Time Warp

[fictional]

Time Warp Wives.

What do you lot think of this? I am at a loss. I never know what to make of these people. On the one hand, I admire their dedication to detail. For another, I am really into vanished worlds as well. (Hello, cosplay! Dressing up is awesome. Recreating lost worlds, equally so.) In addition, it's nice to live in a time, where people can be this weird, and not get, y'know, stoned to death or whatever. I support people's constructed, fictional lives, no matter what fashion, as long as they're not hurting anyone, - and it's great that they've been able to find people of like mind to live with etc.

BUT. They are crazy. tin. hats. Like, I get the desire, but not the 24/7 of it all, you know. Obsession can be taken too far.

Here's the other thing. It's like the male-dom thing in bdsm. Like, I've been known to find it really hot. BUT. in sex! Not in real life, right? Politically I find it to be repugnant and stupid. (Femme-dom too, for that matter, but you know what I mean.) For me, the great thing about recreation of these vanished times, means that we can keep the things we like for play, and lose the things we don't. Also I like running water, the internet, eyeglasses & contact lenses, etc etc.

I just don't know.

Thoughts?

Comments

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I get the impulse, I suppose. But I think these people fail at the social contract.

Again, though, I keep coming back to the bdsm world. Like, people who want to be infantilised completely? Age-play, etc etc. I mean, I really do advocate for people to pursue their desires in performance and play, especially deviant desires, because I really believe that anything that doesn't cause harm to others, and is found fulfilling and joyful should be pursued. But at the same time, 24/7? But then who am I to cast stones at other people's lifestyle choices? And yet, I can't keep from having some degree of contempt about it. Hence my dilemma.

[sanginmychains.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, but I guess what I'm quibbling about is whether they're causing anyone harm. This is the socialist in me talking: I have trouble with someone who has the means to contribute to society but doesn't. Mind you, I'm making assumptions. These women don't talk about kids or charity work, so I'm assuming they're not contributing labour of any kind except to their own homes, which is more vanity than social contribution, but they may well have both of these things.

Anyway, I only judge with the full knowledge that my judgment is probably worthless. I don't know all the facts, and I'm not sure someone else wouldn't judge me unfavourably according to the same principles.

I also distrust people who are perpetually playacting. A little is good, healthy even. But all the time strikes me as a mental disorder more than a lifestyle.

Oh well. Judgmental me. They *do* have lovely frocks.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

"Other people knit. I judge. What? Everyone needs a hobby..."

I agree with every point you raise, but I'm a socialist too. ;-) And the ability to do this kind of thing is so related to socio-economic status. I mean, it's the kind of thing you don't have the luxury to do unless you're of a certain class, right?

I wish I looked good in 40s outfits. Or, in fact 20s and 30s. I adore playing dressup but am always depressed by how I look in vintage fashions.

[sanginmychains.livejournal.com]

That's exactly it! They're talking like they're making a moral choice, to live in a certain way to support their politics, but they are so incredibly bourgeois. It's like people who refuse to shop at Walmart. Now, I'm all for the refusal, but really poor people? Don't actually have much of a choice there. Scratch a Walmart abstainer, and you probably find someone who is firmly middle class. ('Cause the rich people weren't shopping at Walmart to start with.)

I judge *and* knit. Is that bad? Sometimes I judge while I knit. It's a good combination, though -- knitting keeps me just busy enough that I don't experience the urge to judge out loud.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Too right about the walmart thing. I sometimes feel that way about a certain school of vegan. I have a number of vegan friends, but sometimes, certain sects practice it, and the accompanying moral high ground in such a way that makes no allowance for the practicality of eating whilst poor.

I've tried knitting before, but I suck; I have a lot of trouble managing the needles. And I think I pull on them too tightly, and everything just gets really tight, and then I can't get the needle back in, and it is terrible.

I really love handcrafts, but I am bad at them. In college, I and a gaggle of friends used to sit in the lounge and watch Buffy and cross stitch. It's...uh... never managed to prevent me from judging out loud though. Probably I am doing it wrong ;-)