Femen’s manner of protesting has not proved to everyone’s liking, to put it mildly, but one thing is certain: In an era of rising political disaffection and apathy, people pay attention. Bare breasts are not incidental to Femen’s struggle. The movement has aimed to wrest conceptions about women’s bodies from the clutches of the three (doctrinally prudish and phallocratic) Abrahamic religions that would shroud them, partly or in full, in cloth as well as in shame. Toplessness is, in Femen’s view, a means of boldly violating gender- and faith-based societal norms; and atheism has formed a part of the Femen canon since the movement’s inception in 2008.
Atheism has been dear to (Inna) Shevchenko in particular: Her own life has been shaped and even upended by her fight for secularist ideals. In protest against the harsh, Orthodox Church-supported prison sentence Pussy Riot received from the Russian authorities, in August 2012 she chainsawed a towering wooden cross in central Kiev in her native Ukraine. Publicly threatened as a result by Ukraine’s conservative President Viktor Yanukovych (deposed last year) and facing charges of “criminal hooliganism” for her deed, she fled to France and established Femen’s first outpost abroad. There, she soon rocketed to fame (better said, infamy), leading her militants in a multitude of fiercely faithless demonstrations in favor of women’s rights and same-sex marriage that pushed Gallic tolerance of free speech to the limit. Perhaps most controversially, she inspired the depiction of the revered (and bare-breasted) heroine of the French Revolution Marianne now gracing the country’s postage stamps, becoming the only foreign woman to do so. This still infuriates France’s nationalistic (and ascendant) far right, which has called (unsuccessfully) for the stamp to be withdrawn.
The Salon reporter, Jeffrey, Taylor, asked Shevchenko why she is so aggressive in criticizing the new pope, her answer was rather interesting:
“The pope said he recognized the Big Bang,” she answered. “He sees how his doctrine doesn’t accord with progress, so he says things like this. He also said, ‘Who am I to criticize gay people?’ Just for this, we’re ready to hand over Parliament to him? This is just his strategy so he can come and speak at the Parliament. He says God isn’t a magician and wins great popularity even with some atheists. But if we believe him, we’re twice foolish; we become slaves of the most powerful religious institution, the Vatican, and then we invite him to Parliament. This just shows how stupid we [atheists] are and how clever they are.” She paused. “Not many Americans know that the Vatican received its statehood from Mussolini … It’s highly symbolic that Vatican statehood was created by a fascist.”
Very good points all. Clearly this is yet another Atheist who thinks the Pope is a little too good to be true.
(Nudity below the fold.)
There was one other target Femen would like to strike: Fox News.
“Anyone in particular there?” I asked.
“Femen doesn’t reject people, it rejects ideas.”
I pressed her to name names. She ventured one: that of talk-show host Sean Hannity.
Sean Hannity! An attack on him would earn Femen evergreen laurels in a yet-to-be-erected pantheon of progressivism. A more deserving target of the movement’s bare-breasted ire would be tough to imagine.
Personally I think this is the kind of thing that Hannity will not be unable to resist talking about, and if he does that will only mean that Femen has successfully manipulated him into publicizing their movement on one of the most popular cable news shows in America.
It may be easy for some to dismiss these woman due to their use of nudity to garner attention, but these are certainly not bimbos.
These are very intelligent and driven women, who are making quite a name for themselves in Europe and Russia.
And they certainly had not difficulty getting the attention of at least one world leader.
I'm relieved to hear that I'm not alone in looking at the new pope with full-on skepticism. How the most vile, repressive and punitive institution man has ever created, which has just been revealed to have engaged in facilitating child sex abuse for decades (more likely for centuries) and attempting to keep it all hidden behind their holier than thou robes, can appoint a front man with PR skills and suddenly be all cool again defies explanation. The corporate media has been pushing this guy at us like a long-lost Kardashian. I'll admit it may be news that the Catholic church found someone to be pope who appears not to be a dick, but it's not time to forget about the organization behind him. If the Mafia had Mr Rogers for a front man, they'd still be the Mafia.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how, basically, two orbs of fat hold so much sway,...and back and forth,...and back and forth,...up and down..
ReplyDelete......Sorry, I was distracted! ;-)
Sorry, I wasn't meaning to make light of the issue. just trying to show the idiocy of us men when it comes to serious women's issues. It is the problem, after all, for white males worldwide to fix this, and many other, divisive issues. I just don't see it happening any time soon. Selfish factor too high.
ReplyDeleteGay folks have the most disposable income ...now you know why new Pope is being friendly toward them.
ReplyDeleteThe expression on Putin's face is priceless.
ReplyDeleteThe difference in how America and Europe react to naked breasts in public is something I never quite understood. We went to Italy, Portugal and Switzerland for our honeymoon, where appropriate, it was no big deal for a woman to take off her top on the beach or balconies to sunbathe. Women breastfed their children in public with little or no drooling, cat calls or stares.
ReplyDeleteThis group is using their bodies as a form of protest, and you're right, they're no bimbos and can explain clearly why they're taking this tact to draw attention to their cause. In America, men go to Hooters, where women wear tee shirts and shorts, because they make the greatest chicken wings, right? And people get upset over that, if a woman went topless, heads would explode.