[Callers] Ladies

[Angela DeCarlis]

Tom, I had this conversation with Sue Rosen this summer. Women who belong
to the original Feminist generation (like Sue and, presumably, like Mary
and Martha above) were involved in a cultural movement to abolish the word
"Lady", along with its restrictive connotations, in favor of "Woman". The
latter label, I understand, was one which lent more power and ownership to
its wearers, and so was preferable. You could be however you were,
"ladylike" or not, and still be a Woman. (others, please chime in if I've
gotten anything wrong or missed anything!)

My generation has an opposite problem: due to the modern-day Gender
Revolution, wherein we seek to abolish the gender dichotomy, terms like
"Woman" and "Man" feel too restrictive and denotative. "Lady" and "Gent"
feel almost more comfortable to some, since they are words that are
slightly more flexible, in some ways.

One of the biggest problems for both groups, I think, is when the terms are
used interchangeably.

This is one of my favorite things to think about when it comes to role
terms in dance today! I *love* our community's intergenerationality, and
learning about each other through conversations like this!

Eventually I hope to get around to writing in about the changes I've seen
at BIDA since switching to Larks and Ravens at the beginning of the summer.
It's been truly remarkable!

'Til then,
Angela

On Oct 14, 2017 9:26 AM, "Mary Collins via Callers" <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Martha, I dont recall this dance of which you speak. Could you share the
> true title and calls? Thanks! I also cringe over ladies (I don't fit that
> tradition) yet it is a good "place holder, ROLE identifer" for my
> communities.
>
> On Oct 14, 2017 9:06 AM, "Tom Hinds via Callers" <
> callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> I must have fallen asleep during a discussion of "ladies".  What's the
>> issue?
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>> > On Oct 11, 2017, at 12:13 PM, Martha Wild via Callers <
>> callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>> >
>> > I’ve got a gypsy star dance (I actually call it “Star Wrong” and not
>> just because of the g-word, but because if you say “gypsy star” everybody
>> starts to gypsy and NOT star, so I gave up on that confusing terminology).
>> Haven’t seen another dance like it. The move from mad robin into the star
>> wrong actually flows quite well.  I use men and women for roles, not
>> genders. When I first started calling, we considered “lady” to be a four
>> letter word - women’s movement and bra burning and all that. I still find
>> it hard to use the word “lady” and not bristle. Times have changed, now
>> people bristle at men and women. Go figure. I didn’t correct the “g-word”
>> use on this version
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