Provocational Quote "Godey's Lady's Book is the worst possible thing to happen to civilian Civil War reenacting"
Hello all,
This post is inspired by a post on the Facebook page "Civil War Reenactors" with just a simple question: What are your reenacting pet peeves? I commented a couple times with my own nit-picks, but more importantly was that this was a perfect opportunity to see what the average reenactor thinks of their own culture. While there were many many points I could argue about (reenactor weights, proper fabrics, Union soldiers being rag tag, etc.), but one thing stuck out and was almost 100% among the female commenters: women not following the social norm.
Most of what were commented on were essentially the crap you see in the (to me) infamous Godey's Lady's Book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godey%27s_Lady%27s_Book
Godey's Lady's Book is the worst possible thing to happen to civilian Civil War reenacting! The book, which is actually a magazine with monthly issues, is essentially a proper lady's guide to living, and talks about many things of how a proper lady is supposed to act. There are many other very interesting and informative articles about topics that would inform ladies about interesting topics, but the articles that civilian reenactors pay the most attention to are the articles about how to act or behave.
Female civilian reenactors follow this to a T and make it the end-all be-all of how to act. It is likely as popular as it is because, to the unenlightened reenactor, it is a gold mine. How to act at parties, when to wear what dresses and why. It provides answers to almost any questions about any situations and, using the Facebook post as a source, many civilians ladies post not following its social guidelines as their reenacting pet peeve.
But think about this: It is written as an informative magazine, to inform women about social norms. This is in contrast to a chronicle or record style. A chronicle would record how things were done, while an informational magazine would explain how they 'should' be done, but not how they actually were.
Also, popular as it may have been, not everyone in the United States was a subscriber. As previously stated, this was not a chronicle, but an informative magazine, so we cannot assume that everyone followed, or even was aware of the information it promoted.
The people living in the 1800's were just that: People! While this might show a convenient structure for society, but most people do not want these strict and rigid guidelines. Yes I know it was a time before feminism and civil rights, but just because the laws about women changed, that does not mean their social roles changed just like that.
Also, there were many different cultures in America. Different immigrant groups or different regions and their proximity to social hubs like New York or having information come from Europe. Even the most worldly women well aware of the norms mentioned in Godey's still has a choice whether to follow them or not. Godey's was a magazine, not a set of laws.
A minor topic to be touched by a major post in the future, but civilians also need to decide what they are actually representing. Are they representing camp followers, the families that would follow soldiers around? Or are they representing the home front and life at home? You can't tell just visiting a reenactment.
If they are representing the homefront, and the small tents they set up are representing their homes, I can't believe that the women who would live in such a small home, who live so close to their neighbors, would be the ones who do things like pay for the most up to date outfit every few months, or change their dresses three times a day at the proper times.
If they are representing the camp followers, just look right here at the most popular image of a camp follower... http://www.civil-war-history.com/images/camp_family.jpg
Just one look at the image and their humble way of life shows that they probably care as much about the social norms in Godey's as they do about the Polish Rebellion!
One last note before I draw it to a close: Godey's was not a law book! If a woman who followed Godey's rules saw a women walking down the street in the afternoon still wearing her morning dress, she would not chastise the other girl! The worst she would do was scoff and start some gossip, but of course the gossip wouldn't matter because to morning dress girl, she obviously doesn't care enough to change. Godey's was at most a recommendation.
I don't claim to be an expert on female society in the 1800's, nor do I claim to have read many articles from Godey's. If you feel different, and would like to share your opinion, please comment on this post.
In the end, I believe that Civil War reenactors need to stop quoting Godey's to solve debates. While social norms were different back then than they are now, they were not rules or laws, and people could choose to follow them or not as they saw fit. Overall, the civilian reenactors who worship Godey's need to realize that Godey's and the books and magazines like them are tempting. They truly are a gold mine as they lay out and give structure to an otherwise vague section of social history. However they are fools gold, since the structure that they share and inform is not there. Perhaps it exists in a small section of the population, or perhaps sections are followed here and there, but it was not all-encompassing and certainly not the one and only way women acted in Victorian-era American society.
P.S. I've been doing a couple Civil War themes lately, I promise I'll get to other eras as well. Most of the posts are inspired by conversations I see online, and there has been more activity on Civil War pages than others.
I'll also get better at posting, so the posts are more than just text. I'll throw in the relevant images and perhaps video or screenshots, instead of just pasting the URL.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
The First Post
This is the first post of this blog, so I want to clarify my intentions and tell my history.
I like to think of myself as moderately well-versed in the world of reenacting and living history. I have a BA with both History and Education and majors (I want to make it more, but I'm still young and poor, and I have a child on the way). In addition to having been a reenactor since 2006, I have also started a few reenacting organizations and coordinated two major Civil War reenactments (2013 and 2014) and coordinated one Medieval/Renaissance Historical Encampment section of a Renaissance Faire (2014). I like to think of myself as decently active in the online Reenacting Community for many eras.
I got into reenacting for a very fun and nerdy reason (don't we all!?). There is a video game called Age of Empires 3, which focuses on warfare in colonial America. At the time I was interested in what was called "Modding," where fans of a game will go in and alter the game's files to change it. In this case, I joined a group (and eventually led the group) that was making the game called "Age of Rebellion" that would turn this colonial America game into one about the Civil War. It was fun, I did tons of research on the generals and types of soldiers, and I could change the game mechanics, but I didn't know how battles were fought at the time. I literally though "how can I see how battles were fought? OH! Reenactments!"
At that point, I looked up the uniform requirements, convinced my parents this was a good idea, and found a unit. That unit, located in eastern Michigan, was the first sign for me that something wasn't right in the reenacting community. There were a few friendly members, most of which were educators and teachers with degrees, but there were also plenty of other people there who were not the most friendly. I would ask on their forum how to do research on this and that, why we do this and that and not this, and folks would either ignore me or shut me down. Most of the members of the group seemed to like it for the guns and the beer.
Oh the beer at reenactments! It's not that bad at night when the park is closed, but it's so damn popular that reenactors still think it's funny when on the battlefield the officers will command "Drink!" to keep up hydrated. but someone always has to yell "Water!" as if to clarify not to drink beer. A HUR HUR Hur hur huuuuur! .... The sad thing is that everyone laughs like they're in on a joke or something.
Along with the beer thing is the lack of reenactors to actually educate. This is the big thing, the straw that breaks my damn back! There are HUNDREDS, sometimes THOUSANDS, (sometimes dozens) of you here, so proud of your authentic, properly stitched, custom made right grommet of your tent or some junk like that! But you sit around by the campfire and don't even talk to the spectators (aka. Patrons, visitors, mundanes, moderns, etc.) who are here to learn! You don't talk to them, you don't offer to guide them around the camp, you don't even say "Hi, this is the Civil War! It took place a long time ago! This is a musket! That is a tent! Have a good one!" No, you ignore them, even so much as to arrange your camp so the campfire is FAAAAARRR away from the path so you don't even need to feel obligated!
At one reenactment, I saw a couple were walking into our camp and were looking at our tents and our setups. I asked around the campfire if anyone wanted to come teach with me, but literally no one even said a word. I got up by myself and started talking to them. If you are going to spend all this time and money and effort to do this, at least help it benefit society from it, or even just show off your shiny new $500 coat!
Speaking of coats and garb (clothing, uniforms, outfits, etc. [not costumes]), this whole upping one another on how authentic or appropriate your clothes are is destroying reenacting! I won't write a whole lot about this because it deserves its own section, or many many sections, but I can't believe just how much ignorance revolves around the damn clothes to the point of insulting people and assuming essentially that if you don't have a 110% authentic piece of clothing then you are garbage and do not deserve to even begin to teach people because clearly you know nothing about this era.
There is SO MUCH potential for living history and the future of history education. Our current society and our future generations want to be entertained! They want their focus to be held! They can learn, yes, from reading history in textbooks or watching the teacher use the same boring old powerpoint slides, but those methods make it so incredibly difficult for a learner to gain a true connection and respect for the stories of history and heritage. Living history is the future of historical education, as long at the Reenacting Society does not ruin it.
If that was the thesis for this blog, my various posts will be the paragraphs that support it, providing examples and giving analysis. I know there are others out there, join me!
I like to think of myself as moderately well-versed in the world of reenacting and living history. I have a BA with both History and Education and majors (I want to make it more, but I'm still young and poor, and I have a child on the way). In addition to having been a reenactor since 2006, I have also started a few reenacting organizations and coordinated two major Civil War reenactments (2013 and 2014) and coordinated one Medieval/Renaissance Historical Encampment section of a Renaissance Faire (2014). I like to think of myself as decently active in the online Reenacting Community for many eras.
I got into reenacting for a very fun and nerdy reason (don't we all!?). There is a video game called Age of Empires 3, which focuses on warfare in colonial America. At the time I was interested in what was called "Modding," where fans of a game will go in and alter the game's files to change it. In this case, I joined a group (and eventually led the group) that was making the game called "Age of Rebellion" that would turn this colonial America game into one about the Civil War. It was fun, I did tons of research on the generals and types of soldiers, and I could change the game mechanics, but I didn't know how battles were fought at the time. I literally though "how can I see how battles were fought? OH! Reenactments!"
At that point, I looked up the uniform requirements, convinced my parents this was a good idea, and found a unit. That unit, located in eastern Michigan, was the first sign for me that something wasn't right in the reenacting community. There were a few friendly members, most of which were educators and teachers with degrees, but there were also plenty of other people there who were not the most friendly. I would ask on their forum how to do research on this and that, why we do this and that and not this, and folks would either ignore me or shut me down. Most of the members of the group seemed to like it for the guns and the beer.
Oh the beer at reenactments! It's not that bad at night when the park is closed, but it's so damn popular that reenactors still think it's funny when on the battlefield the officers will command "Drink!" to keep up hydrated. but someone always has to yell "Water!" as if to clarify not to drink beer. A HUR HUR Hur hur huuuuur! .... The sad thing is that everyone laughs like they're in on a joke or something.
Along with the beer thing is the lack of reenactors to actually educate. This is the big thing, the straw that breaks my damn back! There are HUNDREDS, sometimes THOUSANDS, (sometimes dozens) of you here, so proud of your authentic, properly stitched, custom made right grommet of your tent or some junk like that! But you sit around by the campfire and don't even talk to the spectators (aka. Patrons, visitors, mundanes, moderns, etc.) who are here to learn! You don't talk to them, you don't offer to guide them around the camp, you don't even say "Hi, this is the Civil War! It took place a long time ago! This is a musket! That is a tent! Have a good one!" No, you ignore them, even so much as to arrange your camp so the campfire is FAAAAARRR away from the path so you don't even need to feel obligated!
At one reenactment, I saw a couple were walking into our camp and were looking at our tents and our setups. I asked around the campfire if anyone wanted to come teach with me, but literally no one even said a word. I got up by myself and started talking to them. If you are going to spend all this time and money and effort to do this, at least help it benefit society from it, or even just show off your shiny new $500 coat!
Speaking of coats and garb (clothing, uniforms, outfits, etc. [not costumes]), this whole upping one another on how authentic or appropriate your clothes are is destroying reenacting! I won't write a whole lot about this because it deserves its own section, or many many sections, but I can't believe just how much ignorance revolves around the damn clothes to the point of insulting people and assuming essentially that if you don't have a 110% authentic piece of clothing then you are garbage and do not deserve to even begin to teach people because clearly you know nothing about this era.
There is SO MUCH potential for living history and the future of history education. Our current society and our future generations want to be entertained! They want their focus to be held! They can learn, yes, from reading history in textbooks or watching the teacher use the same boring old powerpoint slides, but those methods make it so incredibly difficult for a learner to gain a true connection and respect for the stories of history and heritage. Living history is the future of historical education, as long at the Reenacting Society does not ruin it.
If that was the thesis for this blog, my various posts will be the paragraphs that support it, providing examples and giving analysis. I know there are others out there, join me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)