We’ve had very few opinions, other than heresay, about gipsies in the UK. I have never heard the term gipsy used as a pejorative for Romany gipsies, in fact their national body is called the Gipsy Council.

John Meechan

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Ron Blechner via Callers
Sent: 01 November 2015 19:38
To: Tom Hinds
Cc: callers
Subject: Re: [Callers] Gypsy / "Redneck"

"who on this list believe that contra dancers have a negative view of the Romani people because of the word gypsy?"

Over the last few days, as this conversation has spilled out onto a few forms of social media, I have now heard specific stories about people who are Roma and/or have Roma heritage who are folk dancers in dance forms that use "gypsy" as a term, and are offended directly.

As to your question, do you consider "negative" to include "reinforcing stereotypes"? Maybe?

What if we had a dance move called "redneck". Sure, there's plenty of find country folks in America who proudly self-describe as a "redneck". There are songs written about them. There are people who dress up for Halloween as them. etc. Does that mean that there aren't also plenty of people who have been called "redneck" as a slur against the stereotype of "dumb, rural, ignorant yokels"? I find the parallels compelling enough where I'm now seriously leaning off the fence...

-Ron Blechner

On Sat, Oct 31, 2015 at 10:37 AM, Tom Hinds via Callers <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

In my opinion the offended women actually helped spread a stereotype she didn't like. Who on this list knew that Romani women had a reputation for being (I can't remember, was it) sexual? Not me. Okay, it was the caller she complained to who put it out there, but she started it. Should the caller feel defensive or should the caller turn the issue around if it's appropriate?

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WANT TO KNOW, who on this list believe that contra dancers have a negative view of the Romani people because of the word gypsy? Anyone?

For me the more important issue is education. I learned another tidbit about the Romani people. Yes I understand how people can be sensitive, but perhaps this woman needs to learn something about us before jumping to conclusions.

Tom

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