and for me that means sewing a new winter coat, as mine have pretty much worn out or are currently unwearable.  then last week there was a fabric sale in town with cheep ass fabric, thus The Ugly Distinctive Winter coat was borne .... so under the cut are pictures of the making of The Ugly Distinctive Winter Coat, my challenge was to make it not so ugly.. *nods*...

so this morning via twitter i came across this article about ethnic diversity or lack thereof at Burning Man.  most of the reasoning pointed strongly towards security, or sense of security and how it differs quite substantially between white people and minorities, quite the interesting eye opener, and in many ways i am wondering how this compares with New Zealand seeing as i live here.. and i am also now wondering about how this article would relate to pagan festivals.  the last big pagan festival i attended was in canada, and i note that there was a lack of minority people and i am wondering if this reasoning would be similar  hmm.. *ponders this*

then there is the phrase "white people thing" which to my mind is not a race thing but more of a culture thing?  it is certainly not a slur against, it is just one of those things, a white people thing, if you will.. so this has also got me thinking about further differences between various cultures, colours and races of people and where their perspectives are concerning the various festivals, like that of burning man.  

i found the comparison between the 60 flower power and counter revolution as white people trying to find their individuality, and the civil rights movement of the 60's for Black People, which to my mind is quite an interesting dichotomy.  On the one hand you have a group of people fighting for their right to be recognised as people, on the other, you have different group of people fighting for their right to be recognised as individuals *ponders this*  they seems like they were fighting for a similar cause, or were they?  Did the fight for being recognised as individual shad how white people saw themselves and create a culture of to much individual thus trashing the sense of community for white people, thus they crave it and go looking for it at festivals such as Burning Man?  Whereas through fighting for the right to be recognised as people, via the black civil rights movement created a strong sense of community and solidarity thus no need to go to festivals like that of Burning Man to find their community cause its already at home?

so dear readers can you add any light to this or further wondering about this "white people thing"  and further ideas about the cultures of minorities verses the culture of white people in western countries.  Race has and still his such a hot button issues, it makes me wonder about the following question: there is so much political correctness around 'ethnic minorities' that somewhere along the lines the idea that there is cultural and racial differences and thats ok, but it has somehow been lost. 

in the great race to homogenise everything have we lost the ability to accept and be comfortable with difference?  and then to further that i have to wonder is it ok that festivals like burning man and pagan festivals are a "white people thing" ?  is that not a part of cultural differences that fall into the acceptable category?  as opposed to being a them and us phenomenon, it is more of a difference phenomenon? 

or if it is a feeling of security thing, and the white people feel secure and the minority don't have that innate feeling of security is it something that needs to be fixed cause really it is an imbalance, a leftover symptom of a horrific past where minorities were second class citizens? 

then i guess the final question bouncing about in my head is do the minorities want to go to festivals like Burning Man, it is their kind of thing? if like the articles says white people go to burning man to gain a sense of community, perhaps it is fair to say that a lot of minority cultures have a stronger sense of community already be it cultural or not thus they do not feel the need to flee into the desert for 10 days to find it because they have it right at home?  which then leads be back to the 60's flower people finding individuality, verses 60's civil rights for black movements in America...

gosh circles.. and much to ponder..

tatjna

1. Who was your first crush?

2. What would you do with a million dollars?

3. Where were you living and what were you doing when you were 25?

4. Are there any famous people who have influenced your life?

5. What was the first thing you sewed for yourself (outside of school sewing classes)?