[Callers] Jets / rubies genderfree terms redux: gems?

Fri May 29 11:45:15 PDT 2015

I kinda like suns and moons better than lots of the other alternatives, for
the same reasons Susan lists. Also, there's Sun Dance and Moon Dance, by
Robert Cromartie: gents swing in Sun Dance and ladies swing in Moon Dance.
A precedence, perhaps?

-Amy

On May 29, 2015, at 8:00 AM, susanelberger via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

I have used suns and moons for years, and prefer them because they have one
syllable each, sound completely different from each other, and are easy for
the dancers to remember.  I have never had any issue arise about gender
bias from them.  The conversation about which gems to use does seem a bit
too overthought to me.

Susan Elberger
Lowell, Massachusetts

  ------------------------------
 *From:* Delia Clark via Callers <callers at lists.sharedweight.net>
*To:* "<callers at lists.sharedweight.net>" <callers at lists.sharedweight.net>
*Sent:* Friday, May 29, 2015 6:52 AM
*Subject:* Re: [Callers] Jets / rubies genderfree terms redux: gems?

Okay, this conversation, plus the lunch table at the Puttin’ On the Dance
Conference in Ottawa are FINALLY getting me to give up clinging to moons
and stars (the only non-gender term I’ve ever used, which I have liked with
families and have found works well, but which I understand is too gender-y
to be acceptable as the solution we’re looking for - dang!). I am herewith
committing to trying out Jets and Rubies next weekend at a dance I’m
calling for a wedding of two women. Will report back.

On May 29, 2015, at 1:56 AM, P. Campbell via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

I like jets & rubies (and have used the terms) for a number of reasons.
(Don't like gems for same reason about confusion).

In a weird way, it's close enough to "lefts & rights" for me to have no
trouble remembering who's who (with rubies starting with "r"), and,
(apologies to those who might be offended), because it fits the same
syllables for me as "gents & ladies" (which I use for historical dance) or
"men & women".

For some reason I just can't get a feel for larks & ravens (I have an idea
of why but not worth sharing), and I'm not at all comfortable using bands &
bares.

For me, it's whatever will be the easiest for me to remember which side is
which, and if my brain is wired to think of "jets" (black color) as more
masculine and "rubies" (red color) as more feminine (so easier for me to
link them to left & right), that's my mental visual process. (I tried
apples & oranges once with a group of kids - it was terrible because I
couldn't remember which was which side - I have to have some frame of
reference).

I think one of the reasons I have trouble with larks & ravens is because of
having learned a foreign language that has a gender for nouns, and I want
to make larks the right side and ravens the left, but then the syllable
structure doesn't work for me.

My 2 cents.

Patricia

Sent from my iPhone

On May 28, 2015, at 3:51 PM, Alan Winston via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

On 5/28/15 12:30 PM, Ron Blechner via Callers wrote:

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.

-- Alan

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Delia Clark
PO Box 45
Taftsville, VT 05073
802-457-2075
deliaclark8 at gmail.com

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