On respect and responsibility
In Which Dreda Regards Her Navel (no, really, Dreda has a navel and legs and hair - you just can't usually see them).
I am thoughtful about discussions that are happening in several places, mostly pointing to this piece from elseweb. I find no fault with the philosophy in the abstract. But it makes me think about responsibility and respect in the places where SCA culture and me-playing-Dreda intersect.
Having listened to a lot of people that I respect on the subject, I'm pretty firmly around to the idea that awards are about other people - specifically, other people have decided that I merit them, and I want to respect their respect. But I don't tend to wear regalia unless I am going to Go Do A Regalia Thing (in my case, I tend to wear the Maunche widget if I'm judging or in court where I know there will be a Maunche-y thing). Why? Because Dreda doesn't.
I have puzzled a fair bit about how to incorporate the appropriate widgets into my little 13thC bailiwick, and still haven't come up with something that isn't, at best, a hack. (I do have some not-too-hacky thoughts about other regalia, but I don't have that problem just now. :-) And in saying that, I know that most people in this conversation are probably thinking about Hats and Peers, of which I am neither, but I am willing to risk presumption to talk about a philosophical principle.)
I already go through the how-to-be-not-scary question from the authenticity angle; that varies with how many Engagement Points I have on a particular day, but is mostly to do my thing and be a happy person who is lightly and low-key engaging about Neat Stuff. I acknowledge that, for various reasons, it is a responsibility, and I am sanguine about it. But it is a responsibility that both allows me to continue playing the game in a way that brings me joy and also increases the opportunity for that joy to happen.
Wearing non-Dreda-but-SCA-culture bling seems like a small concession, but it is actually orthogonal to playing the game in a way that brings me joy. I only have control over my little Dreda-bubble, so that makes my desire to keep a firm hand on that control pretty high. (Am I inconsistent in this? Hells yeah. But bear with me.) So the idea that *this* responsibility - to de-mystify regalia-wearers and to manifest the respect that I have for the fact that people thought I merited the recognition in the first place - should trump my playing in a way that brings me joy... that lands perhaps more heavily than it might seem.
Dunno. Not feeling prescriptivist today, just musing.
I am thoughtful about discussions that are happening in several places, mostly pointing to this piece from elseweb. I find no fault with the philosophy in the abstract. But it makes me think about responsibility and respect in the places where SCA culture and me-playing-Dreda intersect.
Having listened to a lot of people that I respect on the subject, I'm pretty firmly around to the idea that awards are about other people - specifically, other people have decided that I merit them, and I want to respect their respect. But I don't tend to wear regalia unless I am going to Go Do A Regalia Thing (in my case, I tend to wear the Maunche widget if I'm judging or in court where I know there will be a Maunche-y thing). Why? Because Dreda doesn't.
I have puzzled a fair bit about how to incorporate the appropriate widgets into my little 13thC bailiwick, and still haven't come up with something that isn't, at best, a hack. (I do have some not-too-hacky thoughts about other regalia, but I don't have that problem just now. :-) And in saying that, I know that most people in this conversation are probably thinking about Hats and Peers, of which I am neither, but I am willing to risk presumption to talk about a philosophical principle.)
I already go through the how-to-be-not-scary question from the authenticity angle; that varies with how many Engagement Points I have on a particular day, but is mostly to do my thing and be a happy person who is lightly and low-key engaging about Neat Stuff. I acknowledge that, for various reasons, it is a responsibility, and I am sanguine about it. But it is a responsibility that both allows me to continue playing the game in a way that brings me joy and also increases the opportunity for that joy to happen.
Wearing non-Dreda-but-SCA-culture bling seems like a small concession, but it is actually orthogonal to playing the game in a way that brings me joy. I only have control over my little Dreda-bubble, so that makes my desire to keep a firm hand on that control pretty high. (Am I inconsistent in this? Hells yeah. But bear with me.) So the idea that *this* responsibility - to de-mystify regalia-wearers and to manifest the respect that I have for the fact that people thought I merited the recognition in the first place - should trump my playing in a way that brings me joy... that lands perhaps more heavily than it might seem.
Dunno. Not feeling prescriptivist today, just musing.