ANST - Armor for Ladies

[cward at awd.com]

Tiger Lil said:
>There may be quite a few ladies who are not overly hampered by 
>extraneous appendage in the upper chest, however for some of our more 
>generously endowed ladies, if they aren't sufficiently forwarned, they 
>may possibly lose a nipple to a pinch tween stick and kidney belt.
>This may not happen often, but it may happen more often if they rule 
>isn't there.  

and also said:
>As for dropping the one or creating the other, why should men be 
>forced to wear a protective device for something they dont have. 
>Honestly, I'm not sure I like the idea of groin gaurds for women, but I 
>also haven't heard of alot of groin shots to women either.

Actually, anyone can get a nipple mashed (men do have them too, you know!  
Ask Ivar -- I got both of his at the same time with the same mace blow 
years ago and he's still bitching about it!).  But a good sports bra keeps 
this from being a problem even for big chested women -- there's a scenario 
where the guys actually are worse off -- most women strap their nipples 
down to some degree or other just simply by wearing a bra, but guys have 
their nipples just out there. Though to tell the truth I don't know how a 
kidney belt can somehow contribute to nipple mashing as described here.  
You don't need plate armor to protect the nipples, just a good sports bra.

As for groin armor for women, the ladies on the IronRose list (for lady 
fighters in the SCA) have discussed this topic a bunch.  In normal tourney 
fighting, one can probably be safe in reckoning that a woman will never get 
a solid shot landing smack on the labia.  However, in a war scenario, where 
you may be falling over and tring to cover up while lots of unfriendly 
strangers are trying to introduce you to their pet stick of rattan, there 
is some risk of getting smacked on what's tender.

The odds-on favorite for ladies' groin armor that I've seen discussed on 
Iron Rose is what's known as a "female cup".  Somewhere I still have my 
royal dispensation from King Jan that allowed me to fight *without* a man's 
cup back when we first went to the unisex armor rules... these "women's 
cups" are not the same critter at all as the triangular cup that guys use.  
There are two varieties, one is made for women's martial arts, the other 
for women's ice hockey.  Both are made from some sort of slightly flexible 
plastic, and can be special ordered by the sproting goods store of your 
choice, I understand. The "female cups" are flat or slightly curved, and 
have more of an hourglass shape.

Again, the point is being missed a bit here in the armor rules.  I am 
unconcerned about a stick catching me between the legs (been there, did 
that, yes it hurt but not as bad as getting a hard shot to the biceps!).  I 
am much more concerned about possibly getting a hard thrust into the lower 
abdomen, and mashing ovaries and other tender bits internally.  I wear a 
gambeson with a stiffened skirt, so rising blows can't get me between the 
legs anyway, and I have a rounded triangular plate that is sewn into the 
front of the gambeson skirt and protects from just about my navel to a 
little below the groin.  Some ladies use a pair of rolled up socks, stuck 
into their pants -- this is legal armor, but gaghhh!! how uncomfortable.  I 
like my solution, since my "groin armor" --actually lower abdomen armor -- 
never touches me at all but provides dandy protection.

Those who are very interested in these topics, do be sure to checkout the 
Iron Rose mailing list, which is designed for discussing lady fighter's 
issues.  I have subscription info at home, you can write me there 
(gunnora at bga.com) and I'll try to get the info back to you!

::GUNNORA::
(Writing from work.
This account goes away 11/10/97 -- write me at gunnora at bga.com

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