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 
> <[email protected]> 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 
> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> 
> 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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