28 Mar
2018
28 Mar
'18
2:58 p.m.
Ron,
I keep on reading your writing and see that you often give only partial information. What
you write below is interesting:
In New England, New York, Seattle, and the Bay Area,
many callers have been examining terminology and changing. Several dance series have gone
genderfree without being specifically chartered as LGBTQ dances. Not coincidentally, these
dances are thriving amidst a decline of attendance of contra in general.
My own preference is for you to give more information and not let us fill in the pieces.
For instance in the areas that you list above, was there a decline in attendance while
callers were using calls like gypsy and other words like men and women? If attendance did
in fact dip, did it in fact pick up again when alternative words were used? Might be cause
and effect or a correlation or simply coincidence.
If attendance in these areas have always been strong then perhaps there is something else
at work.
Ive always expected contra dance to die simply because that's the way it works. Come
on! Does anyone need me to spell this out? If you don't believe me, Mr Spock, in
one of the Star Trek movies once said, "all things must end" and I think
he's pretty smart!
Ron, I must also ask you about what you wrote below. It's not perfectly clear and of
course nobody is named but my take is that some of us (or me?)have ruined your party by
not going along with what you and others want? Perhaps I don't understand. Would you
please care to explain?
In the case of this original post, Rich was asking for
practical advice, and there *was no* argument until a couple choice people started
throwing shade at those of us who think changing the lyrics from "she was a young
thing" to "she was a young girl" is an easy swap that doesn't diminish
the tradition, but also reduces the objectification of women.
What does throwing shade mean? Does it mean that the sun was shining on you and that
someone blocked the sun? I'm afraid my college degree is from an applied institution
so I'd appreciate it if you could keep it simple for me in the future.
I've had very good conversations with Rich on and off the discussion group and feel
that he shares many of my values. Would you rather that I and others not participate?
Perhaps that is the primary reason that some of us aren't comfortable with PC. Where
does it end and what freedoms am I going to have to give up? My memory is that this
incredible discussion started with a complaint from ONE person.
Lastly let me suggest this after reading Jeffrey's very good email: It may be that
terms like gypsy (and of course others) are location dependent. Here in Charlottesville
and perhaps DC people don't really care for the gypsy issue. In other areas perhaps
that's not the case. On the English list people are reminded that folks from many
countries are members and that we should keep this in mind.
You want fries with that?
Tom