msmemory_archive (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
msmemory_archive) wrote2007-09-28 03:44 pm
msmemory_archive) wrote2007-09-28 03:44 pm
Recruitment vs high standards
This is a half-developed notion. I have this theory percolating around my brain that the SCA's recent higher standards in many areas are in fact a barrier to recruiting new members.
Thinking back, when I joined the SCA, it was very much a do-it-yourself group. Nobody minded if you made a polyester velour tunic, or made a surcoat out of brocade curtains from a yard sale. We all politely ignored the pickle bucket armor, webbing folding chairs, and nylon tents, instead collectively imagining ourselves lords and ladies in samite and fur, living in bright pavilions, sitting on thrones. College students, young adults, and the poor could feel welcome, for their fantasy was just as good as anyone else's.
These days, all the trappings are available to anyone with enough money. You want turnshoes, sheepskin bedding, snowy linen robes, shiny armour? Just plunk down enough dollars and Poof! instant status. That random 19-year-old scholarship student, who would have been a shabby but respected herald in 1982? Well, now he's just shabby.
We've recreated class differences, and based them on modern incomes. No wonder we aren't bringing in or retaining the peripheral, young, or poor members who historically have been the SCA's lifeblood.
ETA: I'm not claiming innocence here either: I am at least as guilty as most of spending my "look! no kids!" income on finery while that early garb molders in the attic.
Thinking back, when I joined the SCA, it was very much a do-it-yourself group. Nobody minded if you made a polyester velour tunic, or made a surcoat out of brocade curtains from a yard sale. We all politely ignored the pickle bucket armor, webbing folding chairs, and nylon tents, instead collectively imagining ourselves lords and ladies in samite and fur, living in bright pavilions, sitting on thrones. College students, young adults, and the poor could feel welcome, for their fantasy was just as good as anyone else's.
These days, all the trappings are available to anyone with enough money. You want turnshoes, sheepskin bedding, snowy linen robes, shiny armour? Just plunk down enough dollars and Poof! instant status. That random 19-year-old scholarship student, who would have been a shabby but respected herald in 1982? Well, now he's just shabby.
We've recreated class differences, and based them on modern incomes. No wonder we aren't bringing in or retaining the peripheral, young, or poor members who historically have been the SCA's lifeblood.
ETA: I'm not claiming innocence here either: I am at least as guilty as most of spending my "look! no kids!" income on finery while that early garb molders in the attic.
no subject
I think that may be true for most of us, strange as that seems.
When I first started, I was 19 and very blue-collar. I was very self-conscious about my lack of education and lack of money.
Luckily, I soon figured out that I had some skills that I could contribute. I already knew how to camp comfortably, how to spin wool and brew, and how to cook inexpensive meals for a fairly large group. I'm a good listener, so I'm usually a good audience for quiet entertainers. I also met some wonderful people who patiently answered my questions about lots of different things. So, I ended up sticking around :-)
However, even now, I still have plenty of those moments when I look around and think "Who the heck are these people? Gee, I don't even recognize many of them. I'm not even sure we're playing the same game. What am I doing here?"
When that happens now, I make a point to try to meet some of them, but it isn't always easy to step outside of my comfort zone.
Please keep in mind that even on days when you aren't feeling like one of the cool kids, someone may be envying all the fun you are having while you are eating Kraft Dinner with your campmates :-)