[Callers] Gypsy Synopsis

Erik Hoffman via Callers callers at lists.sharedweight.net
Thu Oct 29 01:24:37 PDT 2015


On the subject of gypsies and language, I've enjoyed reading the myriad 
comments, and find myself feeling ambiguous (which I define as feeling 
very strongly both ways). And, I know it's been thrashed about and we've 
a request for acknowledging that we are unlikely to change any opinions 
on this. That said:

* I have had this discussion with a number people in the past, about the 
very strong negative connotations of the word "Gypsy." Ambivalent as I 
am, I do think we should look for a replacement word.

* I thought I'd collect all the words that have been suggested so far 
(unless I missed one or two) in one place. Here it is:
         No Hand Turn
         No Hand Allemande (and I do think Allemande comes from "The 
German," a dance)
         Dance Around, or Walk Around
         Face to Face Do Si Do
         Bine (binary stars -- snippet below)
         Nose-to-Nose Do Si Do
         Dance Around - or Dance About
         Orbit Around - or Orbit About
         Loop
         Eddy
         Vortex
         Swirl
         Spiral
         Eyes or "Take Eyes"
         Holding Eyes
         Eyeballs
         Facing
         Maypole
         Hands Off
         Face à Face (facey-face...)
         Right (Left) Shoulder (without the G-word)
         Cyclone (though mentioned with a complaint - too "violent")

* I like "Single File with a Smile" to replace "Indian Style." Many 
Indians don't like the moniker "Native American," and vice versa -- 
America is a name that comes from a European explorer, in some ways more 
insulting than the misconstrued "Indians," from the name given by a 
murderous European explorer... It is good, I think, to stop using words 
that come from stereotyped images of an oppressed or victimized people.

* When thinking of our positive feelings about the word -- "happy, 
colorful," think about people of the slave-holding South remembered with 
great delight how "Nigras" were always happy, and how warm and wonderful 
it was when they were slaves. Of course, they rarely considered that 
that "happiness" stemmed from fear -- the fear of bodily injury, jail, 
or even lynching...

* We are teaching dance in a public forum. Dog breeders use the word 
"bitch" regularly -- no problem. Start calling a woman that word, and 
the connotation is different. A chink in a chain, a dike to hold back 
water or in a rock formation, etc. are all used in specialized 
situations. I run into a similar problem as I love playing the Jews 
Harp... Our use of the word Gypsy in a public forum could be said to 
have that specialized meaning. But it can be construed to have those 
negative connotations.

* Eric Black says he uses "Gents & Ladies," never, "men & women." Years 
ago I stopped using Ladies & Gents since their roots are steeped in 
classism, and we live in a severely class society -- even though we 
pretend we don't. Be that as it may, I started using Ladies & Gents 
again when I realized most of us don't have those connotations 
associated with those words. Now I've gone gender free, and use ravens & 
larks. But when I was young we used "him," and "he" to mean "everyone. 
We did notice the affect this had on young women as promoting that sense 
of exclusion that still dominates our culture. Most of us now say "he 
and she," or just "she", and it has changed how some of us think about 
the power of women. Language does make a difference. Much of this came 
about from discussions on how the words I choose to use affect some. 
Most of are "unaffected," by the use of certain words. Or at least we 
don't perceive an affect of the use of certain words. It's like those of 
us who are White often don't know the scrutiny Black people are 
subjected to throughout their everyday lives. Or the majority of us men 
don't live with the fear and degradation women are subjected to. It is 
important to understand how our language affects those around us, 
especially from the podium.

Well, enough for now, as that's more than two-cents worth...

~erik hoffman
     oakland, ca

The Snippet on from Richard Fischer (richardallenfischer at verizon.net) 
"Bine":
 > I have a suggestion for a new word to replace "gypsy."  My word is 
"bine" and I derive it from
 > "binary stars" which, especially if they are of similar mass, circle 
each other as in our dance
 > move. I consulted with an astrophysicist friend, who told me that 
under certain circumstances
 > binary stars may be "tidally locked," that is, facing each other as 
they orbit about each other.
 > (Our moon is tidally locked, but in the earth-moon case it's not a 
mutual thing.)
 >
 > "Bine" can be used as a verb and a noun, it's one syllable and easy 
to say, and its etymology is
 > known. (And some dancers might enjoy the image).
 >
 > As others have said, I too have appreciated this thoughtful 
discussion. It is hard to know when
 > to retire an established term that has been used without intention to 
offend anyone, but I know
 > many of us are considering doing so. So I thought I'd put my 
suggestion out there.



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