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Badasses, Servants, and Martyrs 103 Chapter 5 Badasses, Servants, and Martyrs Gender Performances Two hours before the costume party at the Playground, I still hadn’t found an outfit. I’d heard that this was a busy event and I knew I could be meeting a lot of new people. I didn’t want to be something cutesy or submissive, but since I was still fairly new to the scene, I also didn’t want to stand out. I rummaged through my closet and chose a copper-colored crinoline ball skirt and a brown lace-up peasant top with poufy sleeves. I folded a white linen sheet, doubled it over the skirt, and fastened it like an apron. I piled my hair on top of my head in a loose curly bun and pulled some strands out. Then I shook my head at my reflection. What were they called, these women? Serving girl . . . bar wench? I sighed, but it would work. When in Rome . . . When I pulled my car up in front of Casey’s place, she was leaning against the building, drawing a deep breath on a cigarette, a la James Dean. She looked incredibly intimidating for a large, almost-forty-year old woman dressed as Minnie Mouse. Casey and I arrived just moments after the doors opened, and the club was packed. Marty stood near the door, greeting people as they entered. He pointed at my costume and gave me a thumbs-up. I nodded politely and turned away. I heard him call out to someone behind me. “Hey, she’s a tavern wench. Want a beer?” Then, to me, he yelled, “Hey, wench! Two beers! Hey, wench!” Irritated, I ignored him. I could feel him watching me, and I concentrated on what Casey was saying. “Two beers, wench!!” he tried again. I did not respond. Once we finished checking in, we headed into the main room and saw Raven, who was dressed as a vampire. We hugged our hello. Behind Raven stood Russ 103 104 Play and Jody, talking with a man I had noticed but not met during my first SM meeting. He was a short, pudgy, cheerful-looking man, thirty-something. He was not in costume. He wore black pants and a black T-shirt that was too tight. The lenses in his thick plastic glasses were badly smudged. He had a moustache, a thick goatee, and an overbite. Russ introduced us, but it was loud and we could hardly hear each other. He extended his hand. “I’m Liam. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?” “Dakota,” I said, shaking his hand. Liam continued a story he had apparently been telling before I joined them. “I mean, it’s only one word, but it’s so clear what they mean . . . ‘Women!” He said the last word in faux exasperation and laughed. “And then everyone knows what a man means when he says it. It’s pretty offensive, if you think about it. It’s just not okay to say it like that!” His voice cracked on the last word. He giggled. Casey joined us. I was about to introduce her when Liam turned to her and asked, “Do you say ‘Men!’ the way men say ‘Women!?’ It’s rude, isn’t it?” he asked her. Casey surveyed him coolly. I held my breath, not sure how she was going to take his assumption. It depended on whether she decided she liked him or not. “No, I don’t. But when I say, ‘Women!’ like that, I mean exactly the same thing that men do.” I grinned and slipped away, as Liam stammered an apology and Casey laughed graciously. In the room next to us, it looked like Doug and Liza were starting a scene, and I wanted to watch them. Liza was bent backwards over a chair, and Doug was using a Wartenberg wheel across her stomach. She made very loud, low-pitched noises that were not quite moans and not quite shrieks. I had never seen a wheel before, but it looked painful. I did not know what to make of her sounds. While I was watching, Liam approached me and asked me about my research. He wondered whether I was a member of “SCA.” “No, I don’t know what that is,” I told him. “Society for Creative Anachronism. I thought maybe, because of the costume . . .” he trailed off. “I like SCA. All that stuff—SCA, fantasy stuff...

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