Re: [Mid] "Inappropriate" belts

Garlanda writes:
>
>Dmitrii and Finnvar both said they are bothered by the abuse some folks
>get for wearing belts which are not restricted by law. I feel a bit
>torn by this. I think sometimes it depends why. There are always people
>who wear it to try to make it look like they have a position they do
>not, in the same way that some folks will occasionally wear a
>suggestive coronet, or something like that. I think these folks deserve
>everything they get.
>
        <snip>
If clothes make the man, and danglies make a peer, then "by the power
vested in me <whack!> thou art an officer and gentleman."

I alsways thought it was the inward character, not the outward appearance
that made the difference...

>
>I earned my ranks, and take their responsibilities seriously. My image
>as a peer will be judged in part by the actions of my fellow peers.
>Part of why we select members carefully is to be sure we can trust them
>to fulfill the responsibilities of the rank in a positive way. When I
>was a protoge, I was judged by similar standards. People who wore
>yellow belts and behaved like toadying, power-hungry idiots made me
>look bad. If someone is wearing things which symbolize something they
>don't have, can I really trust them to behave in a way that will
>reflect well on those of us who have earned the symbols? If you wear
>the not-resticted-by-law belts, and want me to respect your right to do
>so, what about my right to consider them restricted by custom and
>expect you to respect that?

        <snip>

Earning ranks? Is that like earning merit badges (or danglies)? Merely
meeting a set of qualifications (Like those listed in Copra?)

A statement like this is one of the reasons that you also hear ones like,
"Well, I've been in the SCA for a year now, so where's my AOA?" If you are
trying to set a standard for peerage qualities, then any statement about
"earning a peerage" may undo any plan for using peerages as "exemplars."
Furthermore, it can cheapen the value of any peerage by setting a "price"
on it (do these deeds and you will be given a danglie.)

Nicolaa de Bracton writes:
>
>Greetings--
>
>I look at dependent belts as reflective on the Peer who gave them, rather
>than on seeing "apprentices", "proteges" and "squires" as groups with an
>identity their own. If one of my apprentices does something stupid, it
>might reflect badly on me, but I don't think it necessarily reflects badly
>on other apprentices--even if it involves using the belt to "pull rank." If
>one of my apprentices did this, I'd
>be wearing the hairshirt for weeks in penance, embarassed that I didn't
>teach them better.
>
>When you wear a white belt, Laurel wreath, or Pelican medallion, you can
>reasonably expect because these are regalia as defined by Society law, the
>person under them will be taken as a representative of their Order. Peers,
>in particular, are held to high standards of behavior, as well as excellence
>in their field.
>

Please excuse a gasp of dis-belief...on the "held to high standards." I
have yet to see any award removed for behavior slippage of anything less
than the grossest of issues. If the members of the orders policed their
ranks, then I would agree.

>On the other hand, the only thing a dependent belt symbolizes is that there
>is a relationship between two people. I could, if I really wanted to, take
>anyone as an apprentice--even the most snotty, pretentious, know it all
>goober, even a convicted criminal. The fact that I had bad taste in
>apprentices would not mean all apprentices would suffer for my errors the
>way a bad apple Peer can reflect on their entire Order.

A Bad Peer? NIMSCA! Perish the thought! What ever shall we do?

>
>This is one of the things about the belt thing that bugs me. None of the
>dependent relationships are ranks. They are not "earned" in any sort of
>regular fashion--some folks take dependents only after watching them for a
>long period time, or when they're "ready" and already have achieved a fair
>amount of success in their field; others take dependents on the spur of the
>moment or because they're great pals; others enjoy being able to mentor and
>train someone from the extreme novice level.
>
>Being overly concerned about belt colours seems to me to be treating those
>belts as a rank--which I think encourages the kind of rank-pulling bad
>behaviour that most of us find really annoying.
>

My "associates" wear a belt with my badge on it. It is their reminder of
my promises. Perhaps if you abandon the color-scheme and concentrate on
the significance of teaching your "associates (Squires, et al)" and any
promises made in the relationship, that will be enough to dispell the false
impression of ranks.

(I get tired of hearing of possesed peers, "my Knight, my Laurel, etc."
These might be valid references if we are emulating vassalage in all its
forms.)

Finally, remember this:
You can identify the SCA peers by their badges; you can identify icons and
exemplars by the respect they get from others without asking for it.

salaam ,durr

(this response is closed captioned with smileys for the humor impaired.)

================================================================
D. E. Walter mailto:durr.al-jabal@iname.com Member # 02933
(Formerly, Smokey the) Baron Dur of Hidden Mountain
durr al-jabal al-mukhfi abu niifa ben durrah sultan al-Tabl
Orluk Oasis on the War Road of Aethelmarc
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From: durr al-jabal <durr.al-jabal@iname.com>
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Received on Fri Jan 9 19:38:52 1998