Consider the Origins

A strong woman is called a bitch, an attractive woman is called a chick, when two women get in a fight it’s called a catfight and an older woman looking for a younger man is called a cougar. Beginning in Greek mythology with legends of the Sapiens, a half woman and half bird creature, and translating into modern slang, women are routinely and casually likened to animals. The Running of the Bulls event in New Orleans capitalizes on this trend and puts women dressed like bulls in the spotlight as the main event.

At 8 a.m. sharp on August 24, 2019, 18,000 women, men and children put on red and white and ran down the one-mile course in downtown New Orleans. Hooting and hollering, they filled the streets with a sea of chaos and fun. Intermixed within the crowd are the Big Easy Roller Derby girls. With horns on their heads and plastic bats in their hands, the 13th annual New Orleans’ Running of the Bulls kicked off with a bang.

Big Easy Roller Derby Girls sporting their horns and carrying their plastic bats. Photo by: Wikimedia Commons

The New Orleans’ Running of the Bulls, created in 2007, is mirrored after the annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. The Running of the Bulls in Spain began in the early 14th century. The first New Orleans Running of the Bulls had only 200 participants and 14 Roller Derby Girls. Now, the event attracts tens of thousands. Mike Hanning and a friend thought of the idea during Mardi Gras in 2007.

“He and I were talking about it, and I said, ‘Hey, why don’t we create our own little thing here for people who are enthusiasts. We’ll run through the streets and have our girlfriends or wives chase us around,’ ” said Hanning. “He kind of looked at me like I was crazy, but my wife loved the idea.”

A friend who was a member of the Roller Derby Girls suggested that they participate instead, and the event was born. The event is a part of San Fermin in Nueva Orleans, a four-day long festival from Friday to Saturday that includes a wine dinner, a Spanish brunch, a ceremonial procession and more. All proceeds from the event go towards local cancer charities and animal rescue efforts in New Orleans.

While the New Orleans event pays homage to its Spanish inspiration, there are many differences between the two. Most notably, the ferocious bulls that are used in Spain are replaced by Roller Derby Girls in New Orleans. In bright red, sparkly, one piece outfits, helmets with horns on them and plastic bats to hit runners with, the Roller Derby Girls act as a less violent alternative to live bulls. The New Orleans event has also become a weekend-long fest and many clubs and bars near the event open their doors for the whole day for runners to enjoy after.

Participants crowd the streets in red and white outfits. Photo by: MJfest

The event continues to grow in popularity, but the controversy surrounding the Spanish Running of the Bulls remains strong to this day. The base of violence, while different in New Orleans, is still prevalent in the New Orleans event. So much so, that participants requested that the roller derby girls have bats that can actually hurt them, so it felt more authentic.

“When we started the event in 2007, a lot of our skaters carried swimming pool noodles, but we heard complaints from runners that the hits weren’t hard enough. Later, some skaters switched to high-density foam bats, but those left bruises. Now we have settled on large diameter whiffle ball bats and everyone seems to be happy,” spokesperson Jason Bargas said.

The event attracts all kinds of thrill-seekers who enjoy the rush of adrenaline and dopamine, curious tourists and locals who join in to be a part of the crowd and people who are searching for an escape from their everyday lives. From watching horror movies to participating in high-stakes competitions like the Running of the Bulls, many people, especially men, enjoy seeking out danger to form a closer bond to those around them, showcase their bravery to others and themselves and feel their bodies’ response to fear.

A Big Easy Roller Derby Girl takes center stage. Photo by: MJfest

The Running of the Bulls in Spain has been criticized for romanticizing violence of all kinds, especially violence against women. There have been numerous reports of sexual assaults during the festivities in Spain as participants are encouraged to let out their crazy and enjoy an event so different from their everyday life that some take the opportunity to go even further. In 2018, an 18 year-old woman was raped by five men after attending the Running of the Bulls festival in Spain. This act sparked strong criticism from women’s rights groups against the event as a whole. Local feminist groups like the Navarra Platform for Women Against Sexual Violence have been campaigning to make the event completely free from sexual violence. To support the campaign, participants are encouraged to wear all black outfits with purple bandanas, instead of the typical red and white garb.

In addition to becoming a women’s rights issue, the Running of the Bulls event has been protested by animal rights groups for decades. In Spain, six bulls are released into a crowd of people, they run through the course and end up in a bullring. A rocket is shot up into the sky and the crowds make their way to the ring to watch the bullfight begin. The Bulls are jabbed and thrusted about, spooked and have weapons shoved into their back. The bulls are stabbed by the matador as a final act, chained by the horns and dragged out of the arena. The bulls ears and tail are cut off and presented to the matador as a trophy for their kill.

PETA has launched numerous global campaigns in tandom with animal rights groups. More than 125 Spanish towns and cities declared themselves anti-bullfighting. But, Pamplona, the host of the Running of the Bulls, continues to host the event and draws in crowds from all over the world. Tourists, particularly from the U.S. and U.K., make up a majority of the participants at the bullfighting and Running of the Bulls event in Spain.

While most of the controversies focus on the Running of the Bulls in Spain, the New Orleans Running of the Bulls pays homage to its Spanish origin. The women are still a main focus of the event, but even more so in New Orleans as the Roller Derby Girls steal the show in their sparkly red dresses. The New Orleans event, however, donates proceeds to local animal rescues, rather than abusing animals of their own. Despite the donation, the New Orleans event still romaticizes the event’s origins in Spain, essentially romanticizing the extreme violence towards women and animals that occurs at the Spanish event.

While women’s rights and animal rights groups have been protesting the event in Spain for years, New Orleans has continued to publicize their own event and has made it a city-wide tradition. From ancient times until now, women and animals have been merged together as inferior species to males. The likening of women to animals emphasizes their role in society as subordinate to the male species. Both women and animals are expected to provide for males and the Running of the Bulls event in New Orleans highlights society’s merging of the two.