Samhita, thank you so much for this post. I was born and raised in San Francisco, and I have always been extremely wary of the burning man crowd. A bunch of privileged white people going out to the desert to drop acid, listen to trance music, and dress up in "tribal" garb and "burn" the "man?" Please. Most of the people who go out and spend the thousands of dollars to get in and set up their art are, in fact, "the man." What is the quote I am looking for - something like "rebellion" is usually just white men behaving badly. That basically sums up my reaction to burning man.
Your post hit on the topics that every single article I've ever read on BM avoids like the plague: why is everyone out there white? What's up with the huge entry fee? I've often thought about the role of women at burning man, since it seems that every photo printed of a woman there is some white thin "babe" who happens to have dreads and tribal tattoos wearing big platform boots and shiny hot pants. I guess what really gets me is that, as you alluded to, there is a definite possibility for outreach to artists who are not privileged and white, considering the amount of money coming in at the door. The fact that there is no outreach at all really speaks to the fact that the people who run BM don't care about being more inclusive, they are perfectly happy sitting on their laurels and raking in the dough, which brings into question how progressive a scene like BM actually is. Answer: not very. Privilege remains with those in power, everyone else is excluded. Way to burn "the man," man.

Hi Samhita, thanks for your thoughtful post. I'm a long time burner and I love reading all the different takes on the event.

I would love for there to be more "variety" on the playa as well, but I'm curious as to what YOU would have the organization do to be more inclusive.

Unfortunately I don't think the ticket cost will be able to be reduced. Average ticket running about $275 means that for a week, you pay roughly $40 a day. When you think of what it takes to run a city, infrastructure wise, it really isn't so much. And then add in the $ that this cost provides in the form of art grants, well, when you think of it, it's quite a bargain!

I remember one instance at a burning man about 7 years ago, that completely inspired and empowered me as a woman. I rode out alone to watch the construction of one of David Best's temples. I pulled up on my bike and saw about 8 cherry pickers ( those things you normally see the PG&E guys in, high up working on power lines) in each one was a woman with a power drill. I watched as they rose up and began raising what ended up being one of the most awe inspiring structures that has ever been seen on the playa.

It may sound trite to you, and I regret that I'm not as eloquent a writer as you to try to convey the emotions I felt that afternoon, but that vision stayed with me for some time and showed me that even as a girl I could be instrumental in making beautiful shit happen! After that experience, I went back to my hometown and immediately began plans on building MY camp the next year. Cut to 7 years later, and watch me as I help build domes, huge shade structures, kitchens, showers... 10 years ago I wouldn't have been able to tell you what a phillips head meant. Now my tool box makes men drool. ;-)

I would love for you to join my camp in 09. Perhaps you'll feel more at home with us, people of ALL sizes and colors. We have folks from all over the world; male, female, black, white, brown, yellow but heck we're ALL white out there after the first white out blows through. ;-) We also have a few skinny bitches but I bet you'd like them.

I got involved with the burning man organization for a while and found that while Larry Harvey and his buddies started it, it's the women in the org who made it what it is and make it all happen. (shout out to Harley and Action Grrrrl)

I believe that everyone would love for the burn to be more inclusive as it could only broaden the experience for everyone. And I realize that complaining is a way or organizing your thoughts but move to the next phase of disgruntledness (is that a word?) and help make those changes you'd like to see.

I'd like to help!

Hope you return next year and do let me know if you'd like to join my camp.

This is the best post I've read anywhere in quite some time. Like the first commenter, I agree. I've never been to burning man, and I've always given the environmental issue as a main reason. But there's more than that... I always think of Ken Kesey's Mountain Girl and the very limited roles assigned to "cool" "counterculture" women. They (we?) are supposed to white, thin, sexually adventurous , bisexual (but tending to date men and only sometimes sleep with women), and uninhibited... but still seeking male approval.

All of that makes me uncomfortable, especially because I sort of fit the bill. I'm a dancer and the group that I dance with is physically and racially diverse (we have fat women! fat women who expose their stomachs when they dance! OMFG!). But the larger dance community, especially those who dance to the same electronic/trance music that we do, looks a lot like Samhita's description of the women at burning man. We're supposed to be bad ass... but bad ass in the sense of wearing really sexy boots and revealing clothing. You're supposed to be comfortable with your body, but only if that body is "pretty."

Samhita, when you noted the absence of women from the quotes about America, I thought immediately of June Jordan's "Poem for My Sister, Ethel Ennis, Who Sang The Star Spangled Banner At The Second Inauguration Of Richard Milhaus Nixon." I can't find it online, and my office copy of Norton does not have it, though later versions (like my mother's, that I grew up on and where I first read it as a teen) include it.

The poem closes, "Oh say can you see, my sister?/Say you can see, my sister /And sing no more of war."

Oh man, I completely agree with you about consumption out there. oof! It's a constant battle for me with some of my camp members.

But you have to admit that the leave no trace policy completely builds awareness. Most folks I know that have been to the burn really takes this idea to heart once they are back in the real world. Even if it's as small a gesture as not throwing their cig butts on the sidewalk anymore, the idea has already permeated their consciousness and that small step could have huge ramifications pollution wise if the rest of the community would follow suit.

I'm just not sure that there's a way to be free of consumption, pollution, and cultural commodification (*runs to look up commodification*.) even in the middle of nowhere. It's a human based event after all.

Plus Burningman is an event that cannot really happen close to normal civilization and to have it do so would take away so much of the magic.

Also, in case you weren't aware, some of the greatest art out there is provided by women. Lotus Girls fire art being one of the most spectacular installations each year.

Again I hope you keep coming, and I love the idea about outreach in communities of color. I think that could be a great idea for something our camp to do. A few of our camp members volunteer at lower income camps every year maybe we should try to bring a few of those member with us! But you know how it is! Just trying to get food in your belly and keep your tent from blowing away is all consuming. Those grander visions take some time before they can come to fruition.

The Burning Man organization can only do so much, the rest is up to all of us to try to reach out.

Again thanks for the essay and your response. I love it that you actually went instead of complaining from the sidelines like so many people do. If you haven't experienced it, your voice just doesn't hold any weight.

Thank you!

Having gone to Burning Man several times you bring up some good points and it's interesting to see the harshest comments here from those who haven't gone.

The one comment about how all the photos are of the dreadlocked skinny white woman somehow dodges the question of the photographer and possibly editor entirely. I've seen women of different ages and colors and sizes at BM, but when a skinny white woman decides to bare it all the cameras come flying out.

At one life drawing event in Center Camp various people were taking turns modeling for the artists. When one woman got up on stage topless and held a pose a few photographers were elbowing others out of the way and blocking the view of several of the people drawing.

As for the cost of it, it costs a lot to have a major event in the middle of the desert for a whole week where everything has to be brought in. They're pretty upfront about that.

This was my second Burning Man, and my sixth burn (I've been hitting my native regional, Flipside, for four years now.) I really liked this write-up. It's good to get both the positive and the negative out there about the event.

Diversity is definitely an issue at Burning Man (and most burns, really). It's generally a sore subject among many burners because, honestly, we're mostly a bunch of white people that don't really know what to do about it.

Outreach is a good idea, and something that should be worked on. The best thing about Burning Man, though, is that it's a do-ocracy. You know, the whole "if you think something needs to be done, go ahead and do it". Organizing a burner outreach group would be an excellent project for those who want to increase the diversity.

In fact, if you got enough volunteer steam behind the project, you could probably even get a chunk of that ticket money in the form of a grant from the BMORG.

I've never actually been to Burning Man before, but I did have a piece in the WDYDWYD (Why do you do what you do?) Art Project that was on display. So, there was a least one other feminist there, albeit in spirit.

Thank you for the original post and the comments about BM--I haven't gone and it's educational to hear the variety of perspectives.

I do see echoes of your critique of "Stuff White People Like" in this post, which has stuck with me in a good way.

And a hearty thank you for pointing out electronic music's origins by working class, people of color.

Thank you for your post, and I couldn't agree more.

Although I have never been to burning man myself (but I have been to the burn that happens locally) I have many friends in the burning man community where I live.

You are correct, there is no diversity, especially when it comes to women. Although the men come in all shapes and sizes, the women are all willowy and thin, with a few rare exceptions. Being a bigger girl myself I have found that for the most part I am completely invisible to many of the men of the BM community (not all mind you, just most). Every party is dominated by one, and only one, "acceptable" body type for women. Tiny, skinny, and willowy.

Everytime time I hear them pay lip service to being open and tolerant I snort inwardly and think "Really? Maybe you should try dating a woman over 120 pounds."

The timing of this post is incredible for me. I was talking to a friend of mine earlier this week about burning man. I admit I did not know much about it, but after visiting the site, and doing my own quick and dirty research on it, I had some reservations that you've all but firmly confirmed here.

In trying to express these concerns to him, I felt a bit dismissed as being reserved and skittish, but in reading about it through your lens also as a woman of color, I felt quietly validated for everything I tried to convey. I've shared this post with him with hopes he'll perhaps see what it's like to regard this event from a different angle.

Excellent, excellent post.

great post!
i've never been to burning man myself but i know some burners and it was interesting to get a different perspective on the experience.

I really appreciate this post.

I did want to say that I disagree with some of the previous posts. There is a sense of "Well if you want more people of color than it is up to you".

I think it should be up to EVERYONE to get more people of color involved to create the free and diverse environment BM claims to have. How many times are POC called on to be the token representative for change? Being as white as can be, I feel that my experience would suffer greatly with the absence of diversity and maybe *dare I say it* we could take on the responsibility of creating a safe, diverse, space.

I went for the first time this year. I had the exact same reactions as the ones you describe, from the frustration at the lack of a SINGLE woman quoted on the way in, to the general lack of people of color, and a good amount of sizeism..

although I did see a good number of women of size, as well, mostly out in the edger camps and not near the center or the biggest scenes. Not everyone was rail thin or porntastic (although that was definitely over-represented).

I did have one super-annoying experience where the thongs&chaps&cowboyhats were clearly selected for participation over the non-bikini-wearing crew.

However, somehow, I also left excited to return, for several reasons. For one - our camp did provide a sound system and music that reached (& represented) a larger spectrum of people. There were several hip-hop sound systems that I came across.. of course, that's not the same as having lots of people of color, but since the music styles had been a block for me going before, it made me feel like things were opening up a tiny bit.

and the extreme conditions in themselves create some of the magic --although they are what make it so costly, and also my feeling is that white people or folks w/privilege are just more likely to seek out physically uncomfortable situations and be willing to put themselves through it.. perhaps because many of us know it's only temporary and by choice? --

anyway, setting that aside or taking it into account, the improbability of the experiences there are something I found agood deal of pleasure in.

And even though it is expensive to make happen, there is far less of an exchange system there- making many experiences totally voluntary on all sides (like the steampunk high tea & biscuits, the sno-cones and house music, or the bbq dance party in a dust storm), which is just a delightful experience..

I've been going to Burning Man since 1997, and the event has changed dramatically in that time, moving more towards "giant desert rave with art" and away from "intense spiritual catharsis" (for me, anyway). Keep in mind, however, that what is out there (and what has not changed) is what people bring with them, and that's it. There is no outreach to attendees, no advertising--the people who show up do so because, like you, they've heard about it and want to check it out. Without question, the event has gotten more expensive over the years as the fees to the BLM and the state and local authorities have gone up, and as the infrastructure required to support so many people has increased. The organization does make money, but a lot of it goes back into the event and to sponsor artists to create some of what you saw on the Playa. As to the subsidiary expenses, there's no question that just showing up takes a fair amount of cash. I challenge you to find a workable solution--it's easy to complain about the expense, rather more difficult to solve.

On that point, I take specific issue with your phrase, "When I wake up dreaming of freedom, I am not thinking there is a massive door charge." That's because you are dreaming. Freedom always has a price, usually one paid in blood. In this case, the price involves evading the watchful eye of authority, which grows ever more difficult as the event grows larger. The Black Rock desert was chosen for just that purpose, but a big chunk of the money paid out annually by the Burning Man Organization is, to my mind and speaking strictly as an attendee, essentially a bribe to get that eye to turn away for awhile. It is, admittedly, a shortcut which cannot achieve true freedom, but it's cheaper than the alternatives, which involve substantially more time, effort, and risk than a trip out to the desert. Burning Man emerged from Larry Harvey's need for catharsis; in the past decades, it has grown to be much more than that, but it is not, at its heart, revolutionary.

I will agree with you that it's very easy at Burning Man, as in life, to be scantily clad while young, sexy, and female. That said, I feel far more free as a hirsute, flabby male to bare my gleaming, pale flesh than I ever do back in the real world, even at places like the beach. I've also seen plenty of scantily-clad or entirely naked women on the Playa who don't conform to typical American standards of physical beauty, but they're certainly a minority.

Overall, I think that the one point about Burning Man that this article misses is that Burning Man is the stone soup of events. It is the role of the Burning Man Organization to provide the basic ingredients, but everything else is hauled in by the individual participants. The nature of the attendees, including the artists, is shaped by who has heard of the event and wants to attend. The art, music, and costumes reflect the culture through which Burning Man has spread by word of mouth. If you want Burning Man to be different, then change it. The quick and dirty route is to convince the BMorg to sponsor some sort of outreach program; the Burning Man approach is to reach out yourself, talk to your friends and community leaders and artists, get organized, and take Black Rock City by storm and show people what a difference you can make. If you don't care enough to do either, why should anyone else?

This was my 4th Burning Man. As a white feminist woman of nearly 40, heavy, and a little shy, I am most certainly not Playa Barbie. I do know, from volunteering with one of the BM organizations this year, that there are reduced ticket prices available if requested.

But having said those two things, I have to say that some of the very same thoughts occurred to me this year. I noticed that the "radical self expression" that the organization espouses seems to take the shape of large groups of people all pushing feminine stereotypes even further than they usually would. Part of it is the hootchie-ization of the women (of all shapes and sizes), as well as the feminization of the men. Did you notice how many of *them* interpreted radical self expression as wearing skirts?

I found myself noticing more and more how this radical expression was so often actually very narrowly defined... lingerie, platform boots, colorful hair extensions, utili-kilts, cowboy hats... non-conformist conformity.

I didn't know what to make of it and I don't claim to have figured it out. But it - combined with the lack of POC - did make me a little uneasy.

The last thing I will say is that there are some positives that will probably keep me going every other year or so. We have an art car - it's a true community art car. We let anyone jump on and I've met some really great people that way. I also had an art piece out there 3 years ago. It was fairly inexpensive - steel frame of a person, with medicine bottles filled with lights strung through it (Better Living through Chemistry?). It was only 8 feet tall, placed on the playa, and it really made me feel part of the community to contribute like that. I think I will submit another idea next time, done with materials I already have or can easily find.

So I encourage everyone to try it once, see what you think, contribute to the "scene". Maybe all of us together can get some true radical self expression out there :)

I'm Caucasian so I can't comment on the racist aspect from personal experience, but I am female and in either case, this article screams of projecting your own insecurities onto the event. Maybe you just chose not to go into details to back yourself up, but,

"What i saw was thin, white bodies... I immediately realized that I wouldn't feel comfortable naked. I would stick out, because I was curvy and brown. That didn't feel very feminist."

You wouldn't feel comfortable *why*? Were there other people telling you that your body wasn't allowed? That your body wasn't accepted or as beautiful as other bodies? Were people making comments or sending you clear signals that only the beauty of thin white girls were appreciated? Because if not, and there is absolutely no evidence in your article to suggest that there were *any* outside sources confirming that you would be made to feel uncomfortable, then it's just your own trip. Period. It's like the anorexic girl telling everyone that she's fat and ugly, and, "OMG, everyone is looking at me because I'm so hideous!" when really no one is fucking giving a shit about what she looks like. In fact, no one is even really looking at her. Everyone is too caught up in worrying about their own shit, but she's so concerned about her image that she's looking for validation of her own insecurities were they don't exist. Remember that whole drama over some contestant on The Apprentice saying to Omarosa, who is black, "Look who's calling the kettle black," because she was being hypocritical, and next thing you know Omarosa is aaaall up in arms about how the woman was making racist comments? Yeah. She wasn't. Let's not dilute real racism (and/or sexism) with stories of the boy who called the kettle black, okay?

"Beyond the expense of the trip, they don' do much to make it appealing to people of color. It is not the kind of space where we are made to feel welcome, it is not our space and it was not meant to be."

Maybe this is because I'm white, but I don't understand this. How is it to be designed to make people of color feel more welcome? Other than your concerns over the music, which I have my issues with and will get to below, I don't think there is anything specifically racially geared at Burning Man. There is art. There is music. There are camps that people set up independently. None of these components seem at all concerned with race. Why is it even entering into the picture? Last I checked, art and music transcend cultures and is to be enjoyed by anyone. I don't walk into a hip hop event and go, "Eh... they should really make this more welcoming to white people. This is all about black people and I am clearly not welcome. Look at all the black people. And everyone playing is black. And all the music talks about black culture. This is offensive because they're totally not making this appealing to ME as a WHITE PERSON." No. I go, I listen, I dance, I shoot the shit with people, I jump around and shout out the lyrics, and I go home because enjoying music and appreciating art doesn't depend on my skin color.

"This lack of a POC presence also had a strong impact on the music. The majority of the music was trance (mostly psy-trance) house and breaks. Almost all of these forms of music originate in either world of American black music, but there was a total lack of recognition of this fact. More working class, people of color oriented forms of electronic music (dub-step, drum and bass, techno, electro-breaks, hip-hop or reggae) was not to be found, except in a few key places, my people and I were very happy to find. This total lack of inclusion to world music and the music of working class people and people of color felt strategic, even if it was simply an oversight."

The majority of music was trance, house and breaks because that's the type of event it is. It is primarily an electronic/dance music event and those are the most popular forms of it right now on a commercial level. Stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Again, I don't go to a salsa club and think, "WTF. What's with all the fucking Latin music. This is totally exclusive to me as a Caucasian individual and reeks of narrowmindedness." I went to the fucking salsa club to hear salsa music. I'm not going to go up to the band and say, "Eeeeey.... I know this is a salsa club and I knew that coming here... but could you play some Dolly Parton so you're not catering only to Latin people? I'm white, and this sucks for me." Again, let me clarify that these cultural music examples are not to imply that these types of music should be associated with any one race or culture. Once more, I believe their enjoyment crosses all cultural and racial lines. I'm using them to illustrate that even if you labeled these forms of music and art as "white", it shouldn't matter.

Also, a lack of recognition? Again, maybe I don't understand because I'm Caucasian, but how is this supposed to be recognized? Signs saying, "Give it up for [insert name of POC here] who originated this!"? A moment of silence? I don't see anyone getting recognition for any type of music there, regardless of its origins. It is just enjoyed. Why is it so necessary to make it clear that a POC came up with these ideas? There were art cars driving around everywhere; I didn't see people giving thanks to the Europeans/Americans for inventing the automobile. Did anyone else see this? No. It's just there to be enjoyed by everyone. Doesn't matter who came up with it.

Finally, "As much as BM wants to exist in a bubble, let's be real, nothing that happens in the US is in a bubble. If you are having a party and everyone is white, something is not right. Right?"

Something is not "right"? So let's say that something appeals to white people more than other people... suddenly this is not right? There is racial exclusion going on? Part of celebrating cultures involves embracing these differences as something beautiful. By default, certain events will draw certain people, depending on the focus. A Native American pow-wow might appeal more to Native Americans because it resonates with them culturally. Chances are, most people showing up to the pop-wow will be Native American. Does this mean they are trying to deliberately exclude other cultures and that's why they didn't show up? Or that it was oversight on their part for not ensuring it appealed to more cultures? Does this mean it's not "right"? If not, then why does this only apply to white people? That's racist if it does. And no, it's not "reverse racism" because that shit doesn't exist. Racism is racism. Period.

Burning man attracts people who like electronic/dance music, have a certain set of ideals, can afford to go (and yes, unfortunately this aspect *does* tend to cater to Caucasians) and enjoy a particular type of art. This has nothing to do with color (or gender). If this were "a white thing" then you'd see all types of white people there. But you don't. I don't see droves of line-dancing cowboys and gun-totting hunters kicking it at Burning Man because it doesn't appeal to them. Does this mean that Burning Man is being exclusive? That we should try to cater to these people so the event can be all inclusive? After all, they are apart of world cultures as much as a POC is, correct? No. The event doesn't set up hunting ranges and massive western music stages because it's just not that type of event. Again, this has NOTHING to do with gender or color.

Now, that's not to say that I don't have my criticisms of Burning Man. Trust me, I will be the first to point out its flaws and didn't go for years because of these shortcomings and hypocrisies, but I think that racial and gender discrimination is not high up on the list. I'm sorry that you felt uncomfortable, but seems to me that it was due to your own personal, internal issues and you should take responsibility for that.

Yikes, etoile.

I'm hesitant to even comment on your comment because it seems kind of pointless to start a back-and-forth, but I think all Samhita was trying to (rightly) do was discuss her feelings of feeling isolated in a supposedly inclusive atmosphere.

I've never been to Burning Man and I don't have any strong opinions on it, but I was pretty surprised to see you write that if people aren't "making comments" about my body or pointing at me and laughing, then I can't possibly feel self-conscious or isolated. It must be in my head. And in terms of race, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that people of color make art. So if Burning Man is a pretty well-known destination for artists, then the fact that it is mostly white SHOULD raise some questions.

I think you need to look at the big, structural things Samhita and others are talking about. I don't think you quite "get" it (I mean, the personal IS political!) and I also found your tone to be a little bit hostile.

Thanks Samhita for posting this. I've rarely seen much comment by people of color, particularly women of color on this event.

What's really troubling me about this issue and a lot of comments on this article and even the whole notion of an American Dream theme, is that this all very much so ignores some hard realities of the situation: Burning Man is clearly no longer some underground event. It's a very well established cultural and structural institution. It's become the new Great American Holiday, like Halloween, but unlike the other holidays, it has a literal institution behind it.

I have a serious issue with a lot of the language I'm seeing that calls Burning Man and instance of radical inclusivity, promotes DIY, and then actively refuses to take action to insure inclusivity is taking place and in fact places the blame for lack of presence of people of color on the people of color themselves. Like they're the ones not being DIY enough.

You can't do that. That's about as much crap as the American Dream itself: A dream that stakes its claim on an "Anyone can do it!" motto, screams about "melting pot" dynamics, while the whole thing has been built by privileged, mostly white people.

If you go to Burning Man and embrace the whole idea and opportunity it represents, and you're not actively using the collective power to implement some kind of new radical vision of society in the event you're putting on, it's all a bit fake. I think people should take this opportunity to make things better, not get defensive.

It doesn't undermine the event or the legitimacy of your transformative experience at Burning Man, by lordy, get some perspective.

MaggieGlass,

I'm sorry if my tone was hostile. To be honest, in large part if it came across as that, it is because it upsets me when people allow themselves to feel marginalized, especially when there is no need for it. It was my frustration over years of women unnecessarily feeling uncomfortable due to societal/media/peer/etc. messages saying that we should hate our bodies, *especially* when we have curves. I think women of color have some of the most beautiful human figures on the planet. They epitomize the feminine form to me. I, for one, know many people who share this view, most of whom happen to be men. I'm sure many people would have loved to have seen all shapes, sizes and colors out there. Did she even give a chance to find out? It doesn't seem like it and that's disappointing.

That being said, for the record, I saw all sorts of women out there last year and was stoked by it. *shrug* Different lenses? Who knows.

Anyway, as it goes, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent," and it sounds like in this scenario, Samhita consented to this without much evidence that she needed to. It's not fair to blame that on the participants/contributors of Burning Man. It feels like it's misdirected and like she carried some gender/race baggage into the event that could have been dropped at the gates.

I want in next because I want to create some distance... shift the energy... and say...

Samhita, I love you grrrl. Thank you and the many other talented and courageous women bloggers of colour for speaking your truth knowing full well that you may endure infuriating feedback that lacks even a whiff of understanding of internal and systemic oppression. Bless your souls.

For etiole and my sisters who are relating to her argument I encourage you to check out this resource. http://shemuses.net/2008/09/12/systemic-oppression-and-community-building/ I implore you to keep an open mind and give it a read. (I posted the resource on my blog because I didn't know another way to create easy access. Excuse the self-serving plug)

I think about and am in frequent dialogue with many white folks and people of colour on issues of diversity relating to individuals, organizations, events and movements. Personally, I have made a choice to move away from situations where people are increasing diversity because they think they should out of some moral imperative. I don't necessarily knock it, but it's not my thing.

I am more interested in transformation. What kind of communities do we want to live in? Each time we throw a party, make a hire, consider the leadership of an event, consider who we will ally with... each of these are moments where we can choose transformation. And not for it's own sake... but for the opportunity it presents for us personally, professionally and for our society.

Now that is a conversation worth having, a vision worth pursuing, and something to invest time and resources in, and to commit to for the long term.

I have your back Samhita. Thank you for shining your bright light.

j

Samhita,

I appreciate hearing your input on this subject. I've been waiting to read it.

I admit to having an initial knee-jerk mental response, but then, I remembered my first burn--I've been twice--and the mixed feelings I had at times. (here is a link to a post written after my first burn--and coincidentally, was inspired by something from Salon that had to do with Feministing, which is how I stumbled into this place...anyway...http://lorriet.livejournal.com/132326.html).

Let me start by saying, I'm an over-40, overweight woman. And yeah, it's easy to only see the pretty, thin, willowy girls...the eye candy, playa barbies, whatever. And, there were times that that colored my view of the event. Not being a person of color, I can't relate to how it would feel in your situation. I'll have to ask my partner, who is a POC if it ever bothered him (he's gone for years). The atmosphere can be very over-sexualized, it's true. And most burners recognize the irony in the radical self-expression being expressed in such an atmosphere of same-ness.

When my partner was first telling me about this, after I got done saying "I would never go to an event like that," he said "Basically, this is a big party in the desert--if you go in expecting more, you'll be disappointed."

The thing is, I did find some empowerment out there...but I found it in unlikely places. I found a really strong, amazing woman, one who I didn't know really existed. (http://lorriet.livejournal.com/121664.html)

Oh, and most burners really were not happy with this theme. It's one of the reasons I didn't go this year (that, and yeah, it's really freaking expensive).

I really have grown to love this event. Radical self reliance, radical self-expression and all that.

Thank you for the food for thought. Sorry if this is disjointed...I'm up way past my bedtime!

thanks so much for this post. i keep having encounters with folks about burning man, and you're able to state some stuff very eloquently that i've been grasping at for awhile. thank you for troubling things from inside the playa environment.

i'm also interested in the environmental effects of such a large scale free-for-all event. i know there's a certain amount of 'hey, let's clean up after ourselves', but you've got a massive group of people on a wilderness space. the idea that you can throw this big a party without the land being negatively shaped by your presence in some way is not something i think is possible.

it also brings to mind - re: your comments on expense of travel to BM - the whole aesthetic of wealthy white folks doing adventure/eco tourism to 'exotic'/remote locales.... like, if you've got the money, you should be able to go anywhere, without consideration of environmental or social impacts, especially if your travel is billed as 'eco' or 'alternative'. :-/

Samhita--

Thank you for writing this entry. This was my first burn, too. I've only started to process my thoughts about everything that happened.

I do know, though, that the Critical Tits bike ride was the most objectifying experience I've had. I've done Critical Mass in my hometown, which is supposed to be empowering (in a way) for bicyclists; I assumed that Critical Tits was supposed to be empowering for women -- a safe event where topless-ness was socially acceptable.

Instead I found myself surrounded by hundreds of leering men, many of whom were taking photos and some were even filming! What happened to all of the restricted photography and camera registration that I had read about? I could tell that some other women around me felt uncomfortable, but there was nothing we could do. Plus, some women seemed to be enjoying this kind of "attention".

On top of the cameras, there were men yelling things like, "Thank you! Thank you for doing this!" -- as if the ride was for their benefit. There were also a few men offering to mist the riders, but only there breasts; and one man had a sign that read, "I like your breasts the best!"

I left the ride, put my top back on, then went to my tent and got fully dressed. I felt so objectified and isolated -- the other women who had complained about the cameras had kept riding. I felt like I was the only one who had such a big problem with the photographers/videographers/etc that I had to leave.

So, as a broad question for the other Burners here: What is (was?) the actual purpose of Critical Tits? In the past was it an empowering event for women? Or were my assumptions totally wrong?

Man, am I happy to have stumbled into this conversation. Thank you Samhita for bringing it up, and for sharing your perspective. I especially appreciate, as others have, your raising your reservations after having had the experience – I tend to find myself caught between somewhat uncritical embrace from burners or harsh critiques from people who have never gone, so thanks for opening up the middle ground.

I of course have also noticed the dearth of POC, have struggled with perceived or real attitudes towards women and women’s bodies, etc. These can be deeply troubling even for a fairly skinny white woman; trust that anywhere that a single aesthetic ideal is seemingly upheld, even people who seem to meet that ideal are having a hard time (not to mention people who don’t). I dearly wish that BM were in fact a more body-diverse environment. The conforming non-conformity in general is a huge issue to work with - though my stance is that that’s what you do, work with it. Concede that anywhere where 50,000 people get together, not all of them are *actually* going to be radically self-expressive, there are going to be aesthetic norms and conventions that come up to create a sense of comfort and belonging, and work with your own reaction and response to that. Don’t complain, just don’t wear the frickin’ fur chaps, baby.

On the diversity subject, I am very aware that, being white, I lack the sensors to notice what you might be noticing. But I have to say that, putting her hostile tone aside, I share some of Etoile’s questions (please read them as actual questions rather than attacks, though). Namely these two: First: Other than appropriation of external signifiers of POC and the financial barrier, in what ways specifically is BM an unwelcoming environment to POC? (and, please excuse my ignorance here, but I’d love an explanation of how said appropriation contributes to a non-welcoming environment).

(Aside: speaking of the financial barrier, I know plenty of markedly non-wealthy folks who get themselves to the burn. It’s a question of priorities and strategies. Though clearly, no one under the poverty line is going to the burn, no matter their priorities - could this be more a class issue than a race issue?)

Beyond generally pegging this as a racial issue because it’s mostly white and appropriation is happening (and it’s debatable how central this appropriation is to the nature of the event), I haven’t heard more specifics. *How*, at the event itself, should POC “be made to feel welcome?” How should the non-white origins of dress or music be acknowledged? How should "recognition to the race, class, culture and gender dynamics at play" be given?

2nd, and more important, I happen to think this is a great question: “So let's say that something appeals to white people more than other people... suddenly this is not right?”. I’m open to being wrong about this so please be gentle with me, but something in me rails against the idea that just because a certain event/environment appeals more to a certain demographic, there is something automatically “not right”.

Let’s say that, for whatever reason, BM does appeal more to a certain type of white person. Is that inherently wrong? We could say we’d like to change that, or not, without pathologizing the existing environment itself. I’m a classical musician and see mostly white, affluent-ish people at concerts. Is something “not right” with Mozart? (You could draw parallels with other cultural/racial groups). There's such an intricate web of influences at play here that draw certain people to certain places. Can we be open to the possibility that, at least sometimes, there's nothing sinister about a less-diverse environment?

The thing I most want to say, though, relates to the essential tension between BM as rich man’s rave in the desert and BM as “spiritual catharsis”, radically self-reliant, artistically expressive utopia. In this respect, and I feel quite strongly about this, my experience has been: Yes. It is both these things, and countless others. BM is the most striking instance I have ever experienced of one's pre-existing filters and intentions creating the lived reality. Some will come and experience nothing but hedonistic, consumption-heavy vapidity; some will encounter their souls, break their hearts, split open their minds, and see beauty that will change their lives; and everything in between. None of these experiences is the definitive one or negates the others. It’s all happening, and it literally is what you make of it.

I feel that your reducing BM to an “American holiday like any other”, or saying that it is a “culture of dramatic appropriation, elitism, consumption and lack of inclusion all within the guise of freedom”, is one sliver of the picture. In claiming to be the whole picture, it negates my experience of BM as a culture of dramatic generosity, openness to spirit and flow, magic, and transformation just as surely as anyone telling you your experience as a WOC doesn’t count because they didn’t have it.

Sorry for going on at length - I've been thinking about this:)...

Interesting, snarky piece raising some of the same criticisms and more:

http://blog.hisnameistimmy.com/?p=12

Whoa, Samhita, I'm sorry I somehow came across as annoying. I may have invited that by mentioning Etoile. but I actually opened by saying that I did see a lot of what you were seeing - being bugged by lack of POC, etc. What I was doing, I thought pretty respectfully and with a certain effort at humility, was asking for more information about your perspective which *may* have not been accessible to me (since I wasn't seeing it).

It seems like kind of a lose-lose situation: failing to acknowledge the fact that you might validly see things that I don't, because of my privilege=being blind to that privilege; acknowledging it=using my whiteness as an excuse for a lazy intellect/social conscience. How does one validly ask for illumination after making an honest effort to see as far as possible from where I'm standing?

And the fact is that I didn't get the answers I was asking for beyond a reiteration of your subjective perception and innate "recognition of racial dynamics". By which - please understand - I am not at ALL saying "gotcha! and so there's nothing racial going on, because you can't prove it". I've struggled enough to articulate feminist issues that others are completely blind to, that I couldn't quite put into words despite being damn sure they were there, to do that. I'm perfectly willing to accept your word for it because you can sense this in a way that I can't, being white (hence my original statement). But I was hoping to get a more concrete sense of how that happens - in order to help me sensitize to the dynamic, if you will, so that I actually *don't* have to make that "excuse" in the future. Maybe the answer is there is none, which is fine. Please don't get upset with me for asking.

re: appropriation, I would never suggest the "vice versa" argument as a refutation. Again, my experience with that argument along gender lines makes the idiocy of that idea crystal clear to me. And again, all I was asking for was more concrete specifics. If this itself is offensive, I apologize. But again, how is it ok to ask?

re: diversity: you actually *did* say it was inherently wrong. Quote: "If you are having a party and everyone is white, something is not right. Right?" I was questioning this basic assumption. I don't think POC just "don't like classical music". but I do think there's a complex array of influences at work - some economic, some social, some cultural, some spiritual, some ancestral, some beyond our ability to comprehend. Some of these are connected to injustice and inequality and are lamentable, some just are. The broad generality of your statement is what triggered me. really? I'm pretty Jewishly engaged and have been to plenty of communal gatherings where everyone is white. Were this all we did i agree something would indeed be very wrong. But as a slice of a continuum of social activity, where different processes of self selection bring difference cross sections of people to difference events, is JUST the fact that most people are white (or brown, or black) problematic?

your last point: Your position is not at all marginal in terms of the "BM is merely a big consumerist party" line of thought. This line of thought doesn't necessarily have to do with privilege, either, I hear plenty of privileged white folk espouse it, it's a recurring media trope, etc. I hear it a lot, and it's what I was responding to ("bothered by", in your language).

And regarding the axis of privilege: of course I need to think about about it! that's why I'm here. I wasn't feeling upset or "bothered" when I wrote (I now definitely am, admittedly) - I was feeling excited to engage these questions and curious to explore them. I now feel disappointed and alienated by what feels to me like a belittling response ("I'm afraid you might have to think about it"... It feels like you're barging through an open door here). It feels a little condescending and disempowering to me to use just the fact that I'm passionate or verbose about what I'm saying as fool-proof evidence that I'm being triggered by my own unconscious biases. I kind of wish you would read my original post again in its own light and see whether perhaps you ascribed intent and tone to me that weren't there.

ouch.

I had heard of Burning Man but knew very little about it, which is why I decided to read the post and comments in hopes of getting a better picture of what goes on. I have to say, I am somewhat confused by some of the reactions. I thought the intent of these posts was for people to discuss their experiences, thoughts, and views on the event. I also thought that asking for clarification or pointing out parts of the post they disagree with was part of reading and thinking critically as long as it is done respectfully and not with the intent to put anybody down, victim blame, etc. That is why I did not understand some of the rather hostile (or at least hostile sounding) reactions to the original post. I also, however, do not understand why Ten Moon's post got an annoyed response from Samhita. Whether or not I agree with her post I thought it was politely stated, thought out, and had no desire to offend. I also don't think there was anything inherently racist or sexist in what she had to say, and if there was it was not purposeful. At the risk of receiving my own "angry response" I commend Samhita on taking the time to address the topics raised by Ten Moons and answer her questions but am afraid the annoyed tone prevalent throughout the response discourages respectful disagreement. It had a tone of "you're wrong so shut up already". Ten Moons may or may not be "wrong" or this may be a case where nobody is but shouldn't dialogue be encouraged if only to help enlighten?

"Other than appropriation of external signifiers of POC and the financial barrier, in what ways specifically is BM an unwelcoming environment to POC?"

specifically, there are no other POC there. sometimes it's hard to feel welcome when you're the only one of your kind. specifically, it costs too much. specifically, the music is white people music. specifically, the founder is white. specifically, there doesn't seem to be any artwork that recognizes POC.

"How should "recognition to the race, class, culture and gender dynamics at play" be given?"

i think the art is such an obvious place to do this. not having been to BM myself, i can't comment on what the art is actually like, but i'm really surprised that (from what i've read of people's experiences), given the theme this year, there weren't more art exhibits acknowledging/criticizing slavery and the annihilation of native americans, two events crucial to enabling the american dream and still showing lasting effects in the daily lives of POC. to focus on the white view of the american dream and ignore alternatives seems emblematic of what samhita is talking about.

"Let’s say that, for whatever reason, BM does appeal more to a certain type of white person. Is that inherently wrong?"

no, but it makes it inaccurate to paint the event as truly welcoming and inclusive. it's kinda like employment: it's one thing to accept resumes from POC, it's another to actually HIRE one. BM is saying "sure, we welcome you," but no one is actually coming. by no means is that necessarily BM's fault, but it does raise questions about the inclusiveness and priorities of the event.

i think there's a lot to the "conformist non-conformist" nature of the event that has already been criticized here, and a lot to BM fans' response of "well if you didn't like it, it's your fault." from what i've read, it seems that you need to buy into BM's priorities (get naked, wear furry chaps, whatever) in order to enjoy it. there's nothing wrong with that, at all, and it's the nature of most events (i have to buy into the idea that sports are entertaining/important to enjoy a red sox game, for example) BUT it DOES mean that BM is actually not about "radical SELF-expression" but "doing what we've always done within these 'radical' boundaries that we have established." does that make sense?

Samhita,
Thank you for writing this, it helped me understand the part that I didn't like about BM when I went. I liked a lot of Burning Man, but I still feel that there is room for improvement.

This is painful because it feels so familiar.

Person of color speaks to issues of race and class to a predominantly white audience (I am making assumptions here please correct if I am off.)

Some members of that audience are offended and react by blaming and accusing. Others are more open minded and yet expect the person of color to both defend their position and educate them.

Person of color becomes further isolated and must apologize for having and displaying the impact of this experience in order for white audience to feel better and continue engaging.

I am not a regular feministing reader. That is not intended as a criticism I simply haven't been drawn. When I occasionally pop by it's because I follow Samhita's writing or another blog has linked.

I am a feminist, was radicalized in the violence against women movement in my 20's. I am a blond, white woman from Vancouver in my mid-30's.

I don't find myself at feministing because these kind of racial dynamics suck and they perpetrate the oppression. I would much rather be hanging out at Racialicious, What Tami Said, The Cruel Secretary, etc where these conversation can happen in a broader context where all forms of oppression can be seen, appreciated and explored.
It's way more interesting and I imagine more supportive of the writers exploring the full range of who they are and their analysis.

And yet, we end up in our own camps again. White writers here and women of color writers there. When I imagine an environment that would be -mutually- supportive to both audiences it is one where there is diversity and balance of the leadership/writers and a commitment to racial justice. From there their communities will represent, mingle and engage on a more level playing field. I think I have pretty much stopped believing it can happen any other way.

This was my second burning man, and I forgot in between them how disorienting they can be. You are thrown into a sea of people who are all wearing the same kind of brightly colored hair extensions. It feels like everyone is going with this internal flow and following the desert or whatever except for you. Meantime, you are wandering through this carnival a stranger, and being groped by the occasional person who you do not want to be groped by.

The first time I was groped by a man at Burning Man I was waiting in line for snow cones and he asked me if I was hot. We were in the desert, so I said yes. He took some ice from his bag, pulled my breast out of my shirt, and started rubbing ice on my nipple. I was so shocked that I just said, "No thanks," and stepped backwards. I think an appropriate reaction might have been kicking him in the shins. I had another incident with a man who really wanted to do some spanking, but bygones or whatever.

Not a real feminist space.

In the 60's we had hippie comuns,with free sex.
Now we have the "Burning Man" with free sex.

"Burning Man is not a space where really really diverse constituencies feel comfortable. By this I mean, non-white people, women, disabled people, queer people, poor people. And many people have had this experience, not just me."

Samhita,

Some of the issues for POC have obviously been discussed above.

The issue of class is an obvious one (always love hearing people telling me about how "you don't need money" at Burning Man, or somehow using its front-loaded economy as an example of a socialist paradise.) The $40 per day is actually pretty reasonable (what does anyone pay at a camp sitebut these days?) but that is only part of the actual cost of attendance.

The issue of disability is also a difficult one. Obviously this is partly related to the severe nature of the location. A person with limited mobility in a city has a much bigger challenge in the Nevada desert. I know people in the "community"" here that will attend local events but stay home for actual Burning Man for that reason.

I was curious about your comment on queer people not feeling welcome, though. I'm not sure if you are queer or if this is something you heard from queer friends, but I am wondering how you (or your friends') experience was so different from mine an my community's?

I guess it just surprised me to see queer people named as one of the marginalized groups at the event, while in my experience it is probably the most open and affirming event of its size outside of explicitly designated "queer" events.

First of all, Samhita, amazing. A friend of mine sent this link to me, a first time burner and long time queer feminist, and it spoke to so much of what i felt. The first thing i noticed as i entered Burning Man is the complete lack of quotes by women, and i thought to myself, this is surely not a good sign.

As a white man, i must first say that it is NOT Samhita's job to educate all us white folk on the issues of racism-- it is our job to figure it out ourselves (and with Samhita's help, which she has chosen to provide, and another huge thanks). If we happen to be ignorant of the racism that other's experience, our first reaction should not be, "well PROVE it to me, 'cause i didn't feel it!" It should be, "Really? Well please tell me more so i can join you in fighting it, ESPECIALLY since most likely i was complicit." It is such a privileged ability to be able to act all innocent due to the ignorance that privilege grants us. Take Samhita's word for it!! It MEANS something that there were few poc there. It is not a meaningless non-issue. Nothing is. And everything that Samhita has said and all the other beautiful feminist voices that complimented her have said goes to support this. Things could be different, and we should not be throwing our hands up in futility but instead should be listening to other's concerns and analyzing our own position in it all.

I want, however, to speak a moment to the discussion on queer bodies and camps that was just discussed. As a queer body, i did not feel safe, i did not feel "free", and I certainly did not feel that the environment itself was queer. First of all, i cannot imagine a queer space that is predominantly white. To me, that is an oxy-moron. Queer spaces are about difference, not just white difference.

As a traditional home-body, i must admit that i did not seek out every queer camp (of which there were, from what i could tell, relatively few in the grand scheme of things. and frankly, unless a camp proclaimed itself to be queer, i gots to assume it heterosexual-- its a matter of survival, to say the least). and when i did wander to a self-proclaimed queer camp, BAM!, white (predominantly, though not exclusively).

Now i know there is a lot of debate in the feminist community about the privilege of being queer, but honestly, in my queer community, it is not predominantly white. in the world of theory and academia, it might still be, but in the world of living, my experience has been one of great racial, class, and body-ability diversity (and, of course, gender).

Two revealing experience:

As the little activist that i am, i wrote the web-master for the BM website to point out that their "Getting Married at Burning Man" page was only devoted to heterosexuals and, considering the supposed BM philosophy, does this not seem a bit inappropriate. What resulted was a back-and-forth with the web-master (the same guy who produces the newsletters that are sent out to burners) where he insisted that, as it is illegal for queers to get married in Nevada, he has no responsibility to represent them. Not even a shout-out? His response: they can't speak to EVERYBODY's difference ALWAYS! To which i wondered, is not marriage a specifically HETEROSEXUAL issue? And if he is going to speak to one person's identity, doesn't he think it appropriate to speak to others deeply embroiled in the marriage concept (don't get me wrong, i am against marriage, but i am also against discrimination, which i found in this lack of representation-- a similar concept to the lack of poc bodies at burning man. The absence itself speaks volumes). Eventually, he stopped responding. This is a formative voice in the construction of Burning Man, completely ignorant to the homophobia he is perpetuating. And do we still think it is just a mistake that all of the quotes as we enter are men? If the power's that be don't get it, then maybe we should not take for granted the worship of a giant man standing on top of a big phallus. I bet he's heterosexual.

Second: I went to a queer dance. The theme was "Supremacy: The White Party". Let me just say first that i respect the irony and crass "fuck you" attitude implied by this theme. The point was to "dress as your oppressor", which of course requires everybody to acknowledge at face value the oppression around us. You entered to signs reading "AIDs cures Fags", and "The only thing worse than a Jew or Mexican is their Transgendered child." To say the least, the party did not sweep oppression under the rug, but rather placed in the center for us all to recognize and process. HOWEVER, i don't care what the theme, i do not think walking into a room with a number of KKK-clad folk is an inviting space, regardless of the theme. In theory, the theme is smart and edgy. In practice, it stinks of privilege-- the privilege of being able to "dress as your oppressor," and it being an occasion to dance and make-out. Not to mention, when i see a KKK outfit, regardless of who is wearing it, i require that i process the history of what it means, and it is not an occasion for merry-making. Does this mean I lack a sense of humor? I hope not. I just recognize the necessary weight it holds. It reminds me of the man i saw in black-face this past halloween. Have we reached a time when this no longer has the weight of a violent racist past that it is now in vogue? People will see you. And some people will not be so comfortable dancing next to a faceless man in a KKK outfit. Come on queers!

And I am going to make a guess that an environment where KKK outfits are bouncing about is the last place that poc are going to want to party-- and rightfully so.

One final thought. I was at a gathering drinking a delicious drink when i looked up and happened to see a white heterosexual couple on a tall stand having sex. After a romping couple of minutes, they were done, and as they laid back, the guy threw his fist in the air and punched it, a motion proclaiming, "Yes! I rock! Look at me rock!" To which all the men around started cheering (and couple of women too). I couldn't get so excited. I'm afraid that public heterosexual sex is EVERYWHERE, just perhaps not so blatant. it is not as if you really have to go to burning man to find it, or even act on it. and if i ever had a voice to cheer for it, it died long ago with the violence that accompanies not being heterosexual. it did not make THIS queer body feel "free" to see it, but reminded me, yet again, of the privilege that some bodies have over others, no matter where you are.

believe me, i am excited about going back :) but give me a Burning Queer, or a Burning Feminist, and there might be some revolution with that excitement.

let me begin by saying i am not trying to invalidate your experience. i merely want to tell you about some of the things you may not have seen. as they say, it's impossible to see it all, even if you do get fear-of-missing-out-syndrome. burning man is much like the kaleidoscope you mention - every participant sees something completely different, even if they are staring at the same thing.

there are a few things i feel i need to address.

keep in mind that i am a volunteer for burning man, i work for the dpw, and as such, am probably terribly biased.

but i am also a woman of native american decent, and this was my experience.

while i was there i saw lots of cynical art and satire inspired by the american dream theme. take, for instance, the street signs! they were all named for american automobiles. and lest you think this was some attempt at glorification of the american automotive industry, note that they were all the worst models. did you see the esplanade signs? they were chopped up auto parts, covered in blood. i helped make them.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3295/2830754065_eb1eaffd6c.jpg

all of the street signs had a backdrop of a bloody tire print as well. tongue-in-cheek criticism of overconsumption via the automobile. stretch it to symbolize the blood of people dying in this war for oil if you will. which brings me to this gem of a sign:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/2830762675_beb8473278.jpg

i saw an xmas tree covered with credit cards. a brick house mutant vehicle with comments about mortgages. a man walking with a ball and chain covered in money. all of which seems to criticize rampant consumerism. as for women artists, you can't ignore the flaming lotus girls (most of whom are quite curvy, and EVERYONE wants to kiss a flaming lotus girl! the flg was started in 2000 when a bunch of women decided they wanted to weld large pieces of steel to make sculptures that spit fire, and they wanted to learn how to do this in a male-bravado free environment. they created a safe space for women to learn traditionally male skills without feeling intimidated. also out there kate raudenbush constructed a replica of the capitol building entitled “altered state”. she incorporated a mirage of mythical creatures and native american imagery in a skeletally-etched white “birdcage,” complete with swings. and then there was this fun comment on the electoral system:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3197/2827205440_52796c5e86.jpg

sure, there are lots of skinny people dancing around in their finery. but i did see, and work with, all shapes and sizes. several people of color and of asian descent were on my team.

there are plenty of women in the dpw these days. i can think of nothing more empowering than being handed tools or stepping into a bobcat or hyster and getting the job done. we were not valued for our good looks so much as our hard work and our skills. i went there knowing nothing about repairing bicycles and was placed on the yellow bike crew. it was not assumed that i could not fix things because i was a woman, rather i was appreciated for my quick learning skills and competency, regardless of my gender.

another point i would like to make is you get in free if you volunteer. if you really want to go and can't afford it, work the event. the steep ticket price is not so steep when you consider what it costs to build an infrastructure designed to support 50,000 people for a week. we have to pay the federal government a fee for every person that sets foot on their land, per day. i know some music festivals that charge a similar price for only four days, not eight. for your perusal, here is a link to the financial report, complete with a chart breaking down their expenditures. no one at burning man is getting stupid rich from this shindig. you said they must have made over 10 million in ticket sales? in 2006, they spent over 10 million

some of that money is given away in the form of artists' grants. most of the larger scale work you'll see out there is funded by burning man and/or its sister organization, the black rock arts foundation.

in this environment, i often found, what you need others will provide. countless times i needed something and it was given to me with no demand for something in return. people needing food were fed, needing watered were watered. flats were fixed by strangers. rides were given.

what do they do to make it appealing to people of color? well, what do they do to make it appealing to anyone? FIRE! this was an event started by artists who like fire. more artists who like fire showed up, and it became a pyromaniac's playground. not being a person of color, i cannot perceive, nor generalize, what people of color like to do on their summer vacation. is this something people of color would generally be interested in if effort was made to inform them? i cannot say. is this something they would be drawn to? maybe we need to look further and question why there are not more people of color seen in the kind of community this event sprung from - underground artists, writers, and performers of the alternative subculture, punks, and anarchists.

burning man has always had a "no spectators" credo. what is there is what people bring to it. you want more american black music, bring it! my camp for one introduced me to the wonders of hip hop. i do believe there was also a dub music camp or two.

in regards to ethnic costuming, personally i saw the native american headdresses as a reminder of who was here first, before the american dream began. and as a person of cherokee descent, i uttered an internal "right on!" honor our ancestors by remembering where this country came from, or who it was stolen from, rather. there was a quote by chief joseph on the gate entry signs that moved me to tears:

"It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are - perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my Chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."

the keffiyeh or shemaghs you see are merely an article of practicality or functionality. i wear one in the desert. it was designed by desert dwelling peoples to provide protection from direct sun exposure, as well as for occasional use in protecting the mouth and eyes from blown dust and sand. there is more than enough dust out there to make such a garment a necessity. where is the line between cultural appropriation and utilizing someone's superior invention for practical purposes?

it's true, its not the greenest event on the planet. but they are trying. in 2007 they installed a vast array of solar panels to power the event. another sister organization, black rock solar, donated solar panels they constructed to a local town. we recycle everything possible, and compost everything possible. the commissary uses plates, cups, and forks made of biodegradable corn. most of the dpw are still there, cleaning up every cigarette butt, every goddamned sequin and feather shed from some silly person's boa, every safety pin, and other items you wouldn't want to touch without a hazzmatt suit on. they will be there until october 4th, ensuring the playa is spotless, so the blm (federal bureau of land management) will pass us during the inspection and we can do it all again next year. apparently we rate number one in the country for cleaning up after ourselves.

what does it do for the community outside of its bubble? burning man brings riches (and mild irritation, surely) on the surrounding communities of the black rock desert, namely the residents of gerlach and the natives of the piute reservation in wadsworth. i have neither the time nor the space to get into the accomplishments of burners without borders. they began when katrina hit. the team that helped construct the temple went with their heavy machinery skills to rebuild a destroyed vietnamese temple in biloxi. then they moved on to clean and rebuild homes in nearby pearlington. they built homes for the needy in reno. they clean up beaches in san francisco. they are currently in peru. they take the skills that they have learned and nurtured at burning man and are taking it out to the world, filling the niches where government and society fail to step up to.

burning man is made up by its attendants. we (the dpw) create the infrastructure, and you bring the flavor. we make the pot, you fill it with your stew. it is the island of misfit toys for pyromaniacs.

as one of my friends who's never even been just said: "Just an observation of the Burning Man effect. It makes people who participate more aware of their world. It makes people more aware of the people around them. It's an ideal to aim for when living our daily lives."

gosh, i have run on. i hope you can see that yeah, nothing is ever perfect. but it is what it is and we try to be good people.

Thank you so much, Samhita. As my friend (female) and I drove in on Monday at 3am, she read the quotations out loud to me. I started to notice, about 1/4 of the way through, that there wasn't a single woman represented in the imaginings of the "American Dream," and I pointed it out to her. She couldn't believe that there wasn't one woman, but I could. The rest of the event, the second time we'd been there together, felt like a manifestation of that conspicuous absence in the quotes. As two women alone at the event, we found ourselves the recipients of a lot of unwanted attention. There were a number of times where I felt as though men were making us into a spectacle, rather than treating us like two people who were there with our own goals and desires. We'd been there the year before with two men, who are friends of ours, and we found men's treatment of us really different without the male presence at our camp. Though I had been aware of the serious problems with how women are treated at the event last year, it felt markedly different this year.

In addition, one of my burning man "experiences" commented to me that he was so amazed at how there was no racism there. I could hardly believe how naive a statement that was and retorted that was because there were almost no people of color...and as a white boy, it seemed odd that he could make such a diagnosis.

You've said it all much more eloquently than I am able to right now, but I wanted to appreciate that you've raised a lot of the complications of attending such an event. Of course it's not "all bad," and not all of the men do this, and not all of the women do that...but there is room for change.

Before I get on with my critique of Samhita's article, I'd like to agree with her on one point: the welcome signage. It amazes me that, in an office that is mostly run by women, they couldn't come up with one quote -- or demand that there were quotes from at least a few famous women -- welcoming everyone to the event. C'mon, ladies!!! I know it's in you to stand up!

And now with the critical bits:

Having been a Burning Man participant for 10 seasons (1998-2007...did not make out for 2008), I have seen people of all colors, sexes, creeds, political viewpoints, and occupations take up space on the playa for that week in the desert (and for longer as employees and volunteers), and to me, it seems as though you, along with a few other people commenting here, broke a cardinal rule of Burning Man: you were a spectator instead of a participant.

If you or anyone else attending are unhappy with the small amount of people of color at the event, then by all means, it's up to you -- and anyone else feeling this way -- to bring friends of color into the event by the thousands. Transform the space. It's up to you. There's no "keep out" signs, no reason for anyone of any color to not show up and create what they want at the event.

Additionally, Burning Man is as expensive or inexpensive as YOU choose to make it. For myself, as a young woman paying her own way through two private schools, the only vacation I could afford to take was to work for Burning Man as a photographer, rigger, heavy equipment operator, and construction chargehand for 6 weeks out of my summers from 2000-2007.

Before I got a paying job working for the event, my way to have a wonderfully cheap Burning Man experience meant I got off my ass and roamed the playa wearing a tool belt and offering to help other artists and camp builders. You don't need to be very skilled to do this, or even have tools, but instead the only thing required it your willingness to help. From 1998-2000, I paid between $300-$500 for each year I went out. How did I do this, people may ask? I set up a camp with friends, then wandered the playa in search of work exchange so I could find good food and libations, cool costumes, and to meet new people. In short, I PARTICIPATED. In 2000, I spent 3 months in the desert, making a movie (with a grant I received) and interviewing everyone I could find. I didn't whine about rich people spoiling everything, or who had a cooler costume than me, or how fat my naked gut and ass -- they're both ample -- looked in comparison to some of the Top Model wannabes I encountered from time to time. I just didn't give a shit, period. Instead, I made the event what I wanted it to be for me, which is all that the organizers ever ask of anyone.

In fact, the first person I ever officially met at Burning Man was at 6:30am on Tuesday, after I'd just arrived at Burning Man in 1998 and set my tent up in the wrong place. A 70-something naked man riding a bicycle approached me, asking if I needed any help. I looked up in my dawn stupor to see an elderly gentleman who had no shame, no bullshit, no guilt, and who possessed the most wrinkled, saggy ass I'd ever seen. I decided then and there that if this old guy didn't have a problem baring all in the desert, then why the hell should I?

I chose not to go to the America-themed event this year -- too much going on at home -- but I guarantee that if I go out again, it'll be as one of a crew of several hard-working women who are continuously bucking trends by surviving in male dominated fields (is anyone up for some topless forklift driving?!), thus paving the way for other women looking to do the same, and while others are sitting at home, moaning about how sexist the world is, I'll be out there, changing it for the better, one Man at a time.

So, after fuming for a bit about this article, what I'm left with is feeling that Samhita *could* have invited her peers to join us and start to create a more radically diverse environment for all of us, but she didn't. She told us and her peers that Burning Man was a place where they weren't welcome. That part makes me mad.

The part that makes me sad is that she is, effectively, by stepping up to her virtual podium, shutting down the potential of the diversity that she could create by saying “People like me aren’t welcome here,” which isn’t helping to solve the problem…

If the message that you send out is that people like you aren’t welcome, then people like you are going to get the message that they aren’t welcome, either.

And, that’s not true. You may, like me, have to work a little to find the place where you’re welcomed, but you will be welcomed.

My advice would be to volunteer to participate in something that you enjoy, like working with the art team or the radio station or the greeters or the gate or the post office or the ice camp or at the café or the web team or whatever it is that rocks your boat. You’ll get a lot more out of your desert experience if you actively participate in creating the society that you’ve chosen to live in for that one week.

One way to do this is to take a look at the website, see what needs doing, and get ‘er done! You won’t be able to get anything done alone, because it’s such a big job to do anything out in the desert, so you’ll kind of be forced into a community---if you’ve chosen one that is full of “stuff you like,” then you’ll be surrounded by people that like the same stuff you do. You’ll make like-minded friends and you’ll find your place.

If, for instance, you want to make sure that the signs on the way in are diverse, well… Get on the sign team and make that happen.

If what you want is to be invited to the kind of party that happens in Black Rock City because some people don’t know what to do with freedom, except get naked, have sex, take drugs, get drunk, and take pictures of each other, then I think you should re-examine your priorities. I mean… I’m not welcome at those parties, either, and I love Burning Man. The difference could be: I don’t want to go to *that* Burning Man. I want a different Burning Man and I work my bottom off to have the kind of Burning Man I want.

Really, the truth is that we’re all just a big, old band of outsiders and others and geeks and freaks and everything else and a lot of us don’t really fit in much around here, either. Depending on which team you join, you could find yourself among any number of all kinds of people who are working to create something bigger than themselves and just fit in somewhere… You could find yourself side-by-side with each of the people that you’ve mentioned in your article, plus many you didn’t mention! :-D

However, it *is* true that we're missing some of our people—people who haven’t discovered us yet, people who could make the entire desert experience better for all of us, people who could step outside the boundaries of what *is* and create the future of the event. But Burning Man doesn’t advertise. People have to find us... And find a way.

What we need to do is *help* that process along---help the people that don’t know that they belong with us, learn that they do, in fact, belong with us.

The basic thing, the core issue is: We each have to work on this issue of separation and inclusion in our daily lives. Each of us needs to create a broader base of community, inclusive of all kinds of people and tell our communities about our desert experiences—to welcome them into our hot little hearts and encourage them to participate by helping us to create the kind of change that we want to see. WE have to participate to create the kind of change that we want to BE.

This works a lot like an internet meme does... I tell two friends, they tell two friends, and they tell two friends and so on… I believe that we can do this. I know that I, personally, have contributed to a greater diversity, but one person does not a movement make. Everyone has to work at this, including you, dear author.

Community is an ART and we need all kinds of artists.

The Decompression party is coming up in San Francisco. There’s a call for participation at the website: http://www.burningman.com/blackrockcity_yearround/special_events/decompression/decom2008.html. “To reserve a space for your art, theme camp, mutant vehicle, or performance at the SF Decom, please email flambe(at)burningman(dot)com TODAY so we can accommodate and celebrate YOUR imagination and spirit.”

See? We want you there. We really, really do.

I'm sorry but I have a lot of problems with some of the language you use Burning_Feminist.

A woman of color said that she found a space to be somewhat exclusionary and uncomfortable on the grounds of her race and gender and your response is "if the message that you send out is that people like you aren’t welcome, then people like you are going to get the message that they aren’t welcome, either"?

Yes, other people of color WILL get that message from she wrote. Because when a person of color says to other people of color, "I felt uncomfortable being a person of color there," they are going to take a second to think about it.

What you are doing with a line like that is criticizing a woman of color for having spoken up in the first place and naming her oppression and trying to own it. And other people of color are going to come on here and see that a lot of people trashed on Samhita for raising issues like this and think, "Maybe she's right!"

If you are serious about Burning Man being a space of radical inclusivity, the onus is on those who are involved with Burning Man to help expand the culture of it and do so joyfully. Take the opportunity and really expand this project and help change the world. I would think that's what we all want.

I think there's a clear lesson to learn from a lot of this:

People of color, don't depend on us white cats to be your allies. When you tell us that our space (which is, you know, everywhere) isn't entirely welcoming to you, we won't necessarily respond positively and the exchange might end up hurting.

You are going to have to do it yourselves.

And it really shouldn't be that way.

Samhita posted at September 12, 2008, at 11:58AM: "This lack of a POC presence also had a strong impact on the music. The majority of the music was trance (mostly psy-trance) house and breaks. Almost all of these forms of music originate in either world of American black music, but there was a total lack of recognition of this fact. More working class, people of color oriented forms of electronic music (dub-step, drum and bass, techno, electro-breaks, hip-hop or reggae) was not to be found, except in a few key places, my people and I were very happy to find."

Thanks for pointing this out! I like all of those genres, in part because I can't hear the differences between them (well, apart from hip-hop and reggae) enough to like one and dislike another. Now you've reminded me that I need to go learn more about who and where all this good sound comes from (I wasn't aware that any of it was "white").

Samhita commented at September 13, 2008 5:38 PM: "Do you think there is a lack of poc at classical music events because poc don't like classical music? That would be wrong. It is because culturally, economically and socially poc and working class people face barriers to high art. Bottom line."

Having none of your socioeconomic groups' arts recognized as "high art" is one of those barriers, right?

epona commented at September 15, 2008 10:06 AM: "the keffiyeh or shemaghs you see are merely an article of practicality or functionality. i wear one in the desert. it was designed by desert dwelling peoples to provide protection from direct sun exposure, as well as for occasional use in protecting the mouth and eyes from blown dust and sand. there is more than enough dust out there to make such a garment a necessity. where is the line between cultural appropriation and utilizing someone's superior invention for practical purposes?"

Great question!

Legba Carrefour commented at September 15, 2008 11:44 PM: "What you are doing with a line like that is criticizing a woman of color for having spoken up in the first place and naming her oppression and trying to own it. And other people of color are going to come on here and see that a lot of people trashed on Samhita for raising issues like this and think, 'Maybe she's right!'"

Exactly. There's a huge difference between speaking up about how your experience was different and saying she shouldn't have spoken up about her experience in the first place!

WE have to participate to create the kind of change that we want to BE.

This is a way of interacting with the world that is unique and special and key to how things work at Burning Man---key to how change is created at Burning Man.

There's a difference between saying that *WE* need to do something about THIS, whatever THIS may be (and the potential for THIS is so awesomely huge in our community), so that we can create a community where everyone is welcome and saying that *YOU* need to do something about THIS.

I did say anywhere that the author should not have spoken up about her experience. Only that it made me sad, and mad, that bringing up this issue without creating solution while, in fact, demanding solution from others, can discourage people like the author from participating.

Obviously, I feel that this issue needs to be addressed and I gave several concrete ways to begin to address it.

Burning feminist, you missed the point people made multiple times in this very set of comments, as well as one made countless times before. telling people who are the excluded ones that it is up to themselves to get included is discriminatory and relies on privilege. It is victim-blaming.

don't pretend that burning man is different from the rest of the world while it (and you!) replicate the exact same practices from the real world. In the real world, when a person of color points out that they are not well represented in an institution (high-paying jobs, congress, etc), white people lecture them about how poc should make themselves more welcome, as if it's all on them and there are no barriers ("create your own solution" to white racism, people of color!). And now you are doing it with burning man. What would have made burning man different, on racial terms, from the rest of the USA, would be if Samhita didn't feel the way she said she felt. But once she points out how she felt, it's too late to say it's not like that. It would also be different if other people didn't respond the way you and others have responded, but i guess it's too late for that too.

again, I saw a lot of the same things as Samhita did, and like her it didn't mean that burning man was all bad for me. I will totally go again, but I wouldn't kid myself or you that it's without its problems, familiar problems.

Sorry to add more, but I should say it's not just how Samhita (or I) felt, it's not just about feelings, it's what IS.

Burningman is vastly white-dominated. that's just a fact. the things that make that so are probably connected to the things that make a lot of institutions white-dominated, many of which were named by Samhita and other comments so just pretending it's up to individual poc to change that ignores all the forces that make burningman so white-dominated to begin with.

oh, my, i totally forgot that criticism is not a part of change. damn the critics! pull yourself up by your bootstraps!

seriously, trust that Sami was a participant, but that doesn't rob her of the ability to have a critical analysis... geez! i'm astounded... and i'd say more if there weren't so many eloquent folks who've already said it (ripley, legba, alisa, jodie, lolphysics, etc.)

shoot, take your damned blinders off, people... recognize that critique is a big part of how to change a community and grow our consciousness... and i know folks who haven't posted on here are thinking about these issues now and THANK YOU SAMI for that...

but y'all who are reacting defensively need to recognize that Samhita's criticism is in order to help build a better place... thinking is a big part of doing... so do some thinking before you think that Sami's not doing anything, okay?

No one told the organization that something had to be done about Hurricane Katrina---A bunch of people just got together and went and *did* it.

No one told the organization that they needed to put solar energy in the hands of the locals---A bunch of people just got together and went and *did* it.

That's how it works. That's the key...

Radical Inclusion, Radical Self Reliance and Radical Self Expression are challenging and difficult. They are also really, really rewarding and gratifying.

Check out these pages:

Mission Statement
http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/about_burningman/mission.html

Ten Principles
http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/about_burningman/principles.html

Alright, I'm a little exhausted at continously having read posts by white people not understanding POC issues and a woman of color always having to validate her experiences. Once again, it’s always the person of color who has to carry the burden of talking about race and racism, and all of a sudden it's up to Sahmita to bring her 'diverse' friends to change this and to provide the solutions since she brought up the problem....Shittt. This gets exhausting fast. If that's in fact how this work is going to be done, by leaving it up the 'diverse people of color' to bring their friends, to white spaces (every space?..) we have a long way to go.

A common theme I read is that white was the excuse for ignorance on POC issues, but it's not. Because many POC aren't educated on the issues either. In order for people of color to know that an event/space is for them, it has to be specifically targeted at them (in their neigborhoods, hangouts, etc). Clearly, if something like, let’s say… a school board meeting is announced with a letter home to the students (in english), then it is not a space for Spanish speakers even though it is advertised as ‘open to the public’. My parents aren’t going to show up to this school board meeting. If my little brother came home with a letter from school in Spanish saying there will be translators, etc etc, then they know it is a space for them. So even though a space is advertised as open to the public, it rarely is because of costs, transportation, language and other barriers. Not just that but because of hostilities as well. And I don’t know all this because I’m a person of color, I know because I take the time to find out. It's not that it just so happens that only white people show up. It's because the event was created that way.

Hang in there Samhita.... and thank you so much for bringing this up. I know what it's like and I know how it feels like to have a 'disenfranchised' white person retaliate when you never even attacked.

Wow. Etoile's comments are pretty much a blueprint of unconscious privilege... and with a few changes of nouns, it's the same thing a lot of men respond with when I explain that I as a woman feel uncomfortable or unwelcome in a setting.

Wow. This is great! I had so many reservations about Burning Man, but I decided to go, because I felt like I couldn't really understand what I was uncomfortable with until I had gone, experienced it, and seen how all the ideals had played out. This was my first year, and while it was great, I noticed some of the things you guys have mentioned as well.

The event that most bothered me was critical tits. It's the biggest event on the playa, besides the burn, and I just don't get it. How are thousands of women going shirtless because the organizers tell them to, because it's empowering, actually empowered? It's pressure instead of waiting for women to feel completely comfortable in their own bodies, and it's completely objectifying them. The name alone only focuses on tits! Why are they so critical? Wouldn't it be nicer if the women were recognized as the critical element in this? All of my female campmates went (except for the one older woman... hmmm...) and they all came back saying that they felt a bit uncomfortable during the bike ride but that some of the attention during the ride (such as men gifting them things) and the afterparty were amazing. Apparently men are mostly restricted, and they are only allowed in the party as servers for the women. I still didn't like this... it seemed just like they were being paid off for designating their bodies as objects of desire. Interestingly, there is some reasoning behind it to empower women. I heard that the camp which runs it (the event is planned and carried out by women, not men) probably won't continue it next year due to the time and energy commitments, and won't pass it on to any of the many men who have stepped up to try and take it on... because they want it to remain in the hands of women. I think that at the start, somehow, it was really about the strength of the women of burning man... it's just that being placed within a culture that doesn't know how to deal with it has broken it down. Anyone with more direct experience of this event, please fill me in on anything I'm missing!

Another uncomfortable moment happened one night when a thin young campmate (admittedly a playa barbie) went out one night wearing tights and pasties. She expected to be comfortable - but was continuously eyed, asked for hugs, and followed. It became ridiculous, and she had to find a shirt to wear. Why is it that women should feel uncomfortable in an environment where older men strolled around naked all around me? I felt more free, more comfortable with my body, and more alive than I do most of the time (wearing costumes and a cowboy hat for sun protection, continuously, as I am unable to do in real life) - but I still wouldn't have felt comfortable strutting about naked. And, I feel like I should have, considering all that burning man stands for. I even fit in fairly well with the stereotypical burner, physically, being white, although a bit curvier and paler. So it's not just about color, or bodies... it's about how others react to your body. Why should it ever be ok for someone to grope you, like someone (sorry, can't remember your username!) described happening? For some reason, people think that when a girl is being free, it's free for them to sexualize, not just free for herself.

Don't get me wrong - I loved the event, reservations about the objectification of women and the environmental cost (which is HUGE! and should be addressed more by the attendees if they care about the world they live in) aside. I was able to see the partying raving all night with glowsticks side, the biking culture, spiritual side with the temples, altars and healing sessions (thank you HBGB healers! I love you guys!). There was so much to do that by choosing not to attend certain events and centering my experience around things I valued, I felt like I avoided feeling objectified or singled out myself.

And I still wanted to address the other issue - race. The bm website does talk about how racial inequities are being addresses, I remember seeing it while reading the survival guide. In fact, there was an outreach and research group looking at it, if I remember correctly. I think that they are aware of the issue, but it's moving slowly precisely because of how bm grows - through word of mouth. It's difficult for a centralized group to try and change that dynamic, it's up to the participants to reach out and stress the appeal of the event and the possibilities for everyone. Those who go should force the pattern of racial division to change by challenging their own social structures, patterns and beliefs and inviting people who aren't white, wealthy or into techno, and helping them find ways to come and contribute what they want to be at the event.

"No one told the organization that something had to be done about Hurricane Katrina---A bunch of people just got together and went and *did* it."

As someone who went down to New Orleans for multiple long stretches in 2006 to do relief work and political organizing through Common Ground and has done New Orleans solidarity work since (especially around the issue of public housing), I think it's great that you went down there.

But to take this analogy and run with it, under no circumstances should the people of New Orleans have had to rely on a bunch of white, out-of-town, privileged, do-gooders to come down and help them. The Feds and the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans should have institutionally been capable of responding to their needs. Leaving it up to residents and to the goodwill of some people who showed up well after the fact doomed nearly 2,000 people to their deaths and has permanently altered a city to which hundreds of thousands of working class blacks will never be able to return.

I completely understand your position here and I respect you but you can't simply slap the DIY idea onto issues like race and gender. And this is about problems that exist far outside of Burning Man, and I think Samhita was hoping that when they reared their head within Burning Man, it would be a locus of seriously working hand-in-hand around these problems, or at least taking them seriously and not responding to them oppositionally.

Again, what I said was that WE need to work on these issues. That the onus is not on the organization, but on US, the participants---Not on HER, not on YOU, but on US.

Hey Misty 15,

Organizers don't tell women to ride in critical tits, they do it because they want to.

just sayin...

Me? I like to ride behind the rows and rows or worshipping men along the sideline. I like to look at their butts.

Winelips, you are completely right. The girls choose to ride, I suppose I meant to say that everyone gets very excited about it and there's a hype about it being a woman empowering event... and I don't see how it really plays out as one. It seemed like all of the people I talked too were somewhat let down by the actual event.

Have fun checking those butts out though. :)

Hi,

Long time burner, first time poster. I've really enjoyed the comments here and have a few thoughts.

I am not always comfortable at burningman either, but my experience has been that when I do try to push my comfort zones and try new things, or express myself in new ways, I am supported more often than I am shot down. So, Samhita, I am sorry to hear that the city made you feel uncomfortable at times.

What captures my excitement at BRC is that the city provides a blank slate where everyone has a space to do "their thing" whether that's share their music, their art, their politics, etc. If I don't like, or am offended by, "their thing", then I turn around and find something I do like. It is this type of "freedom" that I think people refer to when they talk about the city -- and it flows to and from the participants. The beauty of the city arises from this chaos -- from everyone expressing and sharing their passions. Personally, I've embraced that freedom to wear bizarre costumes, build strange art, talk to strangers, and generally be more fearless. Sometimes people respond to what I like and sometimes they don't -- most of the time they probably don't even notice.

When people respond to experiences like Samhita's with "if you want something there, do it" (often annoyingly toned), they are trying to convey that they really support whatever the hell you want to do, and they want you to feel comfortable bringing it and sharing it. I think the "do it" people get frustrated because they can't understand what's stopping you (from bringing different music, for example).

Obviously, I can't speak for every attendee's attitude, but if you did or didn't want to go naked it shouldn't have anything to do with me, my thoughts, my fashion sense, or my color -- it should have to do with whether you wanted to go naked or not. I can't promise that nobody will be rude or treat you differently - this isn't a utopia - but it's my experience that your choices would blend in and add to the city's community with little comment.

Regarding there being no POC at burningman I have a couple explanations I've heard bantered about in the past:

1) There ARE POC in the city. I certainly have seen, camped with, danced with, and talked with, people from all ethnic groups, continents, and cultures -- and probably in more meaningful ways than outside of BRC. They are there. Could there be more? Definitely.

2) There are more white people at Burningman because it appeals more to middle/upper income white people because it provides them a community -- while a lot of minorities' have closer family and community ties back home. This might be getting a little too sociological for my taste, and assumes some things about both groups... but I think there's a grain of truth in it. A lot of yuppies have abandoned church/extended families/community, and the "Burner" urban-tribe is an appealing substitute (year round, even).

Regarding no women's quotes on the entrance signs: You're right, and besides that the signs sucked in general this year. Too much politics and pithy sayings we've all heard before; not enough insights and thought provoking. I've made a mental note to send in some suggestions next year to ensure they never suck so much again.

That's all. Samhita, I hope you enjoy your stay at BRC more next year. I'm glad to hear you're coming back.

first, hey samhita, remember me? we met on the night before your 30th outside at mighty, you invited me to your party in the same space i'd had my 50th, and we totally connected. i loved meeting you and your passion and energy inspires me. it was very cool to follow a link in the burning woman tribe and find your blog. and i see that you've stepped right in the middle of the burning-man-is-evil-and-over argument and the burning-man-changed-my-life conversation.

i've been going to burning man since 96 off and on (this was my 8th and final year), and seen a lot of evolution. on the one hand, it is without a doubt the most creative, freeing, transformational and oh-my-god event in this country, possibly the world.

and on the other hand... i understand what you're describing. there's a superficial element that has evolved over the years that is distracting enough you might think that's all there is. i admit, those dreads-for-a-week barbies chafe my ass sometimes because i have real dreads, and the people with their store-bought looks make me roll my eyes too, since my clothes are made by hand and one-of-a-kind (my ego, she is such a bitch ;^).

and then i talk to someone i'd pegged as a playa barbie and realize that she is a remarkable human being, with a great brain, and doing great things in the world, and i am reminded once again that you can't tell always a book by its cover. nor can you assume that someone wearing something from a different culture doesn't have a personal reason for that. not that they even have to justify what they choose to wear to anyone. that's what choice is, and in black rock city, a lot of people choose do things you or i might think are stupid.

again, i totally get the irritation, and some choices are offensive if we choose to take it that way, but the truth is that my irritation is no one else's problem -- those are just people doing what they want to have the best kind of experience they can. who really cares if you or i think they aren't cool enough, or smart enough, or conscious enough? they're doing it how they do it, and they get to decide that. even if they have very, very cheesy taste and look like rubes or hookers. who knows, maybe next year, they'll have broken out of their shell and be totally original and amazing. i hope.

i have noticed the lack of diversity in black rock city. then i thought about it more and realized two things:

first, diversity in my book isn't just about skin color and where your parents are from -- it's also about ranges of incomes, ages, professions, religions, life views, nationalities, etc., and in that light, burning man has a vast spectrum of people. even though some of the trappings that help us distinguish those differences in the real world are gone, the people are still diverse. i think that thinking about diversity in terms of color is limiting.

then second, i realized that no one can be held responsible for enforcing racial balance in black rock city. burning man is an entertainment event when it comes down to it, built from the work and inspiration of a few underground art subcultures, and the demographic of the city that forms each year is representative of the demographic of those communities. as media and social networking has spread the word about it, the event has grown and grown, and it has attracted more mainstream people.

but still, the core burners seem to still have basically the same demographics i find when i go out dancing at night, or to certain kinds of art events. in fact, a lot of those are the same people. they have a vision of what they want to bring to the playa, and the event is the convergence of all those thousands of people's visions.

do you really think it's the responsibility of an event organizer to push for some kind of racial quota? i don't think so. i was once at a bhangra show i was one of three or four non-indian people in a room of about 600. was it the promoter's responsibility to make sure there were more white people there so i would feel more comfortable, or the event would have more diversity? of course not. is it the hiphop producer's responsibility to do outreach to whites if their audience is mostly black, and the bluegrass producer's fault if the audience is mostly white? no, it isn't.

we are all free to self-select what we do in our leisure time. and whoever wants to go to burning man is welcome to come and co-create the city. you want to participate? buy a ticket, show up, and do it.

looking back, my previous camps didn't have much racial diversity, though they were always very international. this year, my posse was very mixed. my camp had african-american, white, malaysian, scottish, me in my 50s, kids and teens. our neighbors were latina, african, and lesbian. and they were all burners.

it's like the blind men and the elephant. it's impossible to grasp the whole thing at once, so we end up thinking that the small bit that we experience must represent the entire creature. but it doesn't.

your point seems to be that burning man as some kind of independent entity is responsible for ensuring the kind of diversity you would like to see in the world, but it's just not that way. if you want to create more diversity, bring it.

you truly must be the change you want to see in the world, and black rock city is the living example of how that might evolve.

(hope to run into you again soon. i have some burner friends who are feminist women of color i know you'd like ;^)

"we are all free to self-select what we do in our leisure time. and whoever wants to go to burning man is welcome to come and co-create the city. you want to participate? buy a ticket, show up, and do it."

the amount of interest and passion in response to this post is a testament to the power of burning man to inspire radical and diverse thinking. however, we find in the quote above
what i feel is the most pervasive disconnect in all of the responses criticizing samhita's post.

to imagine that "we are all free" is to ignore systematic and pervasive racism and opprssion. we are not all free to do anything. there is no such thing as "choice" in our culture, because if all you can choose is a or b, and both of them marginalize you at best, than that is not a choice.

being "welcome" is also relative. if there are only a few poc at the event, and you have grown up experiencing the effects of racism, then you know that regardless of the spirit of a white dominant event, it is still a white dominant event, and you cannot trust that that is a welcoming space-- to do so could mean walking into an all-too-real violence.

i think it is important to remember that all us white folk CANNOT KNOW what it is to be a person of color at burning man. all heterosexual folk CANNOT KNOW what it is to be queer at burning man. of course, you can imagine, especially with the help of people like samhita. but i seriously question that considering the many responses that continually insist it is her job, and poc's job, to deal with the racism and lack of representation at burning man. clearly we're dealing with much deeper things than just choosing to grab all of your poc friends and making them populate burning man for the sake of diversity. and if this is true, then we all have a lot more work to do.

and if you can imagine real change occurring without the powers-that-be at burning man making an active effort at the same time (and i am not talking about quotas), then i personally cannot imagine a truly safe and inclusive burning man. change needs to happen at all levels. and i find one of the most disappointing things to be that burning man actually claims to be such a revolutionary space, when that revolution is still imagined by a very homogenous group of people (and that homogenous group might be diverse by clothing and job, etc., but in our culture, there is a hierarchy of difference, and race is much more valuable than the hat you choose to wear).

Perhaps I'm babbling in the comment below, but this thread has been on my mind for quite some time, and I wanted to add a few thoughts before this thread drops off into obscurity in favor of more important topics.

To paint a picture of who's babbling at you, I'll say I'm Irish and Cherokee and come from a long line of angry drunks. We're inventive and clever, my grandparents grew and picked all of their own vegetables and cotton, and my great-great grandmother escaped the Dawes Rolls resettlement by running as fast as she could back to TX when she realized her culture was getting screwed.

**********

Maybe part of the reason I'm missing the point here is because I've spent much of my life traveling. My father worked in construction for most of his life, and we lived in and visited a lot of countries where we were often the only non-American people around for hundreds of miles. He insisted that we live modestly (the travel pay was put into his retirement account), see as much of the country as possible, and we were made to learn as much as possible about where we were, rather than expecting the people of whatever country we were in to extend themselves over us. Unique approach? Perhaps, but it's colored (no pun intended) everything in my life from my approach to work and gender to where I live and how I get along in the world no matter where I am.

As a consequence of both extensive travel and of not having much money (I paid my own way through school and was raised in working-class neighborhoods), I've never been afraid of or had a problem with going to or living in places where I'm a minority, and I've always had to look under the surface of skin and language to find common ground, even if it means I'm challenged in the beginning just on the basis of skin color.

Therefore, when I am a "wop in a hip-hop crowd" (Coolio - "I Remember"), I've not noticed nearly as much as, say, someone who has lived in an exclusively white (or rich, or poor, or black, whatever) community for much of their lives. My thought is "It's music, I like it, I'm buying a ticket", not "Oh, I'm going to be the only non-black person around for 20 miles", and I typically don't notice unless someone else points it out and says "Whoa...you're not 'one of us'" after they've approached me out of curiosity, something else I don't mind these days as long as it's not continually hostile.

My lousy financial status has meant I've had to find inventive ways of participating in parts of American or upscale culture -- or even finding a job in my field -- in places seemingly reserved for people from another world. It's usually meant I've worked for event planners, won a contest, worked harder than anyone else around me, learned to be a part of the band, or just got lucky. Occasionally, I've been able to afford the price just because I knew whatever event I wanted to attend was something I just couldn't bear to miss, and thus made it work by working extra hours or two jobs or whatever I could do.

It's my choice to go to a concert or an event where I might be a minority, but it's not my choice to be denied a job because of my race or gender, and that's the main difference I see in the posts here. I'll fight for anyone who is dismissed based on race, gender, or sexual preference because it's total bullshit, but just because you're not the dominant race (or just because an event isn't "diverse" epidermis-wise) participating in an event doesn't necessarily mean the people are racist, but rather that, like a poster mentioned above, when you do something cool with like minds, you tell two friends who tell two friends etc. Sometimes you end up with a "balanced" mix of people because there is general interest or because people can bend the event themselves to represent a large swath of the community. Sometimes this takes time and those people communicating with one another (rather than feeling weird for participating outside of their given sex/race) and you end up with a majority of one race/gender/sex preference, and then it's up to the participant to look for similarities under the surface and to drag their friends along.

For instance, if I want 50 white people to go to a Brazilian music festival just because I'm uncomfortable in my own skin (sounds pretty silly and self-conscious, doesn't it?) then I have to expose them to the music I like in order to bring them along, right? I can hardly expect anyone from that community to reach out to me based on race alone (rather than for the love of art and music), and shouldn't expect them to. It's up to me to make the first step, to venture into new territory, and to rant and rave about how wonderful the experience is, in order to get others to participate outside of their experience.

There are quite a few responses on the Burning women Tribe on tribe.net if you wanted to expand your perspective on this.

But I will add here as I did on tribe,

BM is what you make it. Plain and simple.
If you dont see color, then recruit color.
I didnt see any dykes out there, so I went and recruited dykes to come out there. and it worked.
I made my experience.
I would love to see a sexy curvy brown woman running around. If you feel discomfort in doing that, It's all on you girl. cause the bm community would embrace your sexy womanly figure. If curvy women of color dont go out there and participate, than it will be a skinny white girl world. But to complain and not do anything about it is the reason why you had a bad time.
To complain and not do anything about it, is why burning man is not for you.
to complain and not realize that most burners embrace all that they encounter, all colors, all traditions, that whatever a person feels like doing, they are given permission to do just by acceptance of those around them.

You complain like a typical human existing in this sheep like world.

The reason why burning man has 50,000 people go repeatedly is because most of them know how to embrace the experience.

Your diatribe clearly shows that you do not.

My sympathies for your expectations.

You leave those at home when you go to bm and you clearly did not.

Hello, I find this to be a very interesting thread. I have been thinking about it for days since I first read it.

It's notable to me that most of the people who seem to "like" what you are saying are people that have not been to burning man and are glad to have their fears validated.

You, on the other hand, have been there. And I think you are still in the very early stages of discovering what burning man is. As the event grows, I think sometimes it's easier to stay in our regular-life perspectives and miss some of what is different there that does not fit in with those perspectives.

I sincerely encourage you to try again, because I think that there is amazing growth there for you.

I say that because of what happened to me:

My first year, all I saw were thin women in amazing clothes that my curvy overweight body could never wear. I covered up and hid my body. It didn't seem to fit in. I heard about the critical tits parade (where thousands of women ride bikes topless), but there was no way I would go or even watch.

My second year I wouldn't go to that parade either, but I considered watching. Then forgot about it. I heard there were pervs there and that validated my fears about going.

My third year, I gathered some girlfriends, discussed my issues with baring my scarred and very imperfect breasts (and rest of body) in public, got a lot of support and went and participated in the parade. It was amazingly healing and liberating, even though there were annoying gawking men there. I also discovered there were very supportive and wonderful men there as well.

My fourth year, I found out there was a "Human Carcass Wash" where people first volunteer as "washers" and then go through a line of body washing stations and have their body washed by others. Again, my body issues prevented me from participating.

My fifth year I considered going tot he human carcass wash but didn't. My friends went and told me all about it and I was sad I couldn't get myself to go.

Between my 5th and 6th years something happened. My friend got breast cancer, had a double mastectomy followed by a reconstruction. We went to a burning man regional event at a lovely location with a strong "clothing-optional" vibe. My friend and I decided that we would plow through our body issues by BEING the people that we wished we could see there: two large women with lots of scars and imperfections. I was scared at first, but I did it long enough to get comfortable and finally get past my lifelong issues about not having a flat stomach, and having large breasts with scars from a surgery gone wrong.

By the time of my 6th burning man I was FREE of the cultural crap about women's bodies that I had lived with for 49 years. I signed up to be a "Greeter", the first person that people talk to when they drive up to burning man. And for 4 hours I greeted-- in the nude! I got to welcome people to our city (burning man) in a way that DEMONSTRATED that ALL bodies are welcome. You see, I created the very vibe that I wish I had been able to feel all those many years ago.

It was an amazing experience. And, you know what? I realized that my 1st year, when all I saw at burning man were tons of thin women, it was because that was who *I* looked at. The women my size were invisible to me because I was focussed on my own fears and issues.

Now, I'm not saying there are tons of people of color that you didn't see, but I do think you didn't see what was there. And part of what that is, is that there really IS room for all, room for you to create what you want, room for everyone, room to see AND experience something other than what you already think and currently live in.

I wish for you to see burning man as a process rather than an event and give yourself the chance to find there exactly what you are seeking.

In love and respect...

For those of you who feel that only commenters with "insider" BM credentials offer reliable critiques of the event: I have been to BM three times, and likely will attend again in future. I am a burner, albeit an ambivalent one.

Burning Man certainly is not a feminist event, contrary to the leather-clad doctor who characterized it thus to Samhita. In fact, I've encountered the most consistent, daily misogyny of my life at BM: every.single.day I have spent on the playa has been rife with it. It's a fact that one's worth and status in many sectors of BRC are directly proportional to one's hotness and youth. And for all it's claims to countercultural values, BM constructions of hotness and youth are, curiously, exactly like those of mainstream American culture: young, thin, white, blond, and waxed.

I daresay BM is more misogynistic than mainstream American culture. In my "real life" I am respected somewhat for my education, career, and other achievements; at BRC, I usually am judged by my physical appearance alone. Anyone who says this event is "radically inclusive" is dreaming.

So why do I go? I go because, despite the prevalence of misogynistic and other bullshit, there is a sense of playfulness at BM that I value. I cannot quite articulate what I mean by that, but it's important enough to me that I let the other shit roll off my back. I put up with the continually vexing aspects of the event because of those brief moments of play. But proportionally, it's 20:1 in terms of bullshit:transcendent moments. Don't go unless you are ready to overlook a lot of asshattery in search of those brief connective glimpses.

so I know this is sort of old but I wanted to chime in regardless on the "yay samhita" side

1. I am really tired of the oh-so-clever role reversal example: I don't expect other (insert people of colour) to make me feel welcome in a (insert non-white racially homogenous space here)! I don't feel weird being the only white person around! no one cares if you're black! mostly what I hear in arguments like this is "blah blah blah privilege, everything is easy for me surely it must be the same for you, stop complaining"

2. I am also tired of the 'you are responsible for ending racism' argument. leslie's comment of "your point seems to be that burning man as some kind of independent entity is responsible for ensuring the kind of diversity you would like to see in the world, but it's just not that way. if you want to create more diversity, bring it." ignores the fact that the problem is that what lots of people are 'bringing' are the same old classisms, racisms, sexisms, ableisms, etc. that pervade our non-burning man society. a person of colour 'bringing more diversity' to burning man is not a solution nor is it their responsibility.

3. as chancluda pointed out: being white is no excuse. I guess I fall somewhere within the boundary zone between 'white' and 'other' but I pass as white pretty often. I won't deny my own privilege but I am not going to hide behind it either. my small confused naive white girl brain is not incapable of seeing and learning about privilege and neither is yours. give me a break.

4. and for everyone who was all 'geez why are you so angry in your responses samhita I just wanted to have a constructive dialogue but your response was really hostile', suck it up. as far as I can tell samhita's a human being and not a saint, which you'd have to be to not get angry when confronting this shit day after day after day.

Another thing occurred to me that I'd like to add:

So many burners here have commented that, if Samhita or others feel that something is lacking in their BM experience, it is up to them to change the event in some way -- either by bringing in more poc, by designing an art piece to present the critique, etc. As as BM participant, I understand that this is part of the "no spectators," DIY aesthetic of the event.

But I think what's so facile about this line of reasoning is that it assumes that the event is so self-evidently meaningful to all attendees, that they should dedicate significant energy towards trying to alter it's demographic makeup, its culture, its music, its social mores &c. That's a pretty tall order to ask of someone: "Hey, you felt alienated from BM and experienced little sense of community there? You have minimal personal investment in this event? Well don't just critique, act! It's up to you to change all that!" Honestly, I've never heard anything more ridiculous!

Such sentiments ignore the fact that those who feel unwelcome or alienated from the event have little motivation to invest the time and effort required to re-make it (or part of it) in their own image. The organizers, the volunteers and those already committed to the BM community should be meeting these critiques and responding to them constructively (rather than defensively, which seems to be the default here) so that a more diverse range of humans feel the event is worth their energy and perspective. We commit to the things we care deeply about; if BM leaves someone cold, why the hell should they commit to changing and enriching it?

The point is: there are plenty of causes to which a progressive person may choose to commit time, money, and energy. If BM is alienating to a particular individual, rather than rewarding, then it's absurd to ask such a person to choose BM as a recipient for their time, money, and energy, rather than another, more welcoming community. And this is one reason why white privilege and masculist privilege has been perpetuated in BM culture: the community is set up in a way that those who benefit from it now, are most likely to engage with it; they therefore tend to reproduce it's culture as it currently is configured. I find the ideals of pure volunteerism and DIY culture as appealing as anyone; indeed, they are central to my life in many ways. But the risk, especially when we're talking about an event of 50K people, is that these ideals can lead to a self-selective culture that reproduces its own errors, weaknesses, pathologies, and dysfunctions.

Samhita's suggestion that BMORG set aside some funds for artwork and artists who embody greater diversity would be a modest first step towards trying to change this. I don't think it's unreasonable for the BM organization to step in in order to redress and rebalance a little.

this is so crazy to sit there and what this. I am not sure if this entertainment. I will not being show up for this.
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