[Steppes] Telling someone that what they are doing is not period

[Esther]

One of the things that seems to be a consistent theme here, is A&S rejection. The double-knit lady entered an A&S competition, and they evidently are not for people who need encouragement and admiration, judging by the comments I've read here.
   
  Don't know, I won't enter one. Won't enter a bardic contest either -- no sour grapes about anything. I've entered two A&S contests back in the bad old days of An Tir, won them both, and won the only bardic contest I've entered. Discovered I don't like contests, and that ignorance combined with authority and insecurity is an unpleasant cocktail to be found on BOTH  sides of the competition aisle.
   
  But I do think there needs to be a venue separation here -- someone who enters an A&S competition, well, they're sort of asking for it, aren't they? How to judge a competition appropriately, that's a different topic.
   
  If y'all want my cautionary tale, from the POV of a judge (myself), I will be happy to tell you. But I warn you -- it will make you cry. It damn near killed me.
   
  Esther

Justin <warriorneedsfood at gmail.com> wrote:
  >
> She said she liked the design and she didn't plan on
> entering A&S. Of course 3 years later she did enter it and got points
> knocked because it was double Knit. She left the SCA over it. I failed
> with my own husband. I told him his work was not period and he is
> still mad at me.
>


I am a personal period nazi, but I have never interjected an opinion about
the 'periodness' of someone else's work or creation. I have always felt that
there is so much conjecture and opinion on 'periodness' that unless you are
specifically recreating a museum piece with materials matching what is in
that specific piece and methods that were only available at the time,
nothing that you do is exactly period. (how many of us out of the thousands
of SCA members are hand weaving our own fabric?) But as SCA members we all
know that the 'periodicity' of someone's work is never black and white but
is a range of gray with a million opinions as to how period something has to
be in order to be acceptable. There is an eternal conversation going on
about fun vs. authenticity.

Did the polyester beaded thing look cool? Was it beautiful? How much work
did it take? Did it *look* medieval? To me, looking cool and beautiful is
the most important thing. If you want to put in the time and effort to make
an object REALLY period, that is fantastic too, but I also feel that should
be a secondary consideration to the enjoyment you get from making or wearing
something.

I also try to keep in mind that the people in the SCA have different degrees
of knowledge about specific time periods. For example, you may know a whole
lot about medieval flatware, and have a good recall of every existing
archaeological fork. Now Joe-Bob Scadian is trying a project to kickstart
some blacksmithing practice and tries to make some forks for Feast. He puts
several hours of hard work in and ends up with some very cool looking 4
toothed forks. You see them and TOTALY invalidate his work with the comment
that they are not period enough because 4 tined forks didn't exist. No
matter how sweetly you bring up the subject, is there any other way to react
but to get upset? Should he have consulted with you before starting his
work? I think that the person with the polyester medieval frock overreacted,
but was justifiably upset.

I make my own rivited mail and hand stich my own gambesons for my fighting
gear. The only time I've submitted anything to the A&S table is when my
friends basically stole something from me and told me they wern't giving it
back until I write a paper on sources and construction. I always have gotten
blasted at A&S, and have never gotten enough points for a metaphorical
passing grade at aschool. So I put in alot of work and SOME people really
like, but the A&S people don't value very much. So the big question is, is
the SCA's approval for my creations important to me? Obviously the polyester
medieval frock lady needs approval more than I do, and I bet she's found a
group that can appreceate her labor.

I think that the problem with 'periodness' and the SCA starts with the SCA's
scope. Civil War or Battle of Hastings reinacters have a very specific point
in time to recreate and there is alot of specific scholarly work and
evidence to look to when making your kit. The SCA covers a 1000 year span of
history that includes many technological and societal advances and that
makes is very difficult to make your work locked down for the casual
hobbiest. Personnas are notorious for pulling in a diverse array of cultures
to justify some costume or fighting style. When you have 12th century
Viking-Passamaquoddy hanging out an Elizabethian courtier, you are bound to
have elements of fantasy and disagreements creep in.

I think the problem with 'periodness' and the SCA ends with individual
members. There are alot of people in the SCA who consider themselves much
more knowedgable about matters medieval and are just waiting for the
opportunity to show how much they know. For every person that tries to help
people do what they want to do and admire the work that is done, there's
another person with a criticism and not alot of support. And since alot of
the crafts in the SCA are peer-pressured, that pedantic crticism you can get
can really cut you down.

-Justin
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