SCA Census - Hmmm.

[arontius]

.....Master James warned us at May Crown that the SCA was going to issue a 'Census' this summer to gage the current make-up and thoughts of those who participate in the SCA. It was released this weekend and I went through it.

.....There were relatively few surprises in it. I guess my only real surprise was that I really thought it was going to go more in depth for the pulse of the SCA membership and ask a larger range and depth of questions. But I suppose that makes sense in some ways. The greater the depth of knowledge you seek, the wider the rage of response you receive, the more difficult it is to get some sort of cohesive picture. Especially in an organization as widely divergent as the SCA. In retrospect it somewhat mirrors the U.S. Census in the level of knowledge it requests I suppose.

.....I made sure to annotate my thoughts as clearly as possible. Definitely a preponderance of my thoughts were geared towards 'Pay-To-Play'. There were definitely several opportunities to express and re-express that viewpoint. :-)

.....Stuck my toe into the water of 'additional peerages'. That's a slippery slope. How far do you open the flood-gates? Are we looking at a future of peerages in the field of 'Combat Gossiping'? I'm going to have to see a lot more 'real' dialog on the subject (as opposed to demagoguery) before I come to any sort of personal decision on that point.

.....An interesting question that came up was that of same sex couples holding positions of territorial baronies and even that of Crown. It's not a new thought of course, but I hadn't really thought much on the realities of the concept until today where it was mentioned on the Survey, and in conversation with friends.

.....Personally, I don't think I'm opposed to the concept. Their have been instances in history where two people of the same sex were joint rulers of a land or other. So there is reality based precedence. But in an SCA setting it might be a bit more difficult in some regards. Considering that our 'Dream' is based off a fantastical romance. Arthurian Romance, Tolkien, Victorian Fantasy, these are the foundation stones of the Society. These fantasies require 'gender' roles: Knights in Armor slaying evil dragons, with Princesses being rescued, and welcoming the valiant knight home in victory. Somehow I find it difficult to picture two of the same gender fulfilling these roles. I'm going to have to witness first, or maybe witness the hybrid of how to make this work, before I wrap my brain around it.

.....Bottom line to the survey for me is that if we want the Society to survive than we need to recognize what makes it tick now and what the base population wants 'to get out of it' for the future. I hope that the BoD takes the results and does something constructive with them.

Aaron / Arontius.

Comments

[parlor-games.livejournal.com]

I feel strongly enough about the same gender issue that it might, eventually, make me leave the SCA. We diverge in so many ways from what is period and in accordance to the mythical ideals, and we balk at same gender couples serving in leadership roles? Really? We call a tourney field an "eric," we allow pirates and samurai and sunglasses and blue plastic armor, people from 1,000 years apart in the historic time line can reign side by side, but same gender couples are an issue?

And really, the SCA could even encounter a lawsuit over this in the future depending on how the legal climate turns in the next few years in favor of equal rights for same gender couples. We should, IMO, just quietly allow it to happen in the SCA and move on.

Progress.

[arontius]

Don't leave. If all the cool people like you left the rest of us would be in serious trouble.

Seriously, couldn't it be considered progress that the subject is starting to gain momentum and be discussed seriously? Considering how truly conservative some parts of the country are, I think this might be good news. We are pretty lucky we live in an area that is so relatively forward thinking. To keep the progress going is going to need people like you telling the rest of the membership to stop being stubborn and grow up. I hope that the current and upcoming membership has the ability to '...just quietly allow it to happen in the SCA and move on...' but I don't know if it is going to be that easy.

A.

[derekl1963.livejournal.com]

For something supposedly so important that they want to reach all SCA players, members and non, the word is trickling out very haphazardly.

Dispersion.

[arontius]

Right after I forwarded that note from the Step(pe)s a note came out on the Seneschal's list asking us all to forward the note to our branches in e-form and at upcoming gatherings. I'm sure it will be in the T.I. and Kingdom Newsletters. The only other way to really let the populace know if via mass mailings and I'm not really sure of the effectiveness of that route versus the expense.

A.

Re: Dispersion.

[derekl1963.livejournal.com]

A note with a link to an official source or the same much forwarded and unsourced note?

I still haven't taken it because while it purports to be an official SCA survey - it's on a third party site.

[freewaydiva.livejournal.com]

I was, too, surprised at how benign the questions were. But, then, the BoD might just not be up on the hot-button issues of every Kingdom - just what they've been approached about.

Most of the issues I'd like to see sorted out, sadly, are of the "personal philosophy" variety that can't really be addressed by changes in corporate structure. Mandating that everyone act like a grown-up would probably be a challenge to oversee...