A Woman Marching for Madison: A member this time?

[BigW]

Now to more serious thoughts. I recently heard someone who used to be heavily involved with another " very old corps known and respected for their traditions" say that corps went downhill when they let women in. To put it politely, the comment really peeved me and I said as much. Madison will be fine.

[cixelsyd]

1 hour ago, BigW said:

I recently heard someone who used to be heavily involved with another " very old corps known and respected for their traditions" say that corps went downhill when they let women in. To put it politely, the comment really peeved me and I said as much. 

To be honest, many such corps were already going downhill.  Some traditionally all-male corps added females when they were having trouble recruiting a corps of comparable size to their competitive peers.

[HockeyDad]

4 hours ago, BigW said:

Now to more serious thoughts. I recently heard someone who used to be heavily involved with another " very old corps known and respected for their traditions" say that corps went downhill when they let women in. To put it politely, the comment really peeved me and I said as much. Madison will be fine.

I thought it was because the male couldn't hit the high note on Auld Lang Syne

[SFZFAN]

At this point why stick to the all male concept? Drum Corps has already changed so much it's barely recognizable as such.  There are lots of talented female musicians out there and I'm sure many would like to be a part of the group of women who break that barrier at Madison. 

[Jeff Ream]

5 hours ago, BigW said:

There are stories about that drumline via Westshore, the stories rival the time we ran into the Alouette's guard wearing their hotpants in Syracuse when McShane jumped off of a 7 foot stack of pallets into a pile of sawdust  to try and impress them.

and i'm sure that worked well LOL

[Tim K]

5 hours ago, BigW said:

Now to more serious thoughts. I recently heard someone who used to be heavily involved with another " very old corps known and respected for their traditions" say that corps went downhill when they let women in. To put it politely, the comment really peeved me and I said as much. Madison will be fine.

My guess is they are referring to Kilties who went coed in 1978 and that was 40 years ago. However if you look at the historic threads or can find a 1979 DCI yearbook, the disastrous off season after 1978 where snowstorms reduced practice times and Kiltie Hall’s roof collapse had more to do with their loss of competitive edge in 1979 than admitting women, and they never quite recovered. Of course with all this, I will defer to any Kilties if I am mistaken. 

Whether Madison or Cavies admits women is up to the corps. As long as it based on recruiting the best talent, that should work. If they want to recruit women because they believe it is fair, that should work. It could be more problematic if either corps recruit women only because they cannot get enough male members. 

[Fran Haring]

5 hours ago, BigW said:

Now to more serious thoughts. I recently heard someone who used to be heavily involved with another " very old corps known and respected for their traditions" say that corps went downhill when they let women in. To put it politely, the comment really peeved me and I said as much. Madison will be fine.

If it's the corps I think you're talking about... allowing women to join the ranks was hardly among the reasons the corps went downhill. 

[skevinp]

13 hours ago, Bone-Tone Lord said:

Anyone who pays fees and performs the show- at any corps- is a member. Claiming otherwise because she doesn't have the same thing between her legs as the other members is stupid at best, and outright misogynistic at worst (side note: interesting how the only corps that claim someone who pays fees and marches a show can somehow not be considered a full member are the all-male ones). Both Madison and Cavaliers should have fully integrated years ago anyway. The only positions in drum corps that actually require their performers to be a certain gender are some vocalist and actor spots. For any other position, there is absolutely no justifiable reason to restrict membership to only one gender.

Did they say she isn't a member because of her gender? 

Did they even say she isn't a member?

Didn't they, in fact, say she is a member?

Are you doing her any favors by attacking the organization she has chosen to be a part of?

[BigW]

5 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

and i'm sure that worked well LOL

I thought he was going to break his neck. He emerged pretty much unscathed though covered in sawdust.

[Jeff Ream]

4 hours ago, Tim K said:

My guess is they are referring to Kilties who went coed in 1978 and that was 40 years ago. However if you look at the historic threads or can find a 1979 DCI yearbook, the disastrous off season after 1978 where snowstorms reduced practice times and Kiltie Hall’s roof collapse had more to do with their loss of competitive edge in 1979 than admitting women, and they never quite recovered. Of course with all this, I will defer to any Kilties if I am mistaken. 

Whether Madison or Cavies admits women is up to the corps. As long as it based on recruiting the best talent, that should work. If they want to recruit women because they believe it is fair, that should work. It could be more problematic if either corps recruit women only because they cannot get enough male members. 

i know a long time DCA corps that has some old timers still complain about letting females in.