--- title: Arizona Officials Order Woman to Stop Cartwheeling at Meetings description: In an attack against whimsy, Arizona officials sent a Phoenix woman a request to stop cartwheeling during local government meetings. canonical: https://time.com/2821958/arizona-woman-prohibited-from-cartwheeling-at-meetings/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-04T15:53:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:10:20.859Z og:title: Arizona Woman Prohibited From Cartwheeling at Meetings og:description: She received a letter from lawyers telling her to stop cartwheeling og:url: https://time.com/2821958/arizona-woman-prohibited-from-cartwheeling-at-meetings/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Arizona Woman Prohibited From Cartwheeling at Meetings twitter:description: She received a letter from lawyers telling her to stop cartwheeling twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Arizona Woman Prohibited From Cartwheeling at Meetings by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jun 4, 2014 3:53 PM UTC by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jun 4, 2014 3:53 PM UTC In an attack against whimsy, [Arizona officials sent a Phoenix woman a written request](http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/06/03/phoenix-resident-banned-cartwheeling-public-meetings/9928121/) to stop cartwheeling during local government meetings. Or else. Dianne “DD” Barker is a real-life [manic pixie dream girl](http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/07/the-real-world-consequences-of-the-manic-pixie-dream-girl-clich-233/277645/). She rides around town on a red bicycle—matching her red hair and sneakers—and does cartwheels when words don’t suffice. > [](https://twitter.com/Crash%5FMacDuff/status/474018972703006720) “You have from time to time suggested that MAG \[Maricopa Association of Government\] cannot prevent you from performing cartwheels during your comments,” the attorney signed letter states. “That position is incorrect.” For years, officials have asked her to keep her feet on the ground as it is distracting and causes potential danger to those nearby. But Barker isn’t taking this request to “immediately cease performing cartwheels” lightly. She responded that the MAG letter was “intimidating, threatening, and defaming…No longer could I freely speak/express in such positive conviction, my continuing commitment, and unwavering support for MAG’s transportation/air quality duty and directives!” If Zooey Deschanel movies have taught us anything, it is that soon Barker will turn the hearts of the curmudgeon-y members of MAG, who pretty soon will be holding all public meetings outside and end particularly fraught debates with a shared homemade cake. \[[_AZ Central_](http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/06/03/phoenix-resident-banned-cartwheeling-public-meetings/9928121/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2821958/arizona-woman-prohibited-from-cartwheeling-at-meetings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2821958/arizona-woman-prohibited-from-cartwheeling-at-meetings/"},"headline":"Arizona Woman Prohibited From Cartwheeling at Meetings","datePublished":"2014-06-04T15:53:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:10:20.859Z","description":"The manic pixie dream girl is alive and well","url":"https://time.com/2821958/arizona-woman-prohibited-from-cartwheeling-at-meetings/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Living","Bizarre","meeting","Arizona","Phoenix"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2821958/arizona-woman-prohibited-from-cartwheeling-at-meetings/","name":"Arizona Woman Prohibited From Cartwheeling at Meetings"}}]}] ```