Happier days for some, but a lot of us, those "haylcon days" were really
not all that. Transgender people and gays and lesbians having to hide who
they were, or not able to dance with (let alone marry) their partners for
fear of retaliation, or having to go to their own separate dances to feel
safe and accepted; women with no recourse if they were touched
inappropriately or made to feel unsafe; and more that I don't have a gut
sense for, not being part of those groups. For myself, I much prefer the
current time.

I'm sure it must feel jarring to experience this sort of contention and
discomfort, but I promise this is only a fraction of what minorities and
vulnerable groups have experienced in the dance scene over the years. I
hope that folks who have mostly coasted through a dance world built for
them are willing to endure a little proximal discomfort and change for the
sake of the people only just finding safety and community here.

I know email and especially large group discussions are a pretty lousy way
to have discussions and convey nuance; if Jon or anyone else yearning for
these "simpler times" is interested in having a one-on-one conversation
about this, drop me a line off-list.

Take care,
Maia
--
Maia McCormick (she/her)
917.279.8194


On Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 5:37 PM Jon Greene via Contra Callers <
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Oh those halcyon days when gents were men, ladies were women, birds were
> birds, gypsies melted down, nobody cared how many jabs you had and you
> never had to guess whether someone was smiling or frowning at you.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Feb 10, 2023, at 9:23 PM, ROBERT FABINSKI via Contra Callers <
> contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> I look forward to a day in the future when the "quaintness" of the
> gendered terms will be used as a quirky theme for a dance evening, and
> people will think it's so old fashioned that no one will take offense;
> gendered terms will just be "the way it was a long time ago" and not the
> contentious topic it has been for the last few years.
>
> If that ever happens, the "Push Pa, Pull Ma" type dances with original
> will be pure gold!
>
> bob...@aol.com
>
> On Fri, Feb 10, 2023 at 3:03 PM, Rich Sbardella via Contra Callers
> <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
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