Re: [Callers] Suggestions for particularly flirty contra dances?

Jeff said: I'm confused: where did "hate crimes" come into this? As far as I can tell the disagreement is over: 1. Do many male dancers prefer not to interact in semi-intimate ways? 2. Is that mainly because of homophobia? 3. If so, should the caller ignore this dancer preference when programming? Dave seems to accept all three. I think (1) and (2) are true, but I'm not sure (3) works. I read John and Colin as accepting (1), and rejecting (2) and (3). Jeff I think Jeff's summary is a good one. Except, I'd point out that we're talking only about same-gender swings here, not preference of who you choose to dance with as your partner. I'm not sure this discussion is a great place to explore why some of us (myself, apparently Jeff and Maia, at least) think (2) is a resounding "yes," and others (Colin, John, Mac) disagree. Not sure that really has a whole lot to do with dancing or calling. The reason I brought the subject up in the first place was to get at what Jeff describes as (3), which is really a calling issue. I believe that there are certain things that a caller should not let influence his or her calling, and homophobia is one of them, whether that's the dancers' homophobia or others'. But since we don't agree on what constitutes homophobia, this does not seem to be the right context to have a productive discussion of to what extent callers should attempt to reflect the dancers' values in their calling. -Dave -- David Casserly (cell) 781 258-2761