On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 17:39, Clark Baker <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Sep 22, 2011, at 1:07 PM, JoLaine Jones-Pokorney wrote: > >> The young folks are coming up with all kinds of great ideas now. One guy is >> in a fraternity and they are going to require their new pledges to come to a >> contra dance in a skirt. > > I think this is a really bad idea, should be discouraged, and am disappointed > that others haven't commented on it before me.
Clark has a very good point here. Why anyone would want to willingly be part of a hazing is beyond me. Most likely this is being done because, in the long tradition of fraternity initiation rituals, it's seen as a forced “gender reversal”. This is not what it's about for most of our local male contra dancers who wear skirts. Rather than creating a safe space where it's okay to do what they want, it will more likely make regulars at the dance uncomfortable.
