Writing: Old Guard. There, I Said it
Old Guard - What I know
So much is being said, and even heatedly argued about Leather and Old Guard, that as someone with a history of both I feel compelled to share what has been taught to me -and my own added perspective. That is what I was taught to do with my training, pass it on...
It is always worth noting Joseph Bean's account of Old Guard when citing that of others; his experience was that the Old Guard (west coast) were indeed the unkempt biker gay guys. And that 'new guard' brought the cleaned up version with high protocol-but the latter is now pretty widely accepted as "Old Guard" everywhere. I think it is significant to recognize regional differences. I do not think that Old Guard was/is the same everywhere, for everyone -but I know for a fact that it did and does exist. I come from an east coast/Atlanta perspective, but do know Old Guard men and women from elsewhere.
I do concur with those who argue that the title "Old Guard" is relatively new - and I do not think that during the time(s) that Old Guard was forming it was called that, or anything else -except maybe "hey you, do it like this." The term rather, imo, refers to a particular style, a structured way of doing things -and yes, an identity. To deny its existence is the same as saying that there are no Goreans. We may not agree on whether or not Gorean is bunk fused by fiction, or a 'real' lifestyle - but nonetheless, it is viable. As is Old Guard. By definition anything that can grow, prosper and/or be passed on under favorable conditions is viable.
It is not even arguable that I did not grow up in the historical time period associated with the birth of what we now call Old Guard -I just didn't. And, yes I am female, and that seems to already make my identification a farse, or myth. But here are my facts: I was indeed accepted by a group of gay Leather men whose names I can easily produce -reference -and to whom I can prove my association and its nature. I was mentored and trained by them. I was told that in contrast to the 'newer' way of doing things which was unstructured, not vetted and basically without 'protocol' we were "Old Guard." I was given certain reading material with which most are already familiar, and I was told to pay this knowledge forward. That constitutes viable. Through the men who were indeed there, who did mentor and train - the notions, modes of behavior and yes what we call 'protocols' has germinated -under favorable conditions. Those conditions being the passing on of the traditions, etc.
Now for any one individual to stand up and say 'this, and this alone is Old Guard' and further, to be correct is just not possible. My experiences are a bit different from those of Joseph Bean. So, does the argument remain "was there ever an Old Guard?" or does it morph into "can this be passed to another generation" or even "how did the term become a definition?"
Hmmm...
It became definition by referral, I think. It exists because it can be passed to another generation through training and careful reference, just as with any other cultural tradition.
Why it is romanticized by those of us who claim it as an identity I can only comment on from my perspective, my personal feelings and those that have been shared with me by others of "Old Guard." Many of us miss the pervasive protocol and etiquette. Perhaps that does make those particular aspects of the term fetishes, I won't argue against that.