Russian Sledges

On Oct. 24, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 5,985,311 subway rides were taken in the city, the most since daily record-keeping began 28 years ago.

France's bizarrely homoerotic hate group, the HOMMEN, whose members are young men who photograph themselves in shirtless piles, today tweeted the above photo showing a bullet labeled "gay marriage" heading for the skull of a toddler. THIS is the movement supported by Brian Brown and Robert Oscar Lopez. (Tipped by JMG reader Str8 Grandmother)

Many people have been asking “what’s up with the market space?” The answer is now official: ICE CREAM. When we opened in 2004, as, some customers may remember, we did indeed serve ice cream. But we ended the program in 2005 for two reasons. First, we just didn’t have the space to do more than sell scoops (with no cones) and frappes. Second, at that time there was never too much happening in the evenings in Union Square, and few people buy ice cream in the mornings (though it happened from time to time!) Of course Union Square has changed a great deal in the last eight years. We now have a bunch of excellent restaurants and venues, so there are usually people around the square on summer evenings these days. And we have the space to do it right. A small dedicated storefront with sidewalk space for a lot of outdoor seating is perfect for ice cream. Now that this decision is official, we will also be changing the market/cafe to function better. We’ll be expanding market inventory again and adding seating and counter space to the cafe. (And we’ll also be building a new bathroom!) As we’re going to try to do these things without closing more than we have to, the renovations will be incremental. We’ll be releasing more comprehensive information about the ice cream thing soon. Naturally, we’ll be aiming to get it open before the weather gets warm. We’re excited to get started!

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The data shown above come from the Facebook dating app, Are You Interested (AYI), which works like this: Users in search of someone for a date or for sex flip through profiles of other users and, for each one, click either “yes” (I like what I see) or “skip” (show me the next profile). When the answer is “yes,” the other user is notified and has the opportunity to respond. It’s very similar to another dating app, Tinder.

The graphic shows what percentage of people responded to a “yes,” based on the gender and ethnicity of both parties (the data are only for opposite-sex pairs of people). Unsurprisingly, most “yes’s” go unanswered, but there are patterns: For example, Asian women responded to white men who “yessed” them 7.8% of the time, more often than they responded to any other race. On the other hand, white men responded to black women 8.5% of the time—less often than for white, Latino, or Asian women. In general, men responded to women about three times as often as women responded to men.

Unfortunately the data reveal winners and losers. All men except Asians preferred Asian women, while all except black women preferred white men. And both black men and black women got the lowest response rates for their respective genders.

Perhaps most surprising is that among men, all racial groups preferred another race over their own.

AYI analyzed some 2.4 million heterosexual interactions—meaning every time a user clicked either “yes” or “skip”—to come up with these statistics. Its users skew older than Tinder’s—about two-thirds of AYI users are older than 35, according to a spokesperson.

Read This Next: Neither Apple nor Samsung should be playing the race card in their patent trial

We first experimented with men’s patterns a few years ago when Negroni came out. I’ve always meant to do more, and people have certainly asked for them.

But I’ve never quite felt right about the way it mixes with the ladies’ patterns. I mean, the packaging was pink. NOT that there is anything wrong with men wearing pink, but it was pretty disconnected from the aesthetic of Negroni.

So it was time for a little refinement. We decided to add a couple more patterns for guys, and make them usable and wearable for women too. They’d need a new look and a bit of new branding.

The design process

Kristen and I worked together on the initial designs.

We decided we wanted to do a piece of outerwear to go with Negroni, since we were releasing in the Fall. We researched several classic jacket and coat styles. I loved looking through Japanese men’s fashion and street style magazines, because they are obsessed with details. And I love that they show real men holding coffee cups and pushing baby strollers.

We finally decided a duffle coat made a lot of sense. It could be simplified easily, would work as both a coat and lightweight jacket, and looks awesome on men and women alike. (My second choice would have been a simple raglan mackintosh, which I still really want to do sometime.)

I also started spending more time on menswear blogs, especially those that focus on traditional and classic clothing. The interesting thing about menswear is that the styles are so much more constrained. It’s the little things that matter, like the choice of cloth, the details, the notions, the stitching. It appeals to me.

Kristen also had the idea of doing a bag. It took some convincing for me, because it’s so different from what we’ve done before. But after thinking about all the options and how fun it would be to play with, I was convinced.

Since bags are new territory for us, we decided to get help from a pro bag maker. Laura has a post about her design process here (and why it was a LABOR of love… ha!)

We tested the bags thoroughly. We had our fit model try them on, and Kristen even rode Sheli’s bike up and down the hall with Cooper on the rack, to make sure it would work on a small-framed bike.

The branding

Sheli was in charge of the branding.

I created moodboards to explore the aesthetic we were after, which is basically inspired by where we live, the Pacific Northwest. A dash of vintage, a bit of woodsiness, and a lot more manliness than we’re used to around here at CP.

Sheli created the hand drawn logo. We wanted something with a vintage, hand done feel, but not too girly. Not an easy task, it turns out. She also picked a color palette, choosing pantone swatches that would work well on the kraft stock.

Sheli also worked with our printer on the packaging, choosing a heavier weight kraft paper stock for the cover, but keeping the overall shape and design of our original patterns. When our printer showed us a sample using a semi-hidden spiral binding, we all swooned. Kenn went to work sourcing a local bindery. We found it would be a little more costly for us, but we all decided it would be worth it for you guys to have instructions that actually lay flat.

The photo shoot

Oh, the photo shoot.

Many of you have admired our lovely male model, Jacob. Let me tell you, it is not easy to find the right male model.

First of all, though Portland is awash in handsome rugged men, it is also athletic wear central, with companies like Nike and Adidas and many others near by. So the market for models tends to lean toward the sporty. We had to look at a lot of pictures of clean-cut, hairless, athletic guys in their underwear before we found the right man for the job. Think Abercrombie catalogs. Not quite our thing.

We wanted a guy who looked more like your typical beardy-weirdy Portlander, and we found it in Farmer Jacob. Yes, Jacob is a berry farmer by trade. He owns an emu, or so he told us. This was his second modeling gig ever.

Our lady model… didn’t show up. After some frantic phone calls to various agencies, and even one desperate call to our gorgeous sample sewer (who was too busy), the beautiful Zoe showed up to fill in. We couldn’t have asked for a more lovely lady.

Shooting two models at once was a new experience for me, and not without its challenges. It required a lot more direction, especially since our models had such great chemistry and got very chatty. Ha!

Also, there are twice as many pictures in which someone’s eyes are closed.

Our real inspiration

Finally, here is the namesake of our Cooper bag. He lives with Kristen and is clearly enjoying his new bag empire.

Thanks Coop!

The post Strata – Savory Bread Pudding Perfect for Feeding Holiday Guests appeared first on Jacqueline Church .com.

We announced last week that Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds will be touring North America in June and July 2014. The details are now announced! Starting in KY on 6/16, the NYC stop will happen at Prospect Park on July 26, and the tour ends 7/31 in Toronto. There's no Chicago or Montreal dates, so maybe Lollapalooza and Osheaga announcements are coming too?. Check out the full list of dates below.

Tickets for all dates of the tour will go on sale Friday (11/22) but a special presale starts Tuesday (11/19) at 10 AM.

You can access the presale by registering at nickcaveoffer.com where you can also get a free download of "The Mercy Seat" and "Mermaids" from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' new album, Live From KCRW, which will be out on double vinyl and CD for Record Store Day 2013 Black Friday (11/29). Check out the full list of stores.

All tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds announce dates & presale for 2014 North American tour, including NYC at Prospect Park" at brooklynvegan

What's the capital of Canada? Don't know? Don't worry, you're not alone. Students at Harvard University were asked the same question on camera by the Harvard Crimson, the Ivy League school's newspaper.

An internal email says images of women who are too pretty undermine the communications strategy.

CAMBRIDGE, MA—Economists at Harvard University released a new study this week indicating that Americans who paint themselves silver and pretend to be statues in public spaces make, on average, $10 million per year.

The student group that invited him to the university's Graduate School of Design tells the story of the rap superstar's surprise visit.

I’m frequently asked which pattern in our line-up is my favorite.

I think people are surprised when I’ve said it’s the Negroni shirt.

Why Negroni? I just think there’s something intensely satisfying about making a man’s shirt. Menswear is so classic, so stylistically rigid, that making it really gives you a chance to focus on technique and small details.

I’m also proud of the level of instruction in the pattern. I really feel it epitomizes what I want our patterns to be: fun and fulfilling learning experiences.

I think you guys have agreed, because it’s been one of our most popular patterns. And little by little, I began to see women adapting the pattern for themselves too. I loved this idea!

So why not introduce more men’s patterns that women could wear too?

Walden, our specialty menswear and unisex line

Today, we’re announcing Walden by Colette Patterns, a specialty line of men’s patterns. This smaller line-up (which will now include Negroni) has a new look, with even cooler packaging.

(I’ll talk more about the packaging at the end of this post, but for now, let’s move on to the important part… say hello to our 2 new patterns, Albion and Cooper!)

Introducing Albion

I have always loved a classic duffle coat on both men and women. A style taken from the British military and popularized in the 60s and 70s, it looks just as modern today.

Simple, clean outerwear

We kept the overall construction simple and the lines clean, so with its simple straight shape, this is one of the easier pieces of outerwear you might sew.

At the same time, we didn’t neglect the important details that make a coat look polished.

The Coat

Version one is a longer lined wool coat, designed to be made in a typical wool coating and lined with flannel, just like a traditional cozy duffle coat.

It has both outer patch pockets and roomy in-seam side pockets, so there’s a place to warm your hands and a place to stash a wallet and phone.

The 3-piece hood also has a completely removable button-on neck tab to keep you extra cozy on blustery days.

The Jacket

Version two is a shorter unlined jacket, a great transition piece or rain jacket.

The jacket works beautifully in a sturdy canvas, like the blue canvas version Zoe wears here. You can also use a waxed canvas for a more water repellant finish, like the deep green jacket worn by our male model. Or try a heavy twill or a strong waterproof fabric.

Because it’s unlined, the seams are neatly finished in a combination of felled seams and bias-bound seams. The in-seam pocket has a clever construction, so it also acts as a hidden interior pocket. This jacket looks as good inside as out.

Unisex style

Albion looks great on women as well as men (I’ve actually taken the navy sample Zoe is wearing home for myself).

Because Albion is available in sizes XS through XXL, even smaller women can likely find a size that will fit. You can wear it loose and boxy with a slightly dropped shoulder, or follow some of the tweaks we’ll be covering in our soon-to-be-released companion book to give it a more feminine shape.

Get more help and sew along with us!

Outerwear can be a little intimidating, but it’s so much fun to make a big project like this with other people.

We’ll be announcing a sew-along for Albion coming up in a month or so, along with an optional companion book. So you can get plenty of support when you make this beauty.

But first, we’ll be working together on our other new pattern.

Introducing Cooper

We wanted to do something a little different for Cooper: create a truly practical, versatile, and well-crafted bag that men and women could both use.

We turned to our friend Laura, designer of Pansy Maiden bags, truly an expert on creating exceptional non-leather bags (though you can use leather in making Cooper too).

Laura designed this fantastic bag in 3 variations, with just the right hardware and details to look professionally crafted.

Messenger, Backpack, or Satchel

Version 1 is an adjustable messenger bag, great for carrying a laptop or transporting books to work or school.

Version 2 is a backpack. It has adjustable straps, a hanging loop, and plenty of pockets inside and out.

Version 3 is my personal favorite (by just a hair). It’s a satchel with clips on the back for attaching to your bike rack.

The Companion Book and Sewalong

If you’re new to bag making or just want tips and instructions for customizing your bag, check out our brand new Cooper Companion ebook!

Like our Anise Companion before it, the Cooper companion offers tons of extras to help guide you through the bag-making process.

It includes:

• Hundreds of step-by-step photos. Over 400 photos fill this 130 page ebook to the brim with in-depth visual detail.
• Learn more about bag supplies. We included lots of information about fabric choices, hardware, and special tools that might make your job easier (and more fun).
• Learn special technique. Get even more information about special techniques like reinforcing stress points, installing magnetic closures, and squaring corners.
• Customization tutorials. We give you instructions for even more options, like making self-fabric straps, adding a key ring attachment (so useful!), installing feet, waxing your own canvas, and creating a shoulder guard.

We’ll also be announcing our Cooper Sewalong tomorrow. We’ll be covering the whole process in the sewalong of course, so you don’t need to purchase the companion book to sew with us. But if you want all the fun extras and an extensive bag-making guide to hold onto for the future, it’s a great supplement to pick up.

Get going with kits

One of the challenges with making a bag can be sourcing all the hardware and specialty materials. With hardware especially, you often have to buy large quantities, which can get expensive, or get something not-quite-right.

So we have kits to help with that, available now at Gifts for Crafters.

Our hardware kits come in an aged bronze finish, so everything will match. Choose from a kit with enough hardware to make the messenger or backpack, or a separate kit for the satchel.

We also have full kits for making a beautiful forest green and oak brown bag in waxed canvas. Waxed canvas is a heavy cotton impregnated with special waxes and oils to repel moisture. It ages beautifully, with creases and scratches giving it a wonderful patina over time. Many of the bags above were made with it, and you can see how well it holds its shape, and the aged look it develops.

These kits include the same aged brass hardware, along with fabric, ripstop lining, and cotton webbing. They are a very limited edition item, so once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Pattern instructions that lay flat!

Finally, I wanted to show off our fancy new packaging for Walden!

Take a look at those new kraft paper covers and spiral binding. That’s right, these new patterns will actually lay flat while you sew!

With me all the way to the end? Let’s review!

• Walden is our new specialty line for men (that can also be made for women).
• Walden patterns have fancy new packaging, including lay-flat spiral binding.
• Albion is our brand new duffle coat, in sizes XS to XXL.
• Cooper is a 3-in-1 everyday bag, including messenger, backpack, and satchel.
• We have kits available for Cooper. Purchase just the hardware, or a complete kit with hardware, webbing, beautiful waxed canvas, and ripstop lining.
• We’ll be announcing a sewalong for Cooper tomorrow.
• Our companion book for Cooper has hundreds of step-by-step photos and even more variations.
• The sewalong and companion book for Albion will be coming up soon.

If you buy Albion, Cooper, or the newly revamped Negroni through Gifts for Crafters, you can get 15% off when you enter coupon code WALDEN at checkout. That coupon is good until Friday, November 15 at midnight PST, only at Gifts for Crafters.

You can pick up any of our patterns at Gifts for Crafters, along with kits, tools, and all kinds of other goodies.

The view from France

robotfists:

thatnerdygamergirl:

scumtriumphant:

it’s the christmas you always dream of

The Christmas we deserve.

*ugly sobbing*

by Matthew Cobb

Have you ever had that dream (or trip) where you’re watching TV, and every channel you flip through – the shopping channel, the bad made-for-TV movie channel, the History channel, etc – has people singing Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’? Me neither. But the makers of this astonishing artefact clearly did, as that’s exactly what happens. I can’t embed the thing on the page, so you’ll just have to click on the link below, wait a few seconds for the thing to load, and then flick through the channels. During that fantastic churning Hammond organ opening sequence, the programme shows you the various options, then you’re on your own. They’re all great, but the guy on Channel 121 is pretty poor, I thought.

Click here: http://video.bobdylan.com/desktop.html

As the science writer Adam Rutherford tw**ted:

There's really no point in doing anything else now. Ever. Well done everybody.

bit.ly/1bASnmd—
Dr. Adam Rutherford (@AdamRutherford) November 19, 2013

(RNS) A United Methodist jury Tuesday night gave a Pennsylvania pastor 30 days to agree not to break church law by presiding at future same-sex weddings or give up his clergy credentials.

The penalty was announced just before 9 p.m., in Spring City, Pa., after an emotional two-day church trial. On Monday, the Rev. Frank Schaefer was found guilty of violating church law by officiating at his son’s 2007 wedding to another man.

The denomination’s Book of Discipline forbids the ordination of “avowed” homosexuals and bans clergy from officiating at same-sex marriages or holding such ceremonies in its churches. But a growing group of clergy and lay members oppose these rules and are ready to defy them. Schaefer is one of dozens, possibly hundreds, of clergy who have rebelled by performing gay weddings.

Tuesday’s penalty was sure to raise the specter of schism within the 7.5-million-member denomination, the nation’s second largest Protestant group.

The lines were drawn between Schaefer’s supporters, who fought for inclusion, and his opponents who fought for rules. Supporters said they felt called to focus on the church’s commitment to equality and justice for all. Opponents said pastors cannot choose which church laws to obey. The church requires pastors to hold one another accountable for their actions, they insisted.

Schaefer, pastor of Zion United Methodist Church in Lebanon, Pa., said during the trial that he would not repent and that his actions were guided by love, not rebellion against church law.

During testimony Tuesday, Schaefer put on a rainbow stole and said it was a sign of his support for gay rights.

“I cannot go back to being a silent supporter,” he said. He would not promise not to quit officiating at same-sex weddings.

The jury was made up of 13 United Methodist clergy and met at a denominational retreat center 45 minutes west of Philadelphia.

According to the terms they set, if at end of 30 days Schaefer can’t agree to uphold church law, he must surrender his credentials.

The penalty is effective immediately, although Schaefer or the church can appeal. Church rules stipulate that nine of the 13 jurors must agree to a penalty. The tally was not made public.

Tuesday’s late night penalty announcement followed Monday’s guilty verdict on two charges: officiating a gay wedding, and showing “disobedience to the order and discipline of the United Methodist Church.”

Schaefer’s trial is the first since the United Methodist Church’s General Conference in 2012 upheld its 40-year-old rule that calls “homosexuality incompatible with Christian teaching.”

The Schaefer case is among at least four open cases in which United Methodist clergy face disciplinary action for defying church law on gay marriage and homosexuality.

Twitter reactions to the penalty phase of the trial:

How does one repent of an act of grace? #umtrial #ministryontrial

— Eric Folkerth (@ericfolkerth) November 20, 2013

All clergy should now surrender credentials. None of us, not even @goodnewsmag's people, can uphold in entirety. #umtrial #MinistryOnTrial

— Love Prevails UMC (@LovePrevailsUMC) November 20, 2013

Praying for streams in the desert, and a new way for us to be church together. #UMtrial #MinistryOnTrial

— Drew McIntyre (@DrewBMcIntyre) November 20, 2013

Sad to see church's apportionments pay salaries of folk snarking @ supporters of biblical #umc teaching @MCMBrooks @umrethinkchurch #umtrial

— John Lomperis (@JohnLomperis) November 20, 2013

Outrageous verdict. Sacrifice GLBT people or orders. #ministryontrial

— MIND NYAC (@MINDNYAC) November 20, 2013

Several clergy colleagues have already given Schaefer their card saying they will officiate weddings on Frank's behalf. #MinistryOnTrial

— RMNetwork (@rmnetwork) November 20, 2013

 

YS END GADOUA

 

The post BREAKING: Methodist Church gives pastor 30 days to desist or give up credentials appeared first on Religion News Service.

Who among us hasn't wished for a superhuman memory like the detectives on TV dramas? It exists: It's called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM), and less than two dozen people are known to have it. But new research shows even those with superhuman memories have a Kryptonite. Anatomy of Memory People with HSAM can recall very particular details from almost every day of their lives — what they ate on the 8th of September, 1983, or what the weather was like during their drive to the

glitteringgoldie:

please take a moment to learn that there is a cult in Russia that worships Gadget Hackwrench as a Goddess…

In case you weren't aware, R. Kelly can turn most anything into a song — and a sexy song at that. He proves it to Rolling Stone with string of future classics including "Sex Dolphin" ("Swimmin' in your waters with you / I wanna be a dolphin to you"), "Ice ... More »

We are very proud to announce plans to produce a Wes Anderson music tribute for spring 2014 release. The double-CD titled “I SAVED LATIN!” will feature a bevy of indie artists covering songs from Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic, Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and more. This is going to be our best tribute yet! Check out all the exclusive limited-edition bundles we're offering here!

Previously: Part I.

On August 3rd, 1862, a nineteen-year-old Irish immigrant named Jennie Hodgers joined the ranks of the 95th Illinois Infantry, successfully passing for a man during a physical examination in which she only had to show her hands and feet. For the next three years, she served as Pvt. Albert D. J. Cashier, engaging in as many as forty battles and skirmishes, where she fought bravely and memorably.

During the six-week siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Cashier was captured at a Confederate outpost, but managed to escape by stealing a gun from one of the guards and outrunning his mates. Comrades also remembered her climbing to the top of Union fieldworks at Vicksburg and taunting the rebels to come out and show themselves.

Cashier was illiterate, but she had help from her friends in writing letters, because she corresponded with the Morey family in Babcock’s Grove, Illinois throughout the war, also sending them money, blankets, and other gifts. A few of the Morey letters refer to Cashier’s “sweetheart,” asking if Albert will bring her home at the end of the war, and if he has bought his sweetheart a new dress. We’ll never know if this sweetheart was a lesbian partner, part of the ruse to maintain Cashier’s male identity, or entirely made-up.

After the war, Cashier returned to Illinois and continued living under her male alias. For over forty years, she labored at a variety of jobs—farmhand, handyman, janitor, property caretaker, and town lamplighter. She also took advantage of her male status in order to vote and march in veteran parades. No one knew her as anyone other than Albert, a short guy (she was 5’2”) with an Irish brogue. She received a veteran’s pension in 1890, and an increase in 1899 at the age of 56, as she was aging out of the hard, physical labor she’d done for so many years.

Then, in 1911, while doing odd jobs for an Illinois state senator, the senator accidentally ran her over in his automobile, and broke her leg. The doctor who set her broken thigh discovered her gender, setting off a series of events that would make her a national celebrity and ultimately contribute to her death. Although the doctor swore to keep her secret, Cashier never healed enough to go back to work, and she had to move into a home for disabled veterans. A psychiatrist at the home, Dr. Leroy Scott, also knew her secret, and became fascinated with Cashier’s story. Over the next three years, her physical and mental health deteriorated and Dr. Scott’s interest in her story did nothing to help. The superintendent of the home decided to have Cashier declared insane by the State of Illinois, so they could send her to an asylum.

At the same time, someone leaked her story to the press, and it made national headlines. The Pension Bureau decided to investigate the case of this woman who had been “defrauding” the government for veteran benefits for twenty-four years. In 1914, the court declared Cashier insane and she was sent to an asylum, where she was placed in the women’s wing and forced to wear a dress.

Many of her former comrades visited her there. One recalled, “I left Cashier, the fearless boy of twenty-two at the end of the Vicksburg campaign. I found a frail woman of seventy, broken, because on discovery she was compelled to put on skirts. They told me she was as awkward as could be in them. One day she tripped and fell, hurting her hip. She never recovered.”

During the Pension Bureau investigation, the men who’d fought at her side were asked about her sanity. “His mind seemed to be alright but his actions seemed to be a little funny,” one said. “I suppose that was because he was a woman.” Finally, in February 1915, the bureau determined that she really was Albert Cashier, who had served in the 95th Illinois, and had therefore not defrauded the government. Her pension checks would continue. Sadly, ten months later, Albert died. She was buried in her uniform, with full military honors.

Cashier belongs to a group of an estimated one thousand women who fought, cross-dressed as men, for the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. We are currently in the middle of the war’s sesquicentennial, and over the Fourth of July weekend, I traveled with my mom, a reenactor, to the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, where there were plenty of ladies in hoopskirts and hairnets, but also some cross-dressed women portraying soldiers. At least five women fought in the battle of Gettysburg in 1863, including an unidentified drummer girl who swore that once she healed from her injuries she would never wear a dress again, and two female Confederates who were casualties of Pickett’s Charge.

On the third and final day of the battle, after two hours of ineffective artillery bombardment, 12,500 Confederate soldiers began a march towards certain death—for almost a mile, troops marched in formation across an open field, stepping over bodies as they fell, toward the Union line at Cemetery Ridge. Those still marching by the time they reached the ridge were decimated by point-blank musket-fire and bayoneting. The Confederate casualty rate alone was over fifty percent; overall, the Battle of Gettysburg had the highest casualty rate of any of the war. One Union private from New Jersey wrote home to say that as he was guarding Emmitsburg Road the evening after the charge, he heard the screams of a woman, dying in the field across the road, where so many Confederate dead already lay. He described the screams as the most awful sounds he’d ever heard.

It was stories like these—Albert Cashier, the drummer girl, and the unknown Confederate—that made the history of the Civil War come alive for me like it never had in school. I went to Gettysburg to look for Albert reincarnate, wondering if the reenacting community would try and force her into a skirt today, or if they’d let her keep her pants on and hang with the guys.

At high noon on July 6th, I went to meet J.R. Hardman, a twenty-seven-year-old filmmaker who is currently making a documentary called Reenactress, about her experiences as a cross-dressing soldier. We’d been texting ever since I arrived in Gettysburg on July 4th, but cell service was spotty on the farm where the reenactment was being held, so it took us a couple days to rendezvous. I finally found her near a flagpole at the top of a hill next to the Union artillery camp. She was wearing Union blue trousers, a checked shirt, and suspenders, having just returned from an 11am cavalry battle, in which she fired artillery with the 6th New York. She also switch-hits in gray and reenacts as an infantry soldier with the 53rd Georgia, and her film will chronicle her experiences on both sides of the Mason-Dixon divide.

A hundred and fifty years ago, J.R. would have made a fine recruit. She is tall and strong, with a long boyish neck and short, auburn hair. Last year, while at the 149th anniversary of Gettysburg as a spectator, the captain of the 6th New York recruited her for his unit based on the way she looked wearing a man’s cap. It was too hot to be in the sun without one, and so she’d bought one from the sutlers (vendors that sell clothing and accessories at reenactments). As J.R. remembered, “He comes up to me and he goes, ‘You reenact?’ and I go, ‘No…’ And he goes, ‘Well, you want to?’”

“And that’s him over there,” she said, introducing me to Jeff, the captain, as a writer from New York.

“All the way from New York City?”

“All the way,” I said.

It was obvious that Jeff was the proud papa of the unit, comfortably reclining at the lunch table in a white undershirt, suspenders, and trousers. I’d overheard the women in my mom’s reenacting group complain of meager portions of the historically accurate venison stew prepared by their unit’s cook (and served first to the men), but everyone in the 6th New York looked well fed. Scattered across the table, I saw a bottle of Hellman’s mayo, Ziplock bags of crackers, Sabra hummus, and huge Tupperware containers of tabouleh and chicken salad.

“Which one is our food?” J.R. asked, making a plate.

“There is no ‘our food.’ It all belongs to the captain,” Jeff joked.

J.R.’s cinematographer, O.K. Keyes, made a dive for the edamame. The two women met through J.R.’s work on a campus film fest; when J.R. realized they both went by their initials, she decided it was “meant to be.” O.K. was also dressed as a soldier, in borrowed garb, but she didn’t have boots, so she’d improvised by covering a pair of sneakers in black duct tape.

I took a picture of the shoes, adding to an album already filled with anachronistic snapshots—Abe Lincoln in a golf cart, a port-a-potty for “hoops only,” a Styrofoam bowl of historically accurate colcannon (mashed potatoes and greens) I got from the food tents. Watching the 6th New York feed themselves was like watching a scene from Brecht: these people looked like they were from the 19th century, and the setting seemed accurate enough, but rather than feeling carried away into history, I felt distanced and hypercritical. The closer the reenactors came to matching their behavior and clothing and accessories to history, the more I noticed the gravel parking lots filled with RV’s, the paper plates and plastic forks. The more real the reenactment, the more I was reminded of how far we were from the actual war.

I sat with J.R. and O.K. while they ate lunch. Jeff seemed eager to be included in the conversation, and offered to tell me his favorite J.R. story. “We’re at Lambertville,” he started.

“Peddler’s Village!” she corrected.

“Peddler’s village, sorry. And J.R. was paid the highest compliment a female reenactor passing as a male reenactor can get. She’s in the women’s room, washing up, and this lady comes out of the stall, takes one look at her, and freaks out. She didn’t know if she was in the wrong stall or if J.R. was in the wrong bathroom.”

This story brought to mind a more famous case of restroom gender-bending. In 1989, a woman named Lauren Cook Burgess was “caught” coming out of the ladies room dressed as a field musician during a reenactment at Antietam National Battlefield Park. The National Park Service, citing “authenticity,” banned her from the reenactment, and Burgess went on to successfully sue the NPS for sex discrimination.

J.R. told me she had located Lauren Cook Burgess (now Lauren Cook Wike) and hoped to interview her for the documentary. She credits her with paving the way for women who want to reenact in pants.

“She won a lawsuit for gender discrimination and I think because of that, at these big national events, I don’t think they can say anything one way or the other. But if you look in the rules and regulations of a lot of reenacting events, there’s many times a specific section about women reenactors.”

Item five of the “impression standards” list on the official Gettysburg Anniversary Committee website reads:

Women portraying soldiers in the ranks should make every reasonable effort to hide their gender. Hundreds, if not thousands, of women passed themselves off as men in order to serve as soldiers during the war—on both sides, and we will never know exactly how many did so because their disguises were so good. Honor them. If any Army or event volunteer (as above) determines the female gender at not less than 15 feet, that individual will be asked to leave the field/ranks.

The reason we know today that “hundreds, if not thousands” of women fought as soldiers is due to the scholarship of Lauren Cook Burgess/Wike, who went on to co-author the definitive book on female soldiers, They Fought like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War. The book takes its title from a letter a male Union soldier sent back home, after watching several Confederate women fall in a bloody battle: “They fought like demons, and we cut them down like dogs.”

Referring to the impression standards, J.R. told me, “I think that what they’re getting at is, ‘Don’t go out there with earrings and curly hair, wearing lipstick.’ But it’s also really off-putting to read stuff like that. It makes you feel like they don’t want you here.”

After Jeff recruited her for the 6th New York, J.R. tried to find another reenacting group closer to home in Georgia, where she’s based for work. At a small living history event in Atlanta, she approached a male reenactor in a medical tent and asked about becoming a member of his unit. He told her she would have to speak to a woman in the group. When J.R. clarified her intention, asking if she could join as a soldier, he told her, “We don’t do that in our unit.”

“And then I went to go talk to the woman he was directing me towards, and she goes, ‘Oh no, women going out on the field as soldiers is really frowned upon,’ and I thought, that’s so weird, because when I met Jeff he was like, ‘You, go fire the cannon, now!’”

Next, she found an online forum, where she corresponded with someone about joining the 53rd Georgia as an infantry soldier. Most people get into reenacting through a friend or family member, so there were initial suspicions about J.R.’s motives. The reenactor who saw her forum posting brought it to the attention of his wife, who wanted to know, “Who is this woman? What is she trying to do? Who’s her husband?”

“Eventually I went out and met them, and I turned out not to be a psycho who was trying to steal their husbands,” J.R. told me.

O.K. pointed out that there’s an expectation for women to do the same things they were doing 150 years ago: cook and clean and wear dresses. And the male-dominated culture of reenacting creates an arena for these expectations to be enforced; gender stereotypes and prejudices are perpetuated under the veneer of authenticity. O.K. and J.R. weren’t naming names, but I got the sense that, aside from the inclusive camaraderie of the 6th New York and the 53rd Georgia, they’d brushed up against a lot of gender discrimination at reenactments. The argument for discrimination goes something like this: technically, women weren’t allowed to fight as soldiers 150 years ago and so they shouldn’t be on the reenactment battlefield today. If you disagree, you’re historically “inauthentic.”

“You’re not allowed to be offended,” J.R. said. “It’s easy for people to discriminate and give you this idea that you’re not supposed to be mad at them. And when you really think about it, it’s kinda crap. They’re still saying something that’s prejudiced or discriminatory, and it’s easier for them to do that because it’s harder for you to argue because it’s ‘inauthentic.’ But reenacting isn’t actually the Civil War.”

There’s the rub. The women who’d fought in the Union and Confederate armies 150 years ago had the challenge of forsaking their female identities and assimilating into a completely male culture. But women today weren’t trying to disappear into the ranks—they were fighting for recognition as a subculture within a subculture. J.R. wanted to sleep in a canvas tent for four days and fire a cannon. My mom wanted to sleep in a hotel and spend her days in a hoopskirt, washing laundry in a copper tub over a fire pit in the middle of a field. To me, their aspirations seemed equally unbelievable, and at the same time equally legitimate.

“A hobby is about finding people who are like you, and there are people who are like you in every aspect of reenacting,” J.R. assured me. “If you’re Suzy Homemaker, or if you’re super feminist, or if you’re Suzy-Homemaker-Super-Feminist, there will be somebody like you. You just sometimes have to look a little bit harder.”

Reenacting will never succeed as an actual recreation of history, nor does it satisfy the conditions of a well-made play. It occupies a fuzzy territory between theater and history, where the question of authenticity remains unresolved.

Case in point: on November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address, dedicating the National Cemetery to “the brave men, living and dead, who struggled here.” This was truthful, as far as he knew, but I keep thinking about that unnamed drummer girl who said she’d never wear a dress again. How surprised she’d be today, to learn that although American women can wear pants and vote and join the military, they’re now fighting for the right to bring to life stories like her own.

In the next installment: interviews with a professional Harriet Tubman.

Photos courtesy of the author, O.K. Keyes, and Robert Fagan.

Read more The Cross-Dressing Reenactors of Gettysburg at The Toast.

OneMinuteGalactica has created “The Avengers trailer: Derp edition,” a recreation of The Avengers movie trailer made for Slacktory using footage from the film’s blooper reel. Previously, we wrote about OneMinuteGalactica’s “Star Wars trailer: Derp edition.”

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

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