Cranky

I don't know who needs to hear this today but:

most adult women wore their hair up, on a normal day when going out in public, for most of western history from at least the late Middle Ages until the 1920s. even after that, wearing truly long, unstyled hair entirely loose was not common until the 1960s

not half-up. not in a ponytail. not braided with the braid hanging loose. at times trailing elements were involved, but the majority of the hair would still be pinned up. at times it was also a social norm that the hair would always be mostly or entirely covered when out of the house

and until around the early 19th century, little girls usually wore their hair up too, if it was long

when "putting one's hair up" became a specifically adult thing, around the 1830s or 40s, it was not related to marriage. it was something teen girls did around age 16 as a marker of social adulthood. even if she was unmarried, she'd wear her hair up. this attitude remained until the bob took over hair fashion in the 1920s, and even then, long hair was usually still worn up

obviously people can do what they want with their art but like. just. just please be aware of this

I have not reblogged so much Dracula fanart because the artist inadvertently made Mina and/or Lucy look uncomfortably young, hair-wise

it also makes me Tired because like. long, luscious hair worn loose by an adult woman out in public on an ordinary day is such a modern beauty standard. sure, they thought long, loose hair was beautiful back then, too, but in more of a Stereotypical Medieval Princess (hello, history doing history wrong!) or Boudoir Photoshoot way

so it's imposing modern standards on historical women rather than embracing the lived reality of their experiences, and the hairstyles they used to express themselves and make their lives easier by getting it out of the way

in movies loose hair also often presented as More Natural And Liberated than pinned-up hair...when the look onscreen is so carefully curled and full of product that it probably took longer than just pinning hair up in a style the character has likely done so many times she doesn't even need a mirror anymore. or is having done by a skillful ladies' maid, who's just as quick if not faster

I don't know. I just. I'm sick of historical female characters having to bear the weight of our own modern beauty norms at the expense of accurately representing how women actually lived back then. it smacks of Female Character's Job Is Be Sexy/Pretty To Modern Audiences

Obligatory disclaimer if you bring cropping and docking debate to my blog I am flinging you directly into the sun

But this entire passing match between the DPCA and the DV is getting old as hell. And for what? All it does is lead to further detriment to the dogs.

Here is the problem: the AKC will not sanction protection sports, so the breed club (the DPCA) is NOT ALLOWED to host their own protection trials. Which also means that they have to have another club do it, one that works with the FCI (the UDC).

Well the FCI says the parent club in Germany (the DV) adamantly refuses to recognize any cropped and docked dog as a doberman, and so will not reward titles or allow competition in FCI events for any cropped and docked dogs. We've been given a temporary stay on this for dogs who are only competing in the US, meaning a cropped and docked dog that qualifies for worlds is automatically disqualified from competing, but they have been pushing and pushing to make that a reality on American soil as well. It already is the case that IF a World's trial was held in the US, they would not allow any stateside dog that is cropped and docked to compete.

(This also affects Mondioring in the same way btw bc it is also an FCI sport so we're still bound to DV rules, and the DV has already stated that as soon as they get enforcing piwer they are planning to make it so that you have to follow their rules regardless of what your country's laws or breed club's expectations are)

(This is also after Germany told us on no uncertain terms that the doberman breed requires crop and dock and that to do otherwise was a betrayal to the breed... so basically they're mad that we're following the rules they put in place themselves when the breed came to the US)

This would be annoying enough on its own however the DPCA is of the opinion that as the last breed that REQUIRES all dogs of the breed to be cropped and docked with no exceptions, this is the hill they're willing to die on, and so has doubled down and stated that if you want a doberman then it HAS to be cropped and docked with no questions asked and no exceptions given, and has effectively told all of its members to stop allowing buyers to ask for natural ears and tails. What few of them even existed in the first place.

So now the breed is solidly split- if you want to show your dog, it has to be cropped and docked. If you want to work your dog, it can't be. A single decision made largely not even the choice of the person who owns the damn dog and you are locked out of the other side, forever. Or at least, as long as you own that specific dog.

I cannot show Fenris in AKC. Or rather, I can, if I don't mind either getting last and wasting my entry or being dismissed from the ring the second the judge looks at him. Fenris' littermates are all cropped and docked and may be looking at very short IGP and mondio careers if the DV has their way. This has nothing to do with the quality of the dogs. It has everything to do with stupid breed club politics and their refusal to find a compromise because they won't accept anything less than full authority.

What harm would it do to allow cropped and docked dogs to show alongside natural ears and tails? To allow them to compete next to each other? The FCI was doing that for years before the DV decided to have a fit so it's not like it hasn't been done before.

It's also incredibly annoying because the problem is, from the perspective of someone who exclusively wants a fully natural dog and has always sought one out and has only been able to accomplish this by getting imports, that even the very request for a natural dog is seen as a challenge to the cropped and docked status quo.

I have had people harass me, spread rumors about me, put me on block lists, call me an animal abuser, accuse me of neglect, even dox me and contact my dogs' breeders over the fact that I have owned two dobermans who were cropped and docked. This is besides the fact that Skoll was an adult rescue whose ears and tail were already done by the time he landed in the court system and on his way to my house, and Creed was done at 6 weeks by his breeder long before I ever knew he existed and she wouldn't have given me the choice regardless. No, I had cropped and docked dogs, so it was proof enough of abuse.

Phoebe was from Sweden. While I'm not the one who imported her, the fact that she was imported was the reason for her to be natural. Fenris is from Canada. The Canadian standard allows for ears and tails (good luck showing that way but it is, at least, permitted).

Here? There's a small handful of people who will allow you to take home a fully natural dog, and I also am uninterested in buying from 90% of them due to other things I've seen with either their dogs or their ethics. Of the 7 or 8 I know, I would feel comfortable buying from 1, maybe 2, of them.

Otherwise it is largely seen as offensive to many doberman breeders to ask for the ears, let alone the tail. Considered breaking rank, to betray the breed in a way that ultimately matters very little in the true worth of the dog. Tell me genetically what difference it makes in my dog's working ability or his structure on whether or not I remove his ears and tail well after birth. If my dog is good enough to win trophies then he is good enough with or without the damn tail and the perfectest ears.

So now the breed is stuck. If you want to show, you only have so much longer to work your dog before it becomes impossible for you to do so outside of maybe PSA and American Schutzhund and whatever this new Shark Bite thing is (which are not sanctioned by FCI but are their own thing) (French ring also is its own thing but France also doesn't do the cropped/docked so 🤪) (Belgian ring doesn't exist in the US and KNPV isn't a sport and refuses to open to those who want it to be).

Meanwhile anyone who was interested in bridging the gap and merging the breed as a combination of both working and show now more than ever must choose which is actually more important to them, because of this FCI/DV decision looming over our heads. Have a nice dog that shows well and can bite like it should? Hope you have no plans on actually proving the last bit because you already automatically disqualify for worlds and may soon no longer be able to title at all.

And those with dogs they got specifically to work and left natural as a result? Well fuck you if you want to show because the best you'll get is UKC and UDC, both of which constantly derided by the DPCA crowd as being lesser conformation avenues, despite being the only avenues that will even allow our dogs to be judged at least somewhat fairly on something that isn't even the fault of the dog itself.

Making the entire fucking breed hinge on ears and tails as if that's not the most superficial thing to be caring about when the dogs can't work for piss and drop dead at 4 years old.

How is it that I've been in dobermans for 12, nearly 13 years and I'm already on doberman #4? How is it that I can't seem to get them to actually live to old age because they keep dying from some stupid genetic thing? How is it that these breed clubs are more obsessed with the thing that matters THE LEAST while continuing to do absolutely fucking nothing about our horrendous breed health and sky high COI and abysmal average lifespan?

Sure. OK. Fine. Make a hardline stance on how every single doberman needs to be cropped and docked or visa versa or else they're Not Really Dobermans. And then in 10 or 20 years when we don't have dobermans anymore you can say that you kept your stupid moral high ground you think you have while the mortality rate grew and grew until the entire breed was too incompatible with life to exist anymore. Good luck with that.