Nitpick, but the windows from Pano face south-southwest (in at least two places you say they face east). The ones by the smoking area / toilets (shown in the C|O flyer with the deer) face east (and get incredible morning sunlight).
I love the fan trick for parting a crowd! Gonna steal that one :)
Awesome, thank you! I looked at Google maps and images to try to figure out the orientation of the windows. I clearly got it wrong. Thanks for correcting me!
Best thing I’ve read all week - and I’m deep in master’s essay territory, so I’ve read a lot. Erudite, witty, insightful, moving… it’s almost too much! (Also your photos in their utter pointlessness make their own point about visual culture.)
I’ve been on plenty of dancefloors with cishet guys but never experienced what you describe. It honestly sounds horrific, like being on a late commuter train plus some movement. What do you attribute the veiled aggression and sexualisation to? Booze? Phone? These (*sigh) times? Normative culture’s stranglehold? Because honestly your description sounds like exactly what we were trying to get away from via the rave scene in the early 90s. I’m sure those attitudes were there, but they had to yield in the face of a really different paradigm: the dancefloor was simply for dancing. I never once felt threatened or unsafe. Weird vibes from one or two people - and there’s always a few - were taken care of by the peaceful, accepting, loving vibes of the majority of the people.
And the fan vignettes made me tear up a little. (Love that there was a DJ called Ffan yoo.) This is the point, right? Humans together can find creative ways of giving each other what we need. It takes a little effort, either from the wrists or the mind, and we do it anyway because it’s the right thing to do. That small act is received and reciprocated and everyone is enriched for it. This what a dancefloor is for and this is way rave culture is so important: it lets us know feel in our bodies that there are other ways of being. And that they feel amazing.
Hopefully part 4 drops in the midst of my slogging through Foucault etc.
I had a mixed experience at my last Klubnacht and wanted to share it here to get some advice. The night itself had its highs, but one thing really killed my vibe: too many straight guys who wouldn’t respect boundaries.
I’m used to Berghain being a space where I feel safe and free, but last night, I kept running into guys who wouldn’t take a hint—staring, talking way too much when I wasn’t engaging, and even touching without any sign of my consent. Nothing horrible happened, so I didn’t feel like I could justify calling security on them, but over hours, it really started to feel like a low-level form of harassment. I just wanted to dance and lose myself in the music, but instead, I found myself constantly on guard.
From some posts here, I saw that other girls had similar experiences last night. So I wanted to ask—how do you handle this? Do you say something directly?And at what point would you actually involve security? I don’t want to be dramatic, but I also don’t want to just accept that this is becoming more common.
Would love to hear how others deal with this. Thanks!"
I think they don't know how to *be* in a space that's so clearly not for them, and so the ones that are with someone get overly protective, whereas the ones that are there solo get insecure and homophobic about even accidental touch from other men.
You'll like that DJ ffan's instagram alias is @ffanyourself.
Quoting this for truth: "[Raving] lets us feel in our bodies that there are other ways of being. And that they feel amazing."
Part 4 is a bit wild -- it'll be the first on in the series that's paywalled just because it's a way for me to keep tourists out of something that felt scary to write. But part 5 will be open to all!
i loved reading this so so much!!
sounds like two absolutely beautiful nights. made me emotional..
thank you <3
Nitpick, but the windows from Pano face south-southwest (in at least two places you say they face east). The ones by the smoking area / toilets (shown in the C|O flyer with the deer) face east (and get incredible morning sunlight).
I love the fan trick for parting a crowd! Gonna steal that one :)
Awesome, thank you! I looked at Google maps and images to try to figure out the orientation of the windows. I clearly got it wrong. Thanks for correcting me!
Best thing I’ve read all week - and I’m deep in master’s essay territory, so I’ve read a lot. Erudite, witty, insightful, moving… it’s almost too much! (Also your photos in their utter pointlessness make their own point about visual culture.)
I’ve been on plenty of dancefloors with cishet guys but never experienced what you describe. It honestly sounds horrific, like being on a late commuter train plus some movement. What do you attribute the veiled aggression and sexualisation to? Booze? Phone? These (*sigh) times? Normative culture’s stranglehold? Because honestly your description sounds like exactly what we were trying to get away from via the rave scene in the early 90s. I’m sure those attitudes were there, but they had to yield in the face of a really different paradigm: the dancefloor was simply for dancing. I never once felt threatened or unsafe. Weird vibes from one or two people - and there’s always a few - were taken care of by the peaceful, accepting, loving vibes of the majority of the people.
And the fan vignettes made me tear up a little. (Love that there was a DJ called Ffan yoo.) This is the point, right? Humans together can find creative ways of giving each other what we need. It takes a little effort, either from the wrists or the mind, and we do it anyway because it’s the right thing to do. That small act is received and reciprocated and everyone is enriched for it. This what a dancefloor is for and this is way rave culture is so important: it lets us know feel in our bodies that there are other ways of being. And that they feel amazing.
Hopefully part 4 drops in the midst of my slogging through Foucault etc.
Aww, thank you! I think the het guys at Berghain are just lost and frustrated -- someone posted a reddit thread about their behavior the same weekend I was there: https://www.reddit.com/r/Berghain_Community/comments/1jdcm64/straight_guys_with_no_boundaries_last_kn/
She wrote, "Hey everyone,
I had a mixed experience at my last Klubnacht and wanted to share it here to get some advice. The night itself had its highs, but one thing really killed my vibe: too many straight guys who wouldn’t respect boundaries.
I’m used to Berghain being a space where I feel safe and free, but last night, I kept running into guys who wouldn’t take a hint—staring, talking way too much when I wasn’t engaging, and even touching without any sign of my consent. Nothing horrible happened, so I didn’t feel like I could justify calling security on them, but over hours, it really started to feel like a low-level form of harassment. I just wanted to dance and lose myself in the music, but instead, I found myself constantly on guard.
From some posts here, I saw that other girls had similar experiences last night. So I wanted to ask—how do you handle this? Do you say something directly?And at what point would you actually involve security? I don’t want to be dramatic, but I also don’t want to just accept that this is becoming more common.
Would love to hear how others deal with this. Thanks!"
I think they don't know how to *be* in a space that's so clearly not for them, and so the ones that are with someone get overly protective, whereas the ones that are there solo get insecure and homophobic about even accidental touch from other men.
You'll like that DJ ffan's instagram alias is @ffanyourself.
Quoting this for truth: "[Raving] lets us feel in our bodies that there are other ways of being. And that they feel amazing."
Part 4 is a bit wild -- it'll be the first on in the series that's paywalled just because it's a way for me to keep tourists out of something that felt scary to write. But part 5 will be open to all!