Re: [Callers] Politically Correct?

Ron: Would you please be more specific? There's not enough information here for me to understand what you're claiming, nor to clarify it, and I find it frustrating and misleading in it's generality. I'm going to assume that you not only mean callers in these areas but are also speaking of dances in these specific areas. New England covers several states and has lots of dances. New York? City or State? How many dances in Seattle and the Bay Area? How many is "several"? And "these dances are thriving amidst a decline..."? Without details I cannot support your claims. 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. Donna Hunt -----Original Message----- From: Ron Blechner via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> To: Jeffrey Spero <jeff(a)syncopaths.com> Cc: callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> Sent: Wed, Mar 28, 2018 12:47 pm Subject: Re: [Callers] Politically Correct? Hi Jeff, I think your understanding of there being "no to little movement" is inaccurate. 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. Many dances are also taking up safety policies before and after the #metoo movement, despite plenty of resistance for years of some people insisting that contra is a happy place where there's no harassment. So yes, you're correct that these discussions have been happening for years, true, but they have also been producing tangible change in many places. ... I might also like to disagree with your implication that everyone is responsible for "arguing about it". We callers who have swapped terms for g*pay, for example, have long since moved on. 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. In dance, Ron Blechner