I had a bad dance experience in New York where I was agressed by a young woman contra dancer because I was wearing the kilt. Or simply because I was a man? This was an evening where we were called Larks & Ravens instead of Men and Women. Weird. and I felt I was being bullied. I am a man (by birth, not by choice) and now I have to be a LARK? A song bird? I claim my own freedom of speech to say that imposing Larks&Ravens is an aggression. Ravens are predators and scavengers. They feed on corpses. They pick at stinking cadavers with their pointy beaks. I do not see women as ravens. I do not see dancers as ravens. Ravens are predators without charm. Dance is charming, or it is nothing.

I protest. Some of my American women friends refuse to dance in “Lark&Raven” dance groups and several have encouraged me to write about it. So I shall become a vocal opponent of Larks&Ravens. It is equally as absurd to see the simple descriptive words  “Leaders and Followers” - or “Men and Women” - as markers of social discrimination ... as to claim that “driver” and “passenger” are discriminatory terms for users of a motor vehicle. Some of us are men and some of us are women. I can dance on the women's side of the dance, and I can dance "as a woman" without losing my identity. In contra dance, plenty of men wear skirts. It is a happy atmosphere, free of bullying disguised as political correctness. In Scottish dance, it is not even a question .... thank goodness. Men can dance with men, and women often dance with women because there are not enough male dancers. 
Larks&Ravens? Phooey! Leave people in peace to enjoy their dancing!