A friend recently returned to social dance after a 10-year absence when his girlfriend decided to dive into West Coast Swing (WCS). He was appalled by what he saw. “The dance doesn’t exist anymore—it’s dead.” He described to me how women (the “follows”) have entirely hijacked the dance led by men (the “leads”) in an effort to be girl bosses and express themselves with no regard to the chaos that ensues.

During group lessons, the follows rail incessantly that there is “no connection” between them and the lead, implying that the fault lies with the men. Often, they will issue this complaint soon after disconnecting from the lead in the middle of a bar to wander off on yet another misadventure of self-expression. Their lack of insight into their role in killing the dance is startling.

This vandalism extends far beyond social dance, however. Just as women have killed WCS, they are now killing the precursor to successful male-female romantic relationships: dating.

This post is for paying subscribers only

Sign up now and upgrade your account to read the post and get access to the full library of posts for paying subscribers only.

Sign up now Already have an account? Sign in