Joan of Arc Wore Men's Clothing
Joan of Arc, seemingly a trans, has been canonized and held up as a martyr for the faith. After several states has passed laws against drag, is Joan still OK?
Jokes about Catholic and Protestant anti drag make good entertainment for many. A large organization in California, "The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" is parody of anti-drag Catholics. It was the group largely responsible for drag night at baseball games of the Los Angeles Dodgers. While one drag night was canceled others are now scheduled. The Dodgers need to sell tickets and Christians are able to help much. Better to rely on drag queens.
I looked on Google Images for pictures of "Joan of Arc." There are, if course, no photos. There are only drawings by artists who wanted to portray Joan is ways that fit the Christian narrative about who she was and the proper way to think of her today.
From the drawings depicting Joan it is clear artists did not want her to be seen and appearing in drag. A couple of different drawings have her wearing the heavy steel armament used for protection during that time of battles using clubs and swords. The depiction of "Joan's armament" is hilarious. It is steel protection shaped for a female with an "hourglass" figure. The artist wanted Joan to be all girl.
Anyone who has worked with metal, even as a hobby, knows making curves is a long and costly process. It requires patient heating and hammering using special rounded surfaces on the opposite side of the hammer. Today stamping machines can do this in an instant but not back then. To make metal shields to be worn by soldiers would have been making mostly out of flat sheets and one size fits all. If Joan wore this armament, she would have looked like one of the guys. In fact, if she actually had rank in the army efforts would have been made conceal which of the armored troops was the in command for the commander's own safety.
No doubt is Joan of Arc appeared today with her male battle gear; she would be accused by the religious right of grooming young girls to change gender. She would never make sainthood today.
Anyone with a brain understands that a very young woman being called by God to lead the French military in the 15th century would not be taken seriously precisely because she was a woman. She died in 1431. Photography was invented in 1822, about 4 centuries before Joan lived.
ReplyDeleteSo, Joan dressed like a man. She cut her hair short according to stories. She was a hands-on warrior. She did not reject her femininity. She was not a trans-gender in any sense of the word. She was assuredly a transvestite but one like no other. She found no joy in wearing men's clothes other than the respect she garnered simply by wearing the costume of a warrior.
Remember, she was prosecuted by the Church for wearing men's clothes. She was accused of engaging in sex before marriage. She was physically examined and found to be incorrupt.
She was burned at the stake for being a heretic.
The Church officials who judged her to be a heretic were corrupt.
After her death, she was declared a martyr and saint.
I highly doubt Joan will ever lose her sainthood. She was never a transexual. She may never have been a transvestite since her reason for dressing like a man had nothing to do with any pleasure in looking like a a man.
Did you enjoy your day of trying to insult Catholics?
Matt--I'm trying to understand. Am I correct, it was OK for Joan to dress like a man? It is not OK for men, such as drag entertainers, to dress as women? If I am correct and that is your reasoning, it is bonkers.
ReplyDeleteJoan glorified God, only wearing men's clothes to fit in their military.
ReplyDeleteThe latter mock God, mock the Catholic faith and wear clothes and makeup that a nun would never wear.
Don't play stupid. Are is this a serious question.