Question or two for the ladies

[dink]

Though I guess the menfolk can answer too Appologies for so many questions so soon, being new to the forum and bursting with many questions, in advance of asking I'd like to say, if my over zealousness is annoying please tell me, I won't be offended and don't want to upset anyone.

Ok I assume the reasons for wanting to do Axis female reenactment will be much the same as my own, but of course with personal differences for each individual, hence that is not what I am asking in any of these questions or indeed questioning your reasons. I'm merely trying to make sure my eyes are wide open to things before taking the plunge so to speak and I hope this is how my questions are read?

So for the females or those with females in groups/partners, did you find it an easy prospect joining a reenactment group or do you do it as an individual (the latter is almost a frightening prospect to me having read attitudes and heard peoples accounts of people that wing it solo)

Being new I don't want to step or be seen to step on toes, hence asking this. I've read BDMhistorians website (top site it is, very well worth reading) which explains her reasoning, but I am curious to know how other women picked/chose their representation. My own interest and the few original items I have in my pityful collection are DRK, but I am paranoid that this may have been done to death and someone could say oh not another ..... and I am open to suggestions for suitable representations.

How did you decide/approach a group about getting involved? This is a huge quandry to me as I think so far I've only seen one site, maybes two that actually mention female members (on their site that is). And if I am brutally honest atm I don't feel confident enough to just send adhoc emails off querrying (am sure the groups will appreciate me not doing this too ) without knowing the ins and outs, of what it may entail or indeed the best way to approach a group would be. Therefore if anyone can offer guidance on this it would be gratefully appreciated.

Research wise, I note many of the recommended reads are already in my collection, though I realise there is a need to read more (that and I'm a bookworm), but besides those books that I have read and that I am yet to read, are their any recommended websites that have suitable content that may be of interest ? It could be I've looked at them already but you never know, and it would again be appreciated.

Oh and does anyone collect female stuff, as mentioned in my introduction I have a small collection of DRK things tho I do hope to expand that this year, would be nice to know I'm not the only female hunting elusive items from all over

There are many more questions but I think I'll stop now before I ramble on to long and bore you all

Thanks in advance and again humble appologies if annoyed anyone.

[Schäfer]

Hi there Dink, and welcome to the forum.

Have you read the SBG website? there is a dedicated female section on the menu there. We have quite a large and vibrant female following within our group, and most female impressions are represented.

Believe it or not, there is a whole spectrum to be explored concerning female Axis re-enactment. Some of our female members have joined independently, whereas others have joined due to their other halves being members. Of course the SBG represents W-SS so you wouldn't have any female members representing Heer or Luftwaffe as such, but they do represent civilian organisations (BDM, DRK, etc) and W-SS equivalents. One of our female members even has a Feldgendarme uniform (yes, female FG's did exist.)

I hope that helps.

[BDMhistorian]

My own interest and the few original items I have in my pityful collection are DRK, but I am paranoid that this may have been done to death and someone could say oh not another ..... and I am open to suggestions for suitable representations.

Dink -

My personal opinion would be - do the impression that you would *like* to do and that you have the most knowledge of. If you do something you genuinely enjoy and that you're knowledgeable about, it's much easier to find a nice unit that will let you "tag along", register with them, etc.

There are some women's impressions for which it is very easy to get the uniforms and equipment. Then there are impressions that are really not done at all because it's so hard to get the correct items. If you want to go the extra mile for something that has not been done before do that - but it's real easy to get discouraged in the process. If you truly want to do DRK, then do that - no matter who else does it or how many others there are who do it.

Just because there are a lot of DRK re-enactors doesn't mean you're going to be "yet another". If you enjoy the impression and do it well, then you're going to be "a good DRK reenactor" as opposed to "yet another girl dressed in a DRK uniform who's got no clue what the heck she's doing". Big difference. Just because loads of other people do it doesn't necessarily mean they do it well.

In general with the hobby, I would say to be prepared to get (or overhear) comments along the line of, "Yet another ..." There are some people who don't like the idea of women in reenactment and in whose opinion those women who are in the hobby are there not out of an interest in history but because their significant other brought them into it, they're looking for a significant other, or they're "another girl doing a crap impression." There are always people who are going to feel that way, so if you get that kind of comment, just know why you're there and how you're doing, and ignore those who have dumb things to say without knowing you.

Hope that made sense. oO

As for finding a group of unit - honestly, start doing a walk-on impression at events. Just dress up and walk around, asking questions, getting to know people, make friends. When you get to know people, it's often easy to find if they would let you register with them, join their unit, or invite you to events.

When I did a WAC impression, I hung out with a 101st Airborne unit. They were local to me and really nice. I've gone to other events as a walk-on and just spent the day hanging out in the camp of a unit that I knew. You meet a lot of people and folks are generally pretty friendly as long as you're willing to meet new folks, talk to them, and aren't a total farb.