>> Scots clansmen have had no problem at all, other than showing a lot of >> leg, for centuries. I've just returned from a weekend's Live RolePlay >> where the Fir Cruthen faction were all kilted, men and women alike. > >Kilts are not female attire. Or, I should say, a man in a kilt isn't >"dressing in women's clothes".
> No, but my point is, there's only a difference in definition (and
> length, usually), so there is no absolute necessity for women doing
> men's work to dress as men. Whether Heortling women would wear skirts
> as short as the kilt is another matter.
There's plenty of so-called masculine activities that women could do in long skirts but it seems likelier to me that they would put breeches or leggings on for activities like hunting since it's more practical. Somehow shortening the skirt doesn't feel like an option they'd consider especially since pants or leggings offer better protection against scratches. I've always pictured the Vingan skirt as something with a symbolic function rather than any practicality as a actual garment. I picture it as being something like a wrap around apron rather than a real skirt.
You could see the long skirt the women wear as a symbol of their adulthood. Girls might wear something shorter. Heortlings could have three lengths of skirt, a girl's shorter version, a woman's longer skirt and a Vingan's symbolic skirt. Maybe female followers of Humakt, Odayla or Yinkin also wear an abbreviated skirt over men's clothing to symbolize their status? Perhaps if a woman wants to symbolize her complete rejection of her gender she stops wearing the short skirt?
If a Heorlting woman needs to do something hot and dirty I can't see why they wouldn't temporarily hike up their skirts or don an extra pair of their husband's pants as needed. They don't have the kind of nudity taboo that would restrict this.
Oliver
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