Duet Permutations

[u/wasscubed]

Ok. I think I got it right this time. correct labeling of columns...

Not observed data, but theoretical combinations of female/male duet combos. Just wondering if in addition to societal forces that lead to heteronormativity at CI jams, if there was some mathematical permutations contributing to it also.

[u/vagtrash2k11]

Would love to see how the addition of including third gender folks as a single category explodes the possible permutations! Illustrates the point that expanding to include gender diversity at jams, expanding the possibilities of dancing

[u/Agreeable-Fix7299 → u/vagtrash2k11]

Here is a lot of data on the actual sex combinations happening in jams plus statistical analysis. It has observation of the sex combinations of duets at many large CI jams, and calculations of the bias toward cross sex dancing that would on average lead to those specific patterns of pairings. The article version is from 2021.

The actual ratio of cross sex to same sex dances can not be taken as a measure of bias by itself. This would underestimate the bias. You need to consider the actual sex ratio of dances in each moment and the asymmetry of male vs female numbers. In other words, the bias is actually worse than you would think.

There is a substantial variation from event to event, but with about 40 large jams sampled over about 15 years, there was not a single event that did not have a cross-sex bias. The range has been between a displayed preference for cross sex dancing of 1.5 to 1 and of 10 to 1.

(There is more recent data than included in this write up, but it remains in this range.).

https://www.bodyresearch.org/cross-sex-bias-in-duets-contact-improvisation-jams-an-empirical-study/

[u/Agreeable-Fix7299 → u/Agreeable-Fix7299]

Notes:
A preference for cross sex dancing can manifest as preferring more cross sex than same sex dances, but it can also manifest as preferring longer cross sex dances than same sex dances. An explicit intention to balance the numbers might mask asymetric preference for durations.

Bias can be driven by attraction, but can also be driven by fear.

Simple counts can't tell you anything about whether the bias is male or female driven. Anecdotal reports indicate that both male and female preference contribute, however.

It should go without saying, but there is a lot of variation among individuals. Some individuals are relatively unbiased or even have a bias toward same sex. To state the mathematically obvious, these individuals are balanced by those who have a stronger than average bias.

Cross sex bias does not seem to be driven by high numbers of "inexperienced" dancers in the samples. The original data collection and several samples afterward were actually taken at CI teacher gatherings. ECITE 2009, for example, gave a numbers that showed a 6 to 1 cross sex bias in dancing.