BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?

Subject: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism in the UK
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 24 Oct 13 - 06:48 AM

Having been quite intrigued by the antics of art collective Pussy Riot some months back, I just read an article in today's Guardian talking about a current wave of Eastern European feminist activism now coming to the UK that goes by the name of Femen. These activists court controversy with topless protests and a direct confrontational style of activism that they contrast with what they describe in the article as "library feminism". I must say I personally find the approach of this new wave of young feminist activists refreshing, dynamic and inspiring and exciting. I enjoy the anarchic punk spirit and in your face-ness of it. I also like the fact that they are challenging the current kind of culturally relativist thinking among western feminism that abandons so many non-white women and girls to endure forms of oppression and abuse that white women are protected from.

Here's the article in the Guardian, I'm rather expecting a heap of scorn, but maybe some of you will also find it engaging and provocative?

Fearless and Topless

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: mayomick
Date: 24 Oct 13 - 08:06 AM

Not scorn CS, but I'd be a little less cynical if the Russian feminists weren't so strikingly beautiful and well made-up in the photos as they get arrested. Doesn't it all seem rather staged ?
Maybe it's all done deliberately post-modern ironic counter-something-or-other, but the group makes assertions that simply aren't true. This for example from the Guardian's interview with FEMEN spokesperson Alexandra Shevchenko :

"No one is talking about FGM in England," she said. "People assume it is too violent and extreme to exist here, that it only happens in Africa and the Middle East, but the UK has some of the highest levels in the west."

In fact women in the UK have campaigned to bring the issue to the world's attention for many years British journalist Jill Tweedie wrote about it in The Guardian as far back as 1976.

"The Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development (FORWARD) is a British charity, founded in 1983 by Efua Dorkenoo, that provides support for women affected by female genital mutilation (FGM). It also works to end the practice, and campaigns against child/forced marriage. The organization runs several programmes in the UK and in East and West Africa.[1]According to FORWARD, there are around 100,000 women in the UK who have experienced FGM."

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 24 Oct 13 - 11:58 AM

I love Femen's style. I like most of what they say. I have had the experience of reporting to the police certain advertisements in Gravesend newsagents offering to arrange "female circumcision". Nothing happened. The adverts even stayed up. Femen are right. I was talking to a woman on another site - she lives in outer London but is not originally from there. I raised the topic (there were genuine reasons for me to do so). She did not condemn the practice, but sought to distinguish between deep mutilations on the one hand and the removal only of the clitoral hood on the other. Go Femen!

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 24 Oct 13 - 03:17 PM

I can certainly understand how FEMEN's style and message is not to everyone's taste, I can also see why they have annoyed certain other feminist groups (notably some Muslim feminists) still, I do enjoy seeing assertive and confident young women making a loud noise about women's rights and challenging people not to notice them.

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 24 Oct 13 - 03:27 PM

PS I haven't actually looked into the origins of Femen, but there must surely be some kind of link (at least inspiration) from the 90's Riot Grrrl punk movement?

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: Bill D
Date: 24 Oct 13 - 09:45 PM

I remember in the USA, Bela Abzug, Betty Friedan, Andrea Dworkin, Gloria Steinem,etc... and especially Shulamith Firestone

Those were VERY active in the 60s & early 70s. They might not have been as photogenic and 'cute' as some of these new ones...but they THOUGHT and were instrumental in consciousness raising, even if many (including me) found some positions a bit.... extreme.

I suppose that TV and the WWW (including YouTube) can make any clever group into 15 minutes of fame.... but often not much more.

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: Amergin
Date: 25 Oct 13 - 02:22 PM

I first read this as Fremen....

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 25 Oct 13 - 05:30 PM

Let's suppose that the Guardian's description is somewhere near accurate.

It seems to me that the more stressed and impoverished our young people become, the more brainless things they think of to get attention and waste their money.

tattoos
piercings
technicolor hair
crazy drugs (We lost a 14-year old last week to 'synthetic LSD.' One dose killed him.)

dangerous sports ('extreme' anything)

I'm a feminist, but I find it hard to take any interest in the Femen.

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Oct 13 - 05:54 PM

"I personally find the approach of this new wave of young feminist activists refreshing, dynamic and inspiring and exciting."

I could think of quite a number of adjectives that might be more appropriate.

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 26 Oct 13 - 10:35 AM

Yes, McGrath. When I read about:

13-year-olds being forced into prostitution,

about 14-year-old African girls being 'marrieed' to 40-year-old land owners,

about Muslim women being murdered because they were rape victims -

it seems to me that the Femen could think of much more important things to protest about than the right to go topless.
========
Did they ever find out who murdered the sweet-faced Lithuanian (or was it Latvian) girl whose body was found near the royal estate in Scotland?

But I guess her murder was no big deal because the tabloids said she was a wild child.

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 26 Oct 13 - 11:11 AM

I have yet to find anything legitimately placing "the right to go topless" as anywhere near the top of Fimen's agenda. Suggesting it to be so appears to be the old conservative agenda of slutshaming in order to seek to discredit. Part of the criticism of Femen appears to be on the ground that they or some of them are good-looking. That in itself is an offensively sexist position.

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: mayomick
Date: 26 Oct 13 - 06:01 PM

It is at the top of their agenda :
WHO WE ARE - WE ARE FEMEN!
FEMEN: FEMEN - is a global women's movement
"FEMEN - is the name of the scandal famous organization of topless women activists, who defend with their breast sexual and social equality in the world.
Activists of FEMEN - are morally and physically fit soldiers, who every day make civil actions of the high degree of difficulty and provocativity. FEMEN is the founder of a new wave of feminism of the third millennium and has followers all over the world. The symbol of the organization - a wreath of flowers that adorns the head of bold women on all five continents.
Official website of the Organization FEMEN femen.org
For questions and suggestions please contact the official shop [e-mail]"

A link here to the femen shop and the group's website. Strange that the only thing the online shop seems to sell is Tshirts!It does accept donation though Richard.

http://femenshop.com/my-body-my-manifesto

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 26 Oct 13 - 09:05 PM

Precisely. They use the exposure of their breasts as a tool to obtain publicity for their objectives. The right so to expose is not an objective in itself.

Subject: RE: BS: Femen - radical feminist activism?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Oct 13 - 09:11 PM

I really hope we don't get an equivalent male group adopting an analogous tactic. Enough problems with flashers already.