08/04/2024
I've seen a few posts about this and was going to just stay quiet, but having failed at that I will at least try to be brief with my thoughts.
I think some of the author's frustration stems from how he and Race are defining the term "old guard". I'm going to change language here to try to make my point, separate from some of the emotion tied to language about Leather and the Old Guard so bear with me - I'm not saying it's a perfect comparison, but I think it works well enough to illustrate my point.
I see it kind of like someone who today, says they live a "50's Household Lifestyle". One would not need to have lived through the 50's to do this, and would certainly be able to gather information about what the "stereotypical 50's household" would have been like; one partner as a homemaker, greeting the breadwinner at the door after work with a martini, etc. I could absolutely see that person being offended if someone were to say there was no such thing as a 50's Household Lifestyle. It would be invalidating, as he is living it, and he exists, therefor, the idea does in fact exist.
The difference is that people who lived through the 50's, in various areas of the country, at different levels of affluence, from different racial, social, and other backgrounds, would likely tell you that while there may have been those rare, individual households or even small groups of families that functioned that way, they themselves never experienced the romanticized version of the "50's Household" that was made popular on television shows and movies depicting those times.
When those people say it didn't exist, they aren't telling you that you can't live that lifestyle, they are saying that the idealized depiction that so many folks imagine was not based in reality, but rather on a backlot somewhere in Hollywood.
They aren't trying to cancel you, rather they are speaking truth to those who, although they never lived through it themselves, claim that this was how all/most American families lived during the 50's and therefor it is an authentic lifestyle based on fact and tradition. When someone makes these claims, what they are actually doing is trying to erase the real, authentic, lived experience of the people who were actually there, and replace it with a fictional, romanticized version of reality.
These folks pointing out the truth aren't telling you that you can't live your "50's Lifestyle". Live however makes you happy. They would rather you just stop spreading the myth that it was a true and authentic standard, and in the process, invalidating and erasing their own real, lived history.
/soapbox
https://oldguardleather.men/old-guard-leather-debate-race-bannon/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEc7zZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYzIWL1hejoeUIeaO8i8Yy_dm8KmPWwwvKiJi5CYaSsp0O2zL6LbW2GIkQ_aem_52zbiDtj0llaGbdKO9cWkA
Old Guard Leather men exist, but there's an online trend to cancel this culture. Here's our open letter to Race Bannon and other spokesmen.
