29 May
2015
29 May
'15
3:43 p.m.
Erik, neat cheat.
For reference, my own thoughts on the terms, and a general FAQ about gender
free terms:
http://contradances.tumblr.com/post/113203981035/genderfree-contra-dance-te…
I have not updated it with gems / rubies.
I like jets / rubies, but I think gems / rubies is better:
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.
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.
3. Yes, a ruby is a gem. So what? They're both gems.
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.
5. Gem has all the same advantages as jet.
I thus think gem / ruby is a superior pair than jet / ruby.
Ron Blechner
On May 29, 2015 11:32 AM, "Erik Hoffman via Callers" <
callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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:
1) asked if anyone had some post-its. When found some
2) wrote "lark" and "raven" on the sticky end
3) cut out these little cheat-sheets
4) covered the words "gents" and "ladies" with the post-it cheats
5) move cheats to next card as needed
Thereby changing their cards to the current words on the fly. I was
impressed.
~erik hoffman
oakland, ca
On 5/28/2015 8:01 PM, Kalia Kliban via Callers wrote:
On Thu, May 28, 2015, Alan Winston via Callers
wrote:
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On 5/28/15 12:30 PM, Ron Blechner via Callers
wrote:
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.
Kalia Kliban
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>
> For those interested in gender free contra dance terms:
>
> 1. Do you like or dislike jets / rubies ?
>
Like. (I'm responding on personal preference alone; I'm aware of some
objections to this, which I don't personally share.)
2. How would gems / rubies compare?
>
Less good, because the soft "ms" would make the call less clear. Also,
rubies _are_ gems, so this is confusing.