Boy's Life blurb
Scott White
swhite at cimedia.com
Wed Feb 5 20:25:38 PST 1997
Here's a debate going on in rec.org.sca. Thought I'd haul it in here & see
what you folks thought:
>> On pg. 52 of the February issue of _Boy's Life_ magazine,
>>an article titled "Kooky Sports" ends with the following
>>paragraph:
>> "Sword Fighting and Jousting:
>> The oddest sportsmen of all may be the members of the
>>_Society for Creative Anachronism_. They dress up like kings
>>and knights from the 12th or 13th centuries.
>> They fight with broadswords and joust with lances from
>>horseback. No one is hurt, of course, because they use wooden
>>weapons and clash in make-believe combat."
>> The drawing shows a knight on horseback, in late-era
>>jousting armor, chasing a team of men pulling and pushing a
>>wheeled outhouse...
>> The closing sentence reads "For these whacky atheletes,
>>the odder the sport, the better."
>> Anyone know which senior officer is responsible for
>>dealing with this sort of thing?
The responses to this include:
>This is, by far, the worst description of the SCA that I've seen from
>anyone who wasn't trying to brand us as satanists or cultists. Is
>there any possibility that the Society Seneschal or someone might be
>able to get rebuttal space or something?
And:
>Someone should find the highest ranking Peer who was also a Boy Scout
>(Eagle, preferably), and have HIM contact the BSA. Negotiate for an
>ARTICLE on the SCA (which we naturally provide, along with color
>photographs) which shows the athletic/educational/service aspects of our
>international organization in a positive light.
And:
>> Negotiate for this space on the strength of their (I'm sure)
>> "unintentional misrepresentation" of (something or other legal - Mar
>> Yakkov, where are you?).
There were also a number of folks who tried to put things in a more
reasonable perspective:
>Boy's Life is a magazine for kids. Trying to explain chivalry,
>men-at-arms v. armigerous-levels of fighters, arts and sciences,
>Period and non-period, etc is a little beyond the Pale of the mag.
>(Heck, half the time, we can't agree on distinctions within our org,
>let alone outside of it.)
>Face it, SCA sword and board is a strange sport when viewed from the
>outside. Accurate representations of SCA life is rare, why get stoked
>over this minor offense?
>Back off, look back at us, and we're a bit strange and funny. I like
>it that way. Let's not get too riled about a common misrepresentation
>that does no harm. Heck, If I saw that story as a kid, I'd probably
>want to learn more. That's the kind of kid I was at times.
So what do YOU think about this?
Gnith
<swhite at cimedia.com>
BTW, I'm a member of the media, so I have an obviously vested interest in
this topic; I'll let you folks have first crack & then I'll jump in & howl &
rend my clothes ;)
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