[Sca-cooks] persona play (was FYI)

[Stefan li Rous]

Lainie replied to me with:
>>You mean there is a differance between the Elizabethan Roaring Girls and
>>Father Abelard? :-)
>
> Yes, which is actually why Father Abelard has little to do with
> cross-dressing. Father Abelard is not Elaine de Montgris, dressed as a guy
> and trying to pass. Father Abelard is a wholly seperate persona, who is
> male. Which is to say I am not a period woman, cross-dressing, but a modern
> woman, dressing as a period male. Does the distinction make sense to you? I
> created Father Abelard specifially for teaching and messing with Canon Law
> stuff. And I honestly am trying to play it straight.

Yes, actually it really does make a lot of sense to me. I was originally
simply joking around. But I think it is a very good example of what a persona
should be. And while I've never had the opportunity to meet Father Abelard (or
Lainie or cousin Bob) if the actuality matches what you describe, and therefor
helps folks believe they are in the Middle Ages, then that is what can cause
someone to be awarded one of the highest acclaimed awards here in Ansteorra.
This award is for persona play and is called the "Lion of Ansteorra". It holds
only the precedance of an AoA, but is held in high esteam and is given only
once per reign.
I will be adding your message to my persona-msg file because I thought your
description was such a good example.


> Now- just as an aside- Cousin 'Bob' (Robert de Montgris) *is* an example of
> cross-dressing- 'Bob' is 'Lainie, dressed as her cousin, trying to pass off
> as a guy so she can do stuff that girls aren't supposed to do... that's
> much more like a Roaring Girl...

For various reasons (including why would you want to go down in status

rather then up), gender changing in the Middle Ages seems to have been women
dressing as men, rather than the opposite direction.
--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas         StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****