really, you have no clue why they rejected you?

[BlaqueKatt]

a co-irker of mine attempted to join a civil war reenactment group. She was rejected and they "said mean things, and they're all sexist!", also she claims to know more about the civil war than any of these people she's never met.

Let's see if anyone can figure out WHY they rejected her, other than being female.

1-her character was a "civil war battlefield nurse", performing amputations and surgery to save lives.(when informed civil war nurses didn't leave the field hospital, and mostly did bandage changing, and writing letters, I was informed that her character backstory was that of "A woman brave enough to defy traditional roles. And as a pretend nurse, She is a pretend badass that defied gender roles and roamed around a battlefield saving lives.")

2-her outfit would be a pilgrimish dress("sexy" pilgrim halloween costume), with a bloody apron, and carrying a bone saw.

3-Her character's name-Mary sueCharlotte O'Hara.

And the only reason they rejected her was "they're mean and sexist"-um sure.

[anakhouri]

I could have almost forgiven her ignorance and creative backstory, if not for the costume and the name.

Hey, I want to be in a Spartan re-enactment group! Because my character is a strong woman who defied Spartan gender roles!

Pretty sure my Spartan ass would have been soundly beaten down.

[AccountingDrone]

Your Spartan ass wouldn't have been trained properly. Spartan women were effectively walking womb units. The only way for spartan women to get honor and status was in the number of living males she popped out.

And your Civil War female ass wouldn't have gotten the training either. Women did not get trained as doctors, even back when it was on the apprentice system. It was hard enough to get women trained as nurses. Even the operating room assistants were male. The average woman with any sort of medical training were midwives. Otherwise, they rolled and applied bandages, swabbed the sick bodies down, trotted bedpans and emesis basins and read/wrote letters. And were cleaning ladies.

Sexy pilgrim costume?

[lordlundar]

Sexy pilgrim costume?

From what I've been seeing it's essentially the "porn schoolgirl" costume with large buckles on it. Essentially she would have had more skin exposed than an entire village at the time.

Yeah, anyone want to bet that if she was shot she would wipe off the flag (I'm assuming that's what they use) and scream "it doesn't count!"?

[anakhouri]

And I just remembered that Scarlett O'Hara couldn't even take working in the makeshift hospital and ran away.

[Amanita]

Now, I've heard of some re-enactment groups that were more flexible in terms of gender- some will allow female participants to play as soldiers if that's their area of interest. Those would let her play a doctor if she desired.

But the fantasy costume itself is a huge dealbreaker- even groups that aren't as strict in regards to gender tend to have very strict standards pertaining to costumes- everything visible must be completely historically accurate (some even forbid eyeglasses or mobility aids), made of period fabric, and all visible stitching must be done by hand.

The modern feminist backstory and the name are just icing on the mary-sue cake however.

The sad thing- if this lady did her homework, she would find that there were incidences of women serving in non-traditional capacities- some women during the war of independence and the civil war were forced to take up arms to defend their towns and homes because them men were not around- either off fighting elsewhere or largely wiped out. And there have been cases of "Mulan-types" who disguised themselves as men in order to fight. Here in Canada, we had one military doctor who spent virtually her entire adult life disguised as a man. Her true identity was only uncovered after she died. I don't remember all the particulars of the case, it was years ago that I read this in a Canadian history book.

[Pixilated]

It took me a minute to "get" the reenactment wanna-be's "name" -- good grief, that's about as subtle as a 2x4 upside the head. And her costume sounds more appropriate for a Debbie Does Dallas reenactment!

Amanita, was that perhaps Dr. James Miranda Stuart Barry -- see, now there's an interesting bit of Canadian history that I'll bet is in NO history book! Dr. Barry was a small, slightly-built "man" with little or no facial hair (I find it odd that they don't seem to know whether it was little or none ...) who was considered eccentric but was also highly respected as an outstanding surgeon, as well as for "his" fight to provide cleaner hospital conditions and better food for the soldiers. It wasn't until Dr. Barry died, when the body was being prepared for burial, that it was discovered the the renowned doctor was -- *gasp* -- a WOMAN. That must've been a leading conversation topic in Victorian society for at least a year.

[wolfie]

The sad thing- if this lady did her homework, she would find that there were incidences of women serving in non-traditional capacities- some women during the war of independence and the civil war were forced to take up arms to defend their towns and homes because them men were not around- either off fighting elsewhere or largely wiped out. And there have been cases of "Mulan-types" who disguised themselves as men in order to fight.

From the "Historical Notes" section at the back of "Guns of the South" by Harry Turtledove (yes, it's a work of fiction, but this section covers some of the actual background he used in writing it), citing an item in the Richmond Whig (Feb 20, 1865), also mentioned in "North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865 - A Roster":

Mollie Bean served with the 47th North Carolina. She was picked up in uniform near Richmond on the night of February 17th and sent into the city for questioning. At the provost marshal's office, she said she had been with the regiment for two years and had been wounded twice. The Whig story ends, "It will not, we presume, be pretended that she had served so long in the army without her sex being discovered." Harry goes on to say that such cases were far from unknown on both sides.

[TheHuckster]

I don't know too much about Civil War re-enactments. Do they re-enact an actual specific battle that took place, or do they do something more generic, i.e. a typical battle that might have taken place?

It seems as though if there were women covertly aiding in battle, then their disguises likely succeeded, therefore, none of the audience should even notice.

[Tanasi]

From the "Historical Notes" section at the back of "Guns of the South" by Harry Turtledove (yes, it's a work of fiction, but this section covers some of the actual background he used in writing it), citing an item in the Richmond Whig (Feb 20, 1865), also mentioned in "North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865 - A Roster":

Mollie Bean served with the 47th North Carolina. She was picked up in uniform near Richmond on the night of February 17th and sent into the city for questioning. At the provost marshal's office, she said she had been with the regiment for two years and had been wounded twice. The Whig story ends, "It will not, we presume, be pretended that she had served so long in the army without her sex being discovered." Harry goes on to say that such cases were far from unknown on both sides.

Most if not all in her company knew her secret. The officers were either ignorant maybe willfully. She did wind up marrying Nate.

It wasn't unusual for women to sneak into units as men on both sides. The damnyankees did train women as nurses but as far as I know none served on the battle-field but I wouldn't be surprised if one did. For most women during that time the fashion was to be covered from neck to wrist and foot. I remember reading how some men would stand on street corners for hours just hoping to glimpse an a woman negotiated a curb.
Back when I was into re-enacting I was in an artillery company and we had a few girls dressed up in uniforms to help out. They seemed to have fun and it was nice to have them around instead of all those ugly boys.
During the making of Ted Turner's Gettysburg movie there was so many re-enactors that showed up that it came down to in some cases as to what they had in their pockets was period or not. Since artillery units was short all that came were in, so I was in the movie and I was a battery commander during the cannonading prior to Pickett's Charge. It was great fun and just seeing and hearing that many pieces fire was very memorable.

[wolfie]

Most if not all in her company knew her secret. The officers were either ignorant maybe willfully. She did wind up marrying Nate.

I was deliberately sticking to the "historical notes" section of the book (i.e. actual events that he used as part of the framework) rather than the plot from a work of fiction (which would be irrelevant). Of course, my guess is that many of the men in the REAL Molly Bean's company knew her secret, and it's likely that the officers were ignorant (willfully or not).

[Skunkle]

This was incredibly funny stuff. Thanks for posting - I'm going to share this with some friends who're into SCA and reenactors' stuff, and see if they have any similar tales.

[MrsEclipse]

This was incredibly funny stuff. Thanks for posting - I'm going to share this with some friends who're into SCA and reenactors' stuff, and see if they have any similar tales.

If they do, you HAVE to share.

[AccountingDrone]

I know a few US Civ War guys, and one of them picked out all the stitching in his costuming because an analysis showed that the stitching wasn't a different color from the fabric, the dye had simply faded out.

I will fully admit that I got a serious bad case of chapped ass from my first ever arts and sciences contest - I entered a linen, hand sewn and embroidered italian renaisance overgown that was admittedly somewhat plain, the winning piece was a synthetic velvet, store bought trim machine sewn overgown that was way flashier. I didn't participate in another A&S contest for almost 15 years. I bailed out about 5 years ago when I was informed I had 'attitude issues' because I was peeved about the whole not getting a laurel despite functioning at the laurel level or above because I refused to apprentice myself to one. I still dabble occasionally, until someone cheese me off again.

[XCashier]

This was incredibly funny stuff. Thanks for posting - I'm going to share this with some friends who're into SCA and reenactors' stuff, and see if they have any similar tales.

I wouldn't doubt it; I've seen stories, including one posted on CS about clueless costumers at Ren Faires. Funny that other history reenactment groups get them, too.