Reenacting question

[KateH.]

Hi,

I'm interested in reenacting and was talking to some people in a Facebook group about how to begin. They were nice until I said I want to reenact as a woman disguised as a male soldier. Then they told me there was a fight on the forum about that topic the other day so I'll have to talk to people on a military forum instead and they will only answer "civilian" questions. Does anyone know of a good military forum? Or can anyone here help me? Thank you. (I'm new at this and there are so many questions that I'm getting confused deciding where to start. The last thing I want is to be getting wrong information).

[L Verge]

It has been a very long time since my husband and I did Civil War reenactments, and I know that there was a lot of complaints back then directed at women who wanted to portray soldiers. However, this was back in the days when not a lot of research had been done on exactly how many women of that era participated as soldiers. There has been a great deal done now and books written to support the position.

This is strictly my opinion on the subject, but I think that -- if you join a unit which has proof that there was a "legitimate" female soldier within their ranks -- you should be able to research that woman and/or interpret her role using the best history you can find.

[Gene C]

If you haven't already, you may want to go to two or three reenactment events and get to personally know the people involved first. Then I would find out who's in charge and express your interest, and how you can join. If you already have a friend that does reenactment, get them to come with you and approach the person in charge together.

[L Verge]

Very good advice, Gene. And find out how they spend their evenings after the crowds go home.

[KateH.]

Thank you