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April 29, 2012 9:09 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for a sword/weapons community that isn't populated by nuts and being Trans/Female isn't going to cause me grief. Does such a place exist?
I've been a fan of swords, bows and exotic weapons for as long as I can remember and began collecting a few years ago. I'm as meek as they come, but as a history and fantasy nerd I love talking about such weapons.
However, pretty much everywhere I've looked online for likeminded people seem to be more for the macho 'I carry a blade with me at all times and love to hunt' kind of people and frankly these kinds of people scare me a bit.
So I'm wondering if anyone knows anywhere a weapons enthusiast like myself can hangout with similar people without feeling threatened?
I've been a fan of swords, bows and exotic weapons for as long as I can remember and began collecting a few years ago. I'm as meek as they come, but as a history and fantasy nerd I love talking about such weapons.
However, pretty much everywhere I've looked online for likeminded people seem to be more for the macho 'I carry a blade with me at all times and love to hunt' kind of people and frankly these kinds of people scare me a bit.
So I'm wondering if anyone knows anywhere a weapons enthusiast like myself can hangout with similar people without feeling threatened?
All I can say is if you can't find one that fits, start one -- and invite me!
posted by hermitosis at 9:38 AM on April 29, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by hermitosis at 9:38 AM on April 29, 2012 [2 favorites]
Have you tried the forums atmyarmoury.com or the atswordforum.com? The discourse is definitely not 'I carry a blade with me at all times and love to hunt' sort of stuff, though admittedly there don't seem to be many women either.
posted by Mister Cheese at 9:44 AM on April 29, 2012
posted by Mister Cheese at 9:44 AM on April 29, 2012
It can go either way, but I would say to check out your local renaissance faire scene. I think meeting people that make swords or are interested in the crafting of weapons might open you up to a different scene.
posted by trishthedish at 9:48 AM on April 29, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by trishthedish at 9:48 AM on April 29, 2012 [2 favorites]
You could look for a HEMA (Historic European Martial Arts) community. The group I'm with has a "we're nerds who love to study medieval weapons" vibe, and is as far from macho as you can get. Example.
posted by Wulfhere at 10:17 AM on April 29, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Wulfhere at 10:17 AM on April 29, 2012 [1 favorite]
the people i knew who were into weapons and nerdly pursuits and some left of center views on sexuality and gender were all LARPers.
posted by nadawi at 12:42 PM on April 29, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by nadawi at 12:42 PM on April 29, 2012 [4 favorites]
Another vote for historic arms and LARPing communities, I've met some cool queer (inc. trans) people who spent a lot of time with them.
My own experience is with modern arms (target rifle shooting in the UK). I know this isn't your primary interest, but I found there was a good mix of progressive nerdy people, open-minded engineer/physics types, and the occasional upper-class huntin'-shootin'-fishin' type, and the mixture leant towards shutting up the homophobes/transphobes, though not perfectly. So perhaps looking for the geek/weapons overlap will help you find friendlier communities.
posted by pickingupsticks at 10:39 AM on April 30, 2012
My own experience is with modern arms (target rifle shooting in the UK). I know this isn't your primary interest, but I found there was a good mix of progressive nerdy people, open-minded engineer/physics types, and the occasional upper-class huntin'-shootin'-fishin' type, and the mixture leant towards shutting up the homophobes/transphobes, though not perfectly. So perhaps looking for the geek/weapons overlap will help you find friendlier communities.
posted by pickingupsticks at 10:39 AM on April 30, 2012
I'm sorry I can't help you with online communities, but I'm absolutely sure that your local SCA group will have resources for you. I've never met a SCAdian who wasn't open minded about sexuality and gender presentation. I've certainly met mean and rude ones, but they were still creative and responded to their nerdy and alternative friends with kindness, although I, specifically, didn't get along with them. That's because I myself can be quite mean and rude! Many of the SCA women I've known have been very assertive, which you might find offputting, but certainly happy to engage with other women who share interests regardless of what their personality is like. I've never known (for certain) a transwoman who was into the SCA groups I've been local to, but there's a typically very large lgba overlap.
posted by Mizu at 9:08 PM on April 30, 2012
posted by Mizu at 9:08 PM on April 30, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by hepta at 9:34 AM on April 29, 2012