[Callers] Gender Free MWSD

[Andy Shore]

See http://www.iagsdchistory.org/historywiki/index.php?title=Gender_Roles
for a discussion of gender roles and gender terminology in general, and use
in the LGBTQ* clubs that make up the IAGSDC in particular.

Boys/Girls, Gents/Ladies, Men/Women are used very interchangeably in MWSD.

Belles/Beaus DO NOT mean the same thing (see above article and CALLERLAB
definitions).

To my knowledge there are no MWSD clubs that use truly non-gendered terms.
Upwards of 99.9% of callers would not be able to easily call to such a
group, nor would such dancers be able to travel anywhere else and dance.

So to my question: How do the dancers identify which roles the other people
are dancing? Traditionally this is done with dancers taking the opposite
role to their gender wearing bands, but that is surely inappropriate if the
dance is GF.


Dancers dance their own part. Period. Full stop. Most dancers are somewhat
capable of tracking the arrangement of dancers within the ever changing
formations of MWSD. If a caller says "boys u-turn back", a dancer only has
to know their own gender role. If a caller says "centers trade" a dancer
only has to know their own position, and determine who is the other center.
If a caller says "boys trade" a boy dancer must determine who is the "other
boy" they must work with (not that different from the centers example). If
dancers aren't 100% sure who that person is, they will self-identify
(calling out "boy!") while the other boys do the same, thus knowing who
they must trade with. This works very smoothly in practice and is not a
problem.

Hope that helps!

Andy Shore
contra and MWSD caller
CALLERLAB member
past president Gay Callers Association

On Wed, Oct 4, 2017 at 11:04 AM, Seth Seeger via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Hi Jeremy,
>
> At MIT’s Tech Squares, “boys” and “girls” are used, sometimes with
> “ladies” and “gents” thrown in.  However, many dancers dance either role.
> If you are dancing a role that does not visibly match your gender, you
> typically call out (not too loudly) “boy” or “girl”, when the caller gives
> a call that is specific to a gender.  As you get more accomplished as a
> dancer, you seem to not need to call that out as much - if the dance is
> moving, the flow of the dance should usually indicate who is supposed to
> move.
>
> Seth
>
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 4, 2017, at 1:54 PM, Jeremy Child via Callers <
> callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> I have a question for anyone who calls or dances Gender Free MWSD (by
> Gender Free I mean where no assumptions are made about what role a dancer
> will take based on their gender).
>
> I've been told that GF MWSD dances still use the terms "Boys" and "Girls",
> but please correct me if I'm wrong.
>
> MWSD is unique amongst folk dancing in that dancers need to know the role
> being danced by others in the square (if I'm a "boy" and the call is "boys
> trade", I need to know who the other boy in my line / wave is in order to
> do the call).
>
> So to my question: How do the dancers identify which roles the other
> people are dancing? Traditionally this is done with dancers taking the
> opposite role to their gender wearing bands, but that is surely
> inappropriate if the dance is GF.
>
> Also, if any MWSD clubs are using truly non-gendered terms, please let me
> know.
>
> Thanks in Advance
>
> Jeremy
> www.barndancecaller.net
> www.genderfreedance.net
> _______________________________________________
> List Name:  Callers mailing list
> List Address:  Callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> List Name:  Callers mailing list
> List Address:  Callers at lists.sharedweight.net
> Archives:  https://www.mail-archive.com/callers@lists.sharedweight.net/
>
>


-- 
/Andy Shore
http://andyshore.com/

best email - andyshore at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sharedweight.net/pipermail/callers-sharedweight.net/attachments/20171004/1d069372/attachment.html>