In Which I Am a Bad Feminist

[moon_custafer]

I *want* to like Take Back Hallowe’en. It’s a terrific list of interesting historical women. It’s just that the thought of spending Hallowe’en night explaining to every-freakin’-one I meet that I’m supposed to be, say, Hildegard Von Bingen, makes me break out in hives. It’s sort of like suggesting to a man that he go out in a nondescript early-20th-c suit and tell everyone he’s Alexander Flemming. Well, I guess Flemming could carry around a petri dish or something, but most people still aren’t going to get it.

Comments

[fragrantwoods.livejournal.com]

I confess that I would consider dressing up as Hatshepsut, but that would reflect a lifelong fascination with Egyptology rather than any feminism slant. And would be too much trouble...many of those famous types, folks would figure you were dressing up as a Downton Abbey character, anyway (NTTAWWT).

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

If I saw a lady in Egyptian costume and a ceremonial false beard, I’d guess Hatshepsut, but that’s sort of my main point – most historical figures, with a few obvious exceptions like Jeanne d’Arc or the Chevalier d’Eon, just wore the usual clothes of their time, so they’re not that identifiable unless you can carry a prop (Trillian in the movie version of HHttG goes to a party in a suit, top hat, fake beard, and carrying a toy beagle, but even then only Arthur guesses she’s supposed to be Darwin: “everyone else keeps calling me Santa.”)
There’s a reason people dress as Batman but not as Bob Kane, and I suspect Albert Einstein’s fame in popular culture has to do with (a) living in the era of photography, and (b) being easier to pick out of a lineup than Werner Heisenberg.