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We were very lucky to see a genuine bulljumping ceremony at a Hamar village. It is a whole day event, at which the entire village is present, and which culminates with the initiate's jumping over a number of cattle - in this case it was 6 big cattle and a calf, which was supposed to serve as a footstool, although this guy carefully avoided stepping on the little one. The event contained long segments of women dancing and getting whipped, which many uninformed tourists find problematic. However, from our observation and recording of the entire event it was clear that women direct the ceremony and control the whipping, while the men were quite reluctant to perform the whippings. At one point there was a standoff between the women, who threatened to interrupt the ceremony, and the men, which was resolved by the intervention of the elders. By requesting to be whipped, the women proudly wear their scars and show their stamina. Given that they are from the family of the initiate, by receiving more scars at the event they also make the young man's initiation more important.