have a different way of dressing and acting at work than you do hanging out with friends, but you are still the same person.

I have a female friend who has a male persona. All the time. I think that ladies who have split personalities make it harder for people to understand that she is a Lord and always wants to be addressed and treated as such.

[maxntropy]

At work I act a certain way, expect (and do) get treated a certain way.

With friends I act a different way, and I expect (and do) get treated a different way.

On the field I act yet another way, and I expect (and do) get treated yet differently.

This does not mean I have different personalities or personnas, that I'm hiding anything or only putting forward what I want others to see, or the like -- merely that I have enough judgement to be able to differentiate different contexts, to behave appropriately to the context, and to expect the same basic judgement from others.

Similarly, a female might be a Lady dressed-up all girly in one context, and a warrior dressed to kill (literally) in another. This is no different than the difference between me in my armour and me in my business suit... and similarly, they should behave differently and expect different behaviors from others in each context.

My $.02.

Max Von Halstern

[Wu Yun]

My persona is a woman pretending to be a man, but that is because we have documentation of this in Chinese history and I think it's fun to play. It doesn't come out of a sense of requirement.

I agree that it is, perhaps, detrimental to other female fighters to pursue this line of thinking. However, it is everyone's individual game and if you feel like you want to be "Gertrude" in a dress and "Sigurd" on the field, that's completely up to you. You shouldn't let anyone's preconcieved notions affect how you play the game. If you're having fun, then you're doin' it right.

[ViolanteV]

[alanagoodewyn]

I totally agree--the only way that societal perceptions about gender will change is if we make new perceptions. This can't happen when women with traditionally-masculine interests act as men because they feel like they have to in order to pursue their interests. Of course, if you're acting as a man just because you want to, that's perfectly fine...the issue arises when that's not actually who you want to be, when you'd rather just be an unusual woman by societal standards.
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Arsalan (formerly Alana Goodewyn), proud squire on her path to knighthood

AD GLORIAM AETHELMEARC!

[ViolanteV]