slimvictor
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A growing number of sociologists, business professors and theologians view the event's mix of hipsters, artisans, zany theme camps and outdoor art gallery as more than a party. They see fertile ground for research.
By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times
October 19, 2010|7:35 p.m.
Reporting from the Black Rock Desert, Nev. — Thousands of bare-chested women are riding bikes across the barren landscape of the Black Rock Desert outside Reno. They are being cheered on by crowds of enthusiastic, mostly male supporters.
"You're beautiful!" shouts a tall, dreadlocked man in a pink tutu to Neko, a 21-year-old political science student from San Diego. "Be strong!" yells another, wearing a camera around his neck. For Neko, it's the empowering highlight of her trip to Burning Man, the annual arts-and-fire festival that celebrated its 25th year this summer.
"It was women celebrating being women," said the petite brunette, who like others here prefers to use her Burning Man nickname during the festival. "It was amazing."
Where some see feminist freedom in the topless bike ride, researcher Wendy Clupper saw a dissertation. Watching the same parade eight years earlier, she couldn't help noticing the dichotomy between female empowerment and male lust.
Her paper, "The Performance Culture of Burning Man," earned Clupper a doctoral degree in performance arts from the University of Maryland. Since then her essays on Burning Man have been reprinted in two books, including an analysis of the bike ride that Neko found so exhilarating.
That puts Clupper among a growing list of sociologists, business professors, theologians and other scholars who view the event's mix of hipsters, artisans, zany theme camps and outdoor art gallery as more than a party. They see fertile ground for research.
When she started her dissertation in 2002, Clupper could find only six other scholarly works focusing on Burning Man. Today there are dozens, including an expanding roster of analytical books.
continued here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-burning-man-20101020,0,3179154,full.story
By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times
October 19, 2010|7:35 p.m.
Reporting from the Black Rock Desert, Nev. — Thousands of bare-chested women are riding bikes across the barren landscape of the Black Rock Desert outside Reno. They are being cheered on by crowds of enthusiastic, mostly male supporters.
"You're beautiful!" shouts a tall, dreadlocked man in a pink tutu to Neko, a 21-year-old political science student from San Diego. "Be strong!" yells another, wearing a camera around his neck. For Neko, it's the empowering highlight of her trip to Burning Man, the annual arts-and-fire festival that celebrated its 25th year this summer.
"It was women celebrating being women," said the petite brunette, who like others here prefers to use her Burning Man nickname during the festival. "It was amazing."
Where some see feminist freedom in the topless bike ride, researcher Wendy Clupper saw a dissertation. Watching the same parade eight years earlier, she couldn't help noticing the dichotomy between female empowerment and male lust.
Her paper, "The Performance Culture of Burning Man," earned Clupper a doctoral degree in performance arts from the University of Maryland. Since then her essays on Burning Man have been reprinted in two books, including an analysis of the bike ride that Neko found so exhilarating.
That puts Clupper among a growing list of sociologists, business professors, theologians and other scholars who view the event's mix of hipsters, artisans, zany theme camps and outdoor art gallery as more than a party. They see fertile ground for research.
When she started her dissertation in 2002, Clupper could find only six other scholarly works focusing on Burning Man. Today there are dozens, including an expanding roster of analytical books.
continued here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-burning-man-20101020,0,3179154,full.story
