[Sca-cooks] OT Authenticity Police: since we're castigating extremists anyway...

[Peters, Rise J.]

> My first experience with our local group was having someone
> come to our
> household's first A&S night, look at the bodice a newbie was
> working on
> and say "Laurel So and So says darts aren't period." and turn away.

I guess my question is, how much of the "authenticity police" issue is just
about plain bad manners.  If darts aren't period, are you a bad person for
pointing it out?  Are you a bad person for pointing it out to the wrong
person at the wrong time (somebody already hard at work on their first
bodice) versus the right person at the right time (somebody who is looking
for a more period pattern for their second bodice)?  Are you a bad person
for pointing it out in a manner that is insulting and just plain rude (as
described above) versus sitting down and having an honest conversation about
what your own first garb looked like, how it's changed since then (if it
has) and why?

I think the problem is not in the information (assuming it's right, which
frequently it isn't...) so much as in the attitude.

Authenticity is a good thing.  I'm very happy that there are people out
there who hold themselves to a high standard, who do the research and the
teaching and set the example.  I have the greatest personal admiration for
those who let us all move forward at our own speed, who are capable of
standing there in their hand-stitched linen undies and their handmade shoes
and their neatly covered heads and treating everyone around them with
patience and respect.  It bothers me when folks with bad manners taint them
by association or by reference.