<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">It would be interesting to get some dancers' reactions to these various terminologies. <div><br></div><div>Has anyone thought of using two different pairings in a dance evening and then asking the dancers which they thought was clearer to their ears and which they preferred? Of course this is even a bigger burden on the caller.</div><div><br><div><div>On May 29, 2015, at 11:43 AM, Ron Blechner via Callers wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><p dir="ltr">Erik, neat cheat.</p><p dir="ltr">For reference, my own thoughts on the terms, and a general FAQ about gender free terms:<br>
<a href="http://contradances.tumblr.com/post/113203981035/genderfree-contra-dance-term-faq">http://contradances.tumblr.com/post/113203981035/genderfree-contra-dance-term-faq</a></p><p dir="ltr">I have not updated it with gems / rubies.</p><p dir="ltr">I like jets / rubies, but I think gems / rubies is better:</p><p dir="ltr">1. I disagree that the "em" sound is harder to hear than the "et" in jet. Good mic skills / having a foam pad on a mic will dull the sharp "ts" in "gents", and thus, "jets". Because a loud "ts" on the mic is harsh. Therefore, this argument against "gems" is not an issue.</p><p dir="ltr">2. A lot of people don't know "jet" is a gemstone, and so they think airplane. I've had a lot of gender free dancers complain about this. Given that the terms need to serve the LGBTQ community, and not merely us as callers, I take this complaint seriously. Thus, "gem" is a better choice.</p><p dir="ltr">3. Yes, a ruby is a gem. So what? They're both gems. </p><p dir="ltr">4. There's a gender connotation to thinking jet = airplane, since it's either phallic, or people think the NY/NJ football team, or the West Side Story fictional gang. Again, the terms are here to serve the dancers, not merely us.</p><p dir="ltr">5. Gem has all the same advantages as jet. </p><p dir="ltr">I thus think gem / ruby is a superior pair than jet / ruby.</p><p dir="ltr">Ron Blechner</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On May 29, 2015 11:32 AM, "Erik Hoffman via Callers" <<a href="mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net">callers@lists.sharedweight.net</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">We are still using larks and ravens at the Berkeley dance. And, though I don't seem to have too much trouble using different words for different dances -- so far I've used men/women, ladies/gents, bands/bares, trees/squirrels, and larks/ravens without changing my mess of dance notes -- I understand that others can't switch so easily. On this note, at the Berkeley dance a caller recently did the following:<br>
<br>
1) asked if anyone had some post-its. When found some<br>
2) wrote "lark" and "raven" on the sticky end<br>
3) cut out these little cheat-sheets<br>
4) covered the words "gents" and "ladies" with the post-it cheats<br>
5) move cheats to next card as needed<br>
<br>
Thereby changing their cards to the current words on the fly. I was impressed.<br>
<br>
~erik hoffman<br>
oakland, ca<br>
<br>
On 5/28/2015 8:01 PM, Kalia Kliban via Callers wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
On Thu, May 28, 2015, Alan Winston via Callers wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
On 5/28/15 12:30 PM, Ron Blechner via Callers wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<br>
For those interested in gender free contra dance terms:<br>
<br>
1. Do you like or dislike jets / rubies ?<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Like. (I'm responding on personal preference alone; I'm aware of some<br>
objections to this, which I don't personally share.)<br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
2. How would gems / rubies compare?<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Less good, because the soft "ms" would make the call less clear. Also,<br>
rubies _are_ gems, so this is confusing.<br>
</blockquote></blockquote>
<br>
Me too. I haven't yet tried calling with the jets and rubies terminology, though I've used bands/bares and larks/ravens. I can't say I'm eager to add yet another set of translated cards to my files.<br>
Kalia Kliban<br>
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