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.
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