[Sca-cooks] Out of the food topic altogether rant Authenticitypolice

[Susan Fox-Davis]

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>>Why is it morally OK to laugh and sneer at someone trying to get their stuff correct in regard to temporality and locality (I have seen a lot of such sneering), and at the same time it is morally reprehensible to point out to someone that something they are doing may not be connected to historical factuality.
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I laugh and sneer at people who sneer at me for "getting it wrong" when 
it turns out that they are wrong and I am right.

There was this time at the LA area Renaissance Pleasure Faire, back in 
the Agoura days, when I was apprehended by the Costume Police [charged 
with supervising costume standards of faire personnel -- I was NOT 
working for them but a paying customer!] who dressed me down in front of 
my friends for the trim on my skirt and how I had to be a widow if I was 
wearing a Mary Tudor hat.  All this puffery right there in front of the 
food stands for Beef Teriyaki and Churros. And never taking a moment to 
find out if I were actually their employee, which I was not.  It's hard 
to take people like that seriously.

So since then I have been as gentle as possible to those whose 
authenticity I question.  And enthusiastic -- if they have a source that 
I don't know about yet, I want get up to speed.  Hey, it could happen. 
 Make Me Learn!

Selene