Apr 10th, 2019

Stories pilot data supporting the cultural correcting of Burning Man

Burning Stories is gearing up for 2019! The preliminary data from 2018 Burning Stories was presented at the Burning Progeny symposium in Switzerland with some exciting future directions.

We got a fairly limited number of answers but big thank you for those who replied!
It matters a lot to us, we shared some of your insights to BMP and we were listened as well. The following text is from Marian Goodell, the CEO of Burning Man, in her widely distributed piece of Cultural Course Correcting. Later the piece was featured in New York Times

”As CEO of the nonprofit Burning Man Project, I do a lot of listening. People enthusiastically share their Burning Man experiences, ideas, and concerns with me. Lately, participants have been talking about some alarming changes in the culture of Burning Man in Black Rock City, and their speculation as to who and what is causing them.

This past November I attended an academic symposium in Switzerland on the spread of Burning Man culture. A presenter from Finland shared several dozen observations and quotes from his participant interviews. The following really struck me:

“I am disappointed with the attitudes of the mutant vehicle and art car folks. Their gatekeepers are very discriminatory on who they let ride. I was actually told, ‘No, it’s too late for old people to be out, anyway,’ ‘you’re not pretty enough,’ and ‘we’re only picking up hot girls right now.’ I asked other camp members and heard similar stories. One gay couple said they had tried for 3 years to get on a vehicle and they were denied every time.” -Retired Artist, Male, 70

That just broke my heart. How did we get here? Who thinks saying this is okay on or off the playa? This isn’t Burning Man."

How this story continues? Read more here!