Thursday, September 5, 2013

Burning Man This Year: Trend #2

2. It was the year of the Release of the Feminine

Among other things, Burning Man, while it is going on, is the most interesting art museum in the world. It took until the end of the week last year for me to realize this, so this year I made sure to get out the art map early in the week, and make several tours of the playa, both alone and with others, to see as many of the installations as possible. This is especially dramatic at night, out on the Deep Playa (the area beyond the Man in the 12:00 direction). You follow the lights in the distance at night, and come upon some surprise out in the middle of the desert.

This year the most dramatic piece by far was inarguably the giant 40-foot statue of a naked woman reaching up towards the heavens as if in some kind of joy of self-expression. I heard the (male) sculptor being interviewed on Burning Man radio and he said as much, about the purpose of his piece. The point being that there was too much "Man" at Burning Man and not enough "Woman."

The tall woman sculpture was not made of wood, but metal, it should be noted. That meant it wasn't burned at the end of the week, as most wood pieces are.

Not only was this sculpture larger in scale than any other on the playa outside the Man, but it seemed to be to perfectly in harmony with one of the overall trends this year, one that my campmates and I discussed. All of us agreed with it, in some form or another: the release of some kind of Feminine energy

The most easily recognizable aspect of this was an increase in the sluttiness quotient of both the female participants (that's the official Burning Man word for us) and of the presentation of the dance clubs.

Among the participants, there was a noted uptick in toplessness, especially by the younger women. Moreover, unlike last year, I actually saw multiple instances of bottomlessness as well among women. This was actually quite shocking at first, especially upon seeing a woman dance this way erotically right in the Central Camp as I was drinking my morning coffee. I also saw multiple acts involving attractive young women that I choose not to describe here on this blog, suffice it to say that it was not something one sees in public every day.

On the club scene---both in the camps and the art cars---there was  definite trend towards the use of more go-go dancers. Moreover, there were multiple creative uses of shadow-screen go-go dancers, notably at Slutgarden (the most dynamic small dance club on the Esplanade this year), and at the towering plaza of White Ocean (the biggest dance club this year, on the edge of the city, where many of the notable DJs played).

All this might seem like lewdness gone off the charts. Certainly it is that. But if you've been Burning Man, you'll understand what I mean when I say that there is more to the story than simple debauchery. In fact, it almost implies the opposite. Let me explain:

1. Burning Man is a safe space where people can express themselves at their "true selves," in a manner that they are not able to, in the "default world." It is not for nothing that one says "Welcome Home" to each other, as one arrives there.

2. The dominant ideology in the default world right now is one of hardcore radical feminism, which asserts among other things that (1) women are fragile beings susceptible to the violence and agression of men and must be protected (by the government) (2) women are sexual beings with sexual desire that needs to be expressed and satisfied in a deep and thorough way (3) women are the same as men in the work world, and are jut as responsible and capable in all professions that have been historically dominated by men.

All of this above, and the rest, is a huge load of ideological bullshit that women have to put up with.  Among other things, it is well designed to strip the Femininity out of women, demanding that they be hypermasculinized in both the workplace and in the bedroom, all the while asserting that the arm of the Big State needs to make sure that these precious snowflakes are sheltered from the Big Bad Patriarchy.

As such many women feel like they are supposed to be sexual, but the expression of this in Feminist terms is somehow supposed to be that of the Man-despising Bitch.  Men are necessary for the tools between their legs, but otherwise that are brutish oafs whose desires are disgusting and which need to be held in check in the manner of a little boy as much as possible.

What's a nice girl supposed to do? She goes to Burning Man. She puts on a slutty Venusian surface, because that's part of her nature, and it's the style lately, but underneath it over and over, I felt an overwhelming Feminine Innocence that I only glimpse in the default world.

Innocence---it happens when the topless 21-year-old walks up to you and gives you a hug and kiss spontaneously, as if you are a playground, and the girls are going on kissing spree.  It's as beautiful as anything you will experience on the planet.

Innocence of expression, the curious beautiful desire young women to love is exactly what is denied by the default world Feminist ideology. For gawdssake, don't love!! is the cry of screaming harridans that dominate our culture discourse.

But like every other facet of the Death Machine, it is all coming unglued and falling apart. There is a massive revolt underway that is bringing down the entire thing. We are witnessing a beautiful moment of History.

And it's being lead by the young quasi-maidens of Burning Man, going on bestowing kisses like some kind of brigade of angels.

A hard-core feminist friend of mine from high school used to take perverse joy in asserting that any expression of love, kindness, sexual interest from a woman always came with some kind of string attached or agenda, e.g. money.  Although she didn't put it exactly like that, it implied to me that woman showed genuine love to a man. It was all for show.

Now I realize that she was just talking about herself, and that she was a damaged prisoner of the Death Machine. But the strength of the True Feminine is stronger than that. It cannot be denied or destroyed in human nature for very long. It will reassert itself. It will destroy the constraints imposed upon it. That's the true True Girl Power. It's the one that comes with extra vowels, free of charge.


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