Does marching around with a bunch of weird, wild women wearing beards and merkins sound appealing to you? If so, you may be an excellent candidate for the Bearded Oysters, an organization of 500+ parading ladies who hit the streets in custom costumes and show off their various talents for an adoring public. The club started in New Orleans as part of the Mardi Gras parade circuit, and is now looking to recruit in New York in time for the N.Y.C. Halloween Parade. As they say, “the world is truly their oyster”; they plan to launch chapters in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin next year, and are plotting their delightfully strange domination of other cities for the future.
The Bearded Oysters seek “women of all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages to…create a network of diverse sisterhood,” and promise that “behind the hula hooping, bubble blowing, radical dancing, ribbon twirling, strutting, bead tossing, clowning, and street performing is the most unique feminist movement you could ever have the pleasure to witness.” Sounds pretty fun to me, but my favorite part? All members must wear beards.
Karina Nathan, the costume designer of–and bearded mama behind–the Oysters.
If you’re a shy gal who clams up easy, marching with the Bearded Oysters might be a great way to come out of your shell.
If you’re interested in joining the fun and literally walking all over stereotypes, contact “Mother Shucker” Miss Karina by emailing [email protected]. For more information, visit the Bearded Oysters’ website, which features so many amazing puns that it was insanely difficult for me not to use any/all of them, or check them out on Facebook.
All images are from www.beardedoysters.org.
