Comments on: Old Guard is Dead

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:05:45 +0000

If you haven’t already, you might wanna check out “Urban Aboriginals” by Geoff Mains, too. Another, probably more realistic, look at “old guard”.

By: Gordon Reece

Gordon Reece — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:32:08 +0000

I have the book somewhere, and I met Townsend in ’98. Both are a little over rated. A good book, but, idealized something intangable.

My husband came out into leather in the late 60s. He is considered “Old Guard” by others. He considers himself just a Leather Man. He still thinks of hanky code as 8 colors. I don’t think actual Old Guard men think of the issue the way we do. It isn’t a bunch of rules. It seems to be a code of honor between men. A set of social behaviors that allowed people to live out their sexual kinks and lifestyle in a manner that worked.

I agree with others that it may have been a time and place that is now gone. We have things that can be gleaned from them, but, it really can’t be emulated. Leather men just need to live honorably and keep to their code of behavior.

Oh, and “switching” make my man’s head explode. It’s actually a little funny.

By: God of Biscuits

God of Biscuits — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:15:07 +0000

I love the irony of a Dom pushing back against some external something or other trying to tell him how it’s suppose to be/go and him not liking it and instead of just seeing that for what it is, he has to elaborate an entire religiosity argument about it.

Add to it, with the argument he all but *agrees* with the strictly defined roles (e.g., the mad barking in disgust away from the very idea of being “[turned into a] raging sub”).

Look, humans are social beings and are willing to give up a LOT–often their individualities, sometimes their humanity (pups, anyone?)–to be a part of a community. Humans also are driven to feel isolated by inner turmoil and seek out to resolve that by seeking others with similar issues.

If those issues are unhealthy, then the reinforcement of those issues through community-forming is unhealthy and resolution is the better choice to reinforcement. THAT is the religiosity argument (and the leather argument AND the bear argument and many other social-ghetto arguments).

The new generation IS the old guard. It’s merely that the out of print book that defines it is now a Kindle Edition.

By: D

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:25:31 +0000

I think you miss some of the point of old guard. Being in leather wasn’t originally designed to be “accessible” to all. The point is that many things that we do within the leather community are dangerous, edgy, and to most people sick. The concept of old guard was to determine and weed out those that wouldn’t fit those requirements (in many cases in addition to character an moral standards, financial) and select those that were trustworthy enough and more importantly willing to learn the crafts that make BDSM. Even though the Leatherman’s Handbook is a bit pricey, pick up a used copy. Powell’s books in Portland usually has a selection for under 20 bucks. A lot of this is explained in the book. I would even advise getting the 25 Anniversary book which was updated in i believe 2003.

By: @power_bear

@power_bear — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:11:12 +0000

people have been proclaiming the Old Guard dead for as long as I can remember, and yet there is a faction that keeps it alive