[Tango-L] Gender Imbalance

[ceverett@ceverett.com]

Tom Stermitz had a nice post on TANGO-L about this sometime in 2006 or
2007.  The crux of the matter seems to be selling the possibility of
being the master of a situation: rather than being swept off their feet
by passion, they are the ones doing the sweeping.  

In general, I find Tom's views on community development refreshing and
intelligent.  I think it would be well worth your while to look up his
old posts in the archives.

Christopher 

On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 11:38:08 -0800 (PST), "Tango For Her"
<tangopeer at yahoo.com> said:
> Actually, I should clarify on the advertising.  I,
> originally, ran the ad with a model in the picture.  I
> called the newspaper to ask why I had such success and
> she told me that women wanted to be like the model. 
> (Don't shoot me!  SHE said it!)
> 
> Later, I ran another ad with the same words, but
> without the model and there was a much smaller
> response.
> 
> Anyway, I did notice that, in the first case, a lot of
> wives called.
> 
> Again, the point of bringing this up in the first
> place is to ask if anyone knows of ways to attract
> more men to the dance.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- Tango For Her <tangopeer at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > I don't know of a solution to the problem of women
> > sitting out for most of the night.  I am aware of it
> > and try to accomodate.  But, I think leaders are
> > selecting with such criteria as:
> > 
> > Followers with/to whom they:
> > 
> > - like to dance
> > - are closer friends
> > - study
> > - teach
> > - are attracted
> > - can make them better if they dance with them
> > - etc
> > 
> > Given a long list, everyone has a different agenda.
> > 
> > For example, I have seen leaders who rise to being
> > one
> > of the best dancers in the community and, in the
> > process, they only dance with followers who can make
> > them better.  I don't believe in finding good or bad
> > in that.  It is what it is.  My point is that there
> > are many reasons why leaders just don't dance with a
> > large variety of followers.
> > 
> > I notice extremely good followers who, for one
> > reason
> > or another, sit a lot.  That always amazes me.  But,
> > everyone is different, everyone has their lists, and
> > it is what it is, I guess.
> > 
> > My question is, organizing your thoughts like this,
> > is
> > there any way to approach the problem?
> > 
> > A side note:  Does anyone know of any wording of ads
> > that attract men to the dance?  I, once, ran an ad
> > that read something like "Women can dance!  So, we
> > teach the men to treat them right!".  My phone rang
> > off the hook.  Guess who called!  Wives who wanted
> > to
> > bring their husbands!  Any ideas to attract more
> > men?
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --- rhink2 at netscape.net wrote:
> > 
> > > I recall the time (perhaps 12 years ago) in my
> > area
> > > (San Francisco) when there were no discernible
> > > tandas.? I should say there were no cortinas.? At
> > > that time most tangueros honored the
> > multiple-dance
> > > custom, but it was not based on any style of
> > music.
> > > 
> > > Given the gender imbalance at many milongas in the
> > > U.S., I'm beginning to think tanda-less milongas
> > are
> > > not so bad.? It seems far worse to have many
> > people,
> > > ususally ladies, who never get to dance the whole
> > > evening.
> > > 
> > > In the swing dance community, the rule is 1 dance
> > > and move on.? Even the custom of escorting one's
> > > partner is sacrificed in order to maximize mixing.
> > I
> > > suspect this approach would never work in
> > Argentina,
> > > but in the U.S. it might help achieve the goal of
> > > distributing the joy of tango more evenly.
> > > 
> > > Bob 
> > > 
> > > 
> > >
> >
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