This last summer, at Pennsic, our Baroness was very excited about a particular book and lecture that she had heard of. Her Excellency encouraged all of the fighters to read the book and to attend the lecture.
The book “The Armored Rose” is about how women are different from men in the SCA sport of Heavy Combat. (we’d already figured out the other differences ‘tween men and women.)
I was unable to attend the lectures which were offered. I was having my post battle shower at the time. But I did resolve to read the book. Thank you Lady Gabriel, and I will give it back… honest!
The author of the book is Duchess Elina of Beckenham. In real life she is known as Tobi Beck. She has been fighting in the SCA since 1985. No where in the book does she claim to have been a Queen by right of arms. She has been an Officer in the United States Army Military Police Corps. Her duty assignments were primarily MP work. She did serve in Somalia. Currently she is in the Reserves and holds the rank of Captain. Outside of fighting and military qualifications she holds a degree in communications and a Ph.D. in Humanities.
There are two main sections to the book. These are Physiology and Psychology. In the structure of her book, Beck intermixes the two elements. For the purpose of this review they are separated.
In Physiology, Beck briefly describes the major structural differences between men and women that impact SCA combat. As I read these sections I would cross check Beck with Lady Aislinne who is a nurse. The relevant differences are all internal. While there are skeletal differences, our bone systems are largely the same. The difference is in how muscles and tendons are connected to those bones. Beck’s illustration of this point (page 39) is that if you take a 175 lbs. man, woman and orangutan they all have similar muscle *mass*. The woman can curl 40 to 50 pounds, the man 75 to 85 pounds and the orangutan can curl the man.
Beck then proceeds to lay out how these internal differences affect SCA combat. Particular attention is paid to motion of the respective genders’ bodies. Throughout the book there are helpful photographs of a male and a female model in suits which mark body joints and lines. They are posed in various stance positions and sword maneuvers. These aid the visual learner in seeing what Beck is talking about.
Beck also addresses how the physical differences between men and women affect the armour each should use. Male armour is often not only unsuitable for a woman, it can also be harmful to her. What is merely an armour bite to a man, can be a catch or bind that significantly impedes/damages a woman. Worst case, the ill-fitting armour may not protect her properly.
In Psychology Beck addresses a number of issues. She lists and discusses 6 specific hurdles which a woman faces in the course of becoming an SCA fighter. Beck indicates that on average it takes a woman 7 times longer than a man to go from the decision to fight to the first authorization bout. In discussion with others I have found that these barriers also affect men.
Beck also spends a considerable amount of time on what she introduces as ‘the Lizard Brain’. This is not the top of the spinal column where autonomic body functions are controlled. Rather this is a series of psychological and cultural patterns which affect how people behave. While Beck only spends 4 pages under the title Lizard Brain, she returns to the concept often. It is here that Beck is at her weakest. Her weakness is focused in two areas. She repeatedly confuses nature (how we are hard wired) with nurture (how we are raised). A primary example of this is her discussion of relative pain thresholds. On page 34 she recites the old adage “if men had children, we would die out as race in a single generation”. Beck then lays out an experiment done by the US Army. Ice water inflicts maximum pain with minimal actual damage. Women, she claims can hold their hand under longer than men can. In a footnote she adds “never volunteer for a military experiment”. That Captain Tobi Beck could hold her arm under longer than whichever male volunteered is not conclusive proof. I discussed this matter with 3 different nurses and a dozen women. Each had the same conclusion. Our culture puts women into the position of suppressing their needs for the sake of others. As a result, a woman of our culture will remain silent about her pain longer than a man will. The difference is nurture, not nature as Beck asserts.
The second area of weakness in Beck’s discussion of psychology is culture based. She seems to have an axe to grind with the western/British-descent culture. This is the culture is that is base-line for much of White USA and Canada. As I read the book I found myself upset with Beck for a reason that eluded me. Then it hit me and I exclaimed to whoever happened to be the same room: “she is a misogynist!” I was wrong, as further reading showed. But she repeatedly paints a picture of women as culturally tied into a role of learned-helplessness and submission. Beck does not directly attack this cultural conditioning. Rather she states it as undisputed, unchanging fact and then describes how it affects the SCA fighter.
When Beck stays away from psychological discussions she does very well. Her description of physical differences and how they affect fighting are quite good. Her recommendations on stance, grip and armour are also excellent. With the exception of the armour I tested these recommendations on fighters and non-fighters. Not all of what she describes as male/female differences were exactly that way in my sample. For example, there men who favored a ‘female’ sword grip and vice versa.
At the end of the book there is a fun (and useful) section. A number of attacks and other motions have been photographed in stages. These photos are arranged at the edge of the pages, so that the motion can be viewed in a flip-book manner. As a teacher and Marshal in Training I found these to be very useful in seeing what Beck was describing.
The Armored Rose is extremely short on documentation (near non-existent). However in an organization such as the SCA applying rigorous testing methods which would be acceptable to a research organization would be problematic.
I would recommend this book (aside from the psychology part) to all fighters. New and old, male and female alike.
