Sacred Whores and Fire Mamas: Burner Femininities and Emotional Labour in the Creation of Burning Man

• In Event: 40820 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 12: Femininities and Masculinities

Abstract

Abstract: This paper builds on existing gender and cultural events scholarship by analyzing emotional labour done by participants at Lakes of Fire, a regional Burning Man event in Montague, MI which takes place annually in June. Drawing on 42 interviews with male and female-identifying “Burners,” I focus specifically on how “Burns” such as Lakes, as liminal spaces, create new culturally-specific understandings of femininity, which are necessary to maintaining Lakes as a de-monitized cultural event, as they are embodied within the emotional labour that Burners of all genders are required to perform to sustain Lakes as a cultural event. By analyzing the self-described femininities as they manifest with the “Sacred Whores” and “Fire Mama” roles and personas with Lakes, I explore how the Lakes cultural space both subverts and reinforces existing practices and understandings of gender and sexuality, specifically in how it manifests in emotional labour around teaching and reinforcing the codified “Ten Burner Principles,” and teachings around consent and sexuality. In doing so, they sustain Lakes’ cultural community by demonstrating their importance to others. However, the lack of similar “Burner masculinities,” or Burner-specific masculine gender identities, can serve to displace greater amounts of emotional (and sometimes physical) labour onto women due to a lack of similar affirming masculine identity socialization processes within Lakes. For example, more traditional “toxic masculinity” is also present at Lakes and often manifests in the form of misogynistic attitudes, notably around sexual consent and women’s participation within building and artistic endeavors.

Author

• Natalie Julia Anastasia Adamyk, University of Toronto