> Like, how is this "both sides have a preference" narrative any different
from able-bodied people being like "Oh, well, I just don't like
handicapped ramps, I prefer steps"?
I think we're on similar pages. You seem to be agreeing it's OK if some dances are mask-optional as long as not all of them are—which I think I agree with. I definitely wouldn't advocate that every dance should drop their masking right now. Right now in the Boston area, where I dance, I believe there are no mask-optional dances unless you count Worcester, which is over an hour drive. So we have the opposite situation here: if you would like to contra dance without a mask, you can't. I agree this is less bad than people who need mask-required dances not being able to access them, but I think it's still some amount of bad, since I have talked to people (who, again, are not crazy or callous, but dear friends who I have danced with for many years and who took covid precautions very seriously for most of the pandemic) who have told me that they will stop contra dancing if they can't find unmasked dances soon.
I think masks are not very analogous to ramps. An entryway ramp doesn't have much effect on anyone's experience of dancing except to make the dance more inclusive. Besides maybe construction costs, I can't think of much downside to having an entry ramp and there's plenty of upside.
On the other hand, I think many people find that masks impair their enjoyment of dancing. This isn't true for all of us, but it's definitely true for some of us. A better analogy might be another covid precaution: open windows. In the dead of winter a hall with all of its windows open might be pretty chilly. In summer it might be sweaty and humid. But it makes respiratory virus transmission much less likely if you make the air inside mix as much as possible with the air outside. In the right hall, I suspect having all the windows open would be more effective than a mask requirement. But most dances I've encountered post pandemic still sometimes close their windows if the temperature or humidity would otherwise be unpleasant and I haven't seen a lot of hubbub about it.
Anyone who agrees that those dances can reasonably close their windows understands that minimizing transmission does not necessarily mean taking every possible precaution. (I'm sure you can think of other precautions we also don't take at most dances, even if they'd make it safer.) So there's acceptable debate on what precautions strike the right balance of safety and enjoyment for your community. For some people masks strike that balance, for others they don't. I think both views there are pretty reasonable. (Personally I am not sure I would go to a dance without a mask in the near future, but I do want people to have the option to and I'm trying to explain why I see it as basically reasonable.)
I think an additional element here is that it's hard to see that the covid situation is going to get much better in the future. When we were waiting for the first vaccines, there was an obvious target time for when things might improve. We don't have anything like that now. I think things will continue to get less risky covid-wise over time, but I expect that it will be slow and progress won't always be obvious except in retrospect. I think people are reasonable for asking "If we can't dance without masks now, when can we dance without masks?" It's possible your answer to that is "No time in the foreseeable future," but I think a lot of people won't like that answer very much. Again, I don't think every dance should immediately unmask, but I do understand why our community is split on this and I don't think the dancers who want mask-optional dances are crazy or callous.
Perry:
> I have to question if now, this current moment, is the time to be asking this.
Cases are spiking now, but, if history holds—and who knows, it may or may not—they'll be declining soon and I think it's good to have conversations in anticipation of that. Right now is around the time when BIDA decided to restart last year and, when our dance restarted in February, Boston wastewater levels were at a 6-month low.
Harris