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hat is the
Michigan
Womyn’s
Music
W
Festival?
Five to seven
thousand women
in various stages
of undress, mainly.
The rest? Vege
tarian food, great
entertainment,
camping and con
troversy. Fondly
known as “Michi
gan” or “Tire Festi
val” or (say it with
reverence) “The
Land,” it’s a place
where you can
misspell the word “women”
with politically correct aban
don, pee in a Port-a-Jane and
shop at the Cuntree Store.
For a “Festie
Virgin,” the lingo might take some
getting used to. Frankly, the whole
thing is quite overwhelming, and
it’s impossible to describe in just a
few words. The fact is, Michigan
can be whatever you want it to be:
a spiritual quest, a political war, a
love-in, a class reunion, a forest
fuck-fest. Or all of the above.
Here’s an attempt to narrow it
down to basics.
Food: arguably very good. A
couple big tents serve as kitchens in
which thousands of women are
miraculously fed. Bring your hibachi
and a cooler lull of burgers if you
can’t take three vegetarian meals a
day and long lines for ’em. Contrary
to reputation, there is no Vegetari
an Police. (There is, however, a woman dressed
like the police whose entire festival job is to go
around painting women’s bodies).
Entertainment: unarguably spectacular. There
truly is something for everyone, and you more
than get your money’s worth. Included is all
forms of music from the Indigo Girls to Japanese
Taiko drumming to suttry jazz/R & B to spoken
word to earnest folk lesbians with guitars. You
also see the best in comedy, dance and drama.
On top of all that, there’s workshops on
anything and everything, from the practical to
the hilarious: female ejaculation contests, polit
ical organizing, making a plaster cast of your
breasts, adopting babies from China, discussion
workshops on hotly debated issues in the les
bian community. You name it, somebody has
scheduled a workshop about it.
Controversy: The “womyn-bom-womyn only”
policy of the festival is quite problematic. Wasn’t it
the Michigan-building, hardcore, second-wave
feminists who said gender was nothin’ but a social
construction? Despite the policy, there seems to be
a general acceptance of post-operative transsexual
women. I guess there’s a fear of seeing penises that
aren’t 10 inches long, lavender and attached to a
harness. Or, more frightening, watching joe Frat
Boy waltz through the front gate saying he identi
fies as a woman today.
The history of the relationship between the
festival and the trans movement is rich and
complex. One of the great things about Michi
gan is there’s always an issue. Pom: Speech vs.
Harm. S/M: Freedom or Abuse? Tribe 8: Pro or
Con? Tofu: Nutrition or Oppression? Women
on both sides of each issue go, or they boycott,
or they protest inside the festival, or they
protest outside the festival, or they talk to each
other, or they schedule a workshop about it.
All perfectly valid. In my experience, Michi
presents
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Only
days
until Series 2002!
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gan can be about dialogue. Or it can be a place
to draw a line in the sand and yell at someone.
Part of your admission includes one or two
four-hour work shifts, and this is actually where
much interaction takes place. You might be
parking cars in a big field or peeling 50 pounds
of carrots with a dyke on the other side of some
Issue, strike up a conversation and actually
leam something. Michigan is the petri dish
where these issues grow, the stage upon which
they get played out. Attitudes are evolving—
not quickly enough for some, perhaps— but
they are, and the more voices raised, the better.
began going to Michigan 10 years ago as a 20-
year-old rural Midwestern girl who thought
she was straight. The festival is especially
important for those rural and suburban gals who
don’t have access to the kinds of performances
and who don’t live in any semblance of diversity
that exist in the cities and on the coasts.
Urban lesbians have the luxury of taking
this kind of culture for granted— criticizing the
festival from afar over a latte, then walking
down the street holding hands to see Alice
Walker perform a reading. It’s pretty easy to
boycott the festival from Portland.
For your average Midwestern or rural dyke,
though, it’s a freeing, mind-blowing event that
is treasured and saved-for all year long. Michi
gan— with all its flaws— is an oasis of lesbian
civilization for women living every day in con
servative and mainstream culture, and, believe
me, these women leave the festival questioning
everything.
This is why we can’t throw out the baby
with the bath water. Michigan is vital to femi
nist and queer culture.
Each woman has her own reasons why she
goes to Michigan year after year. For me, the
festival expeiience is infused with a rare feeling
of downright bodily safety. I can walk around
outside buck naked at 3 a.m. When a woman
can relax to this extent, it frees up a lot of
energy and makes room for a lot of joy.
Is the festival woo-woo? It can be. Is it trou
bling? Yeah, sometimes. Is it evolving? Con
stantly. Is it overwhelming? Most definitely.
But it’s a party like no other, and one that
makes you think. G o and be a part of it— in
support or in protest, inside or outside— it is
always a transformational experience. J H
I
M iss G a y W orld S e rie s P ag e an t
and BSd-a-Bachelor A uction
a t the Red C ap G arag e/B rig com plex!
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up to 10 co n te sta n ts co m p e te fo r th e C ro w n of
M iss G a y W orld S e rie s 2 0 0 2 ! S tick a ro u n d to bid
on a softb all p la ye r an d g et a d a te fo r a d a y or
th e w e e k ...m a y b e find M r. o r M iss Right!
A ll p ro ce e d s will b enefit o u r w o nd erful ch a ritie s
S u s a n G . K o m e n B re a st C a n c e r F o u n d a tio n , O u r
H o u se of P o rtlan d a n d Esther's Pantry.
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The M ic h ig a n W o m yn ’ s M u s ic F estival is
Aug. 13 to 18. For more information visit
www. michfest. com.
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