WrittenPost: April 2014

If you follow the international headlines...

...surely by now, you’ve heard of Pussy Riot.

“Riot” is described by Wikipedia as “a Russian feminist punk rock protest group based in Moscow.” It goes on to say “they stage unauthorized provocative guerrilla performances in unusual public locations, which are edited into music videos and posted on the Internet. Their lyrical themes include feminism, LGBT rights, opposition to the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom they regard as a dictator, and links between Putin and the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church.”

From Wikipedia:

On February 21, 2012, five members of the group staged a performance in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Their actions were stopped by church security officials. By that evening, they had turned the performance into a music video entitled "Punk Prayer - Mother of God, Chase Putin Away!" The women said their protest was directed at the Orthodox Church leader's support for Putin during his election campaign. On March 3, 2012, two of the group members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, were arrested and charged with hooliganism…Denied bail, they were held in custody until their trial began in late July. On August 17, 2012, the members were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred", and each was sentenced to two years imprisonment.

The trial and sentence attracted considerable criticism, particularly in the West. The case was adopted by human rights groups including Amnesty International, which designated the women prisoners of conscience, and by a number of prominent entertainers. Public opinion in Russia was generally less sympathetic towards the women. Putin stated that the band had "undermined the moral foundations" of the nation and "got what they asked for". Having served 21 months, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were released on December 23, 2013 after the State Duma approved an amnesty… both were among the group that performed as Pussy Riot during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where they were attacked with whips and pepper spray by Cossacks who were employed as security. On 6 March 2014, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina were seriously assaulted and injured at a fast food outlet by local youths in Nizhny Novgorod.

In an interview, Tolokonnikova stated:

Pussy Riot's performances can either be called dissident art or political action that engages art forms. Either way, our performances are a kind of civic activity amidst the repressions of a corporate political system that directs its power against basic human rights and civil and political liberties.

Pussy Riot by Igor Mukhin (Wikipedia)

It’s one thing for young artists to try and get attention, trying to make a name for themselves. It’s quite another thing to shake your fist in the face of your government, let alone that of Vladimir Putin. These young ladies have risked arrest many times, they spent two years in prison, only to be let out as Putin made nice in the run-up to the Sochi Olympics. Even so, they were back on the streets again, during the Olympics, in Sochi, where they were roughed-up by security forces. Then a few weeks later, they were seriously assaulted by local hooligans.

To accomplish change, someone has to stand up and demand it. But think of our own hesitance to speak up here, in the USA, where we would face none of the challenges P-Riot faces in Russia. You might call P-Riot’s action foolishness, you might call it publicity-seeking, but I think I have another description that belongs in there: Bravery.

But the think I find most entertaining about “Riot” is the way staid, professional news anchors are forced to say the name of the band, sometimes many times, in a news cast. There they are solid, professional broadcasters who would never in their lives have considered saying the “P-word” on the air, and now that find themselves doing it over and over. I find that totally hilarious. What’s in a name ? ...sometimes, everything. Where would P-Riot be now if their name was “The North Moscow Singers” ? Nowhere, I guarantee it !

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina

A screen capture from a Youtube video posted by Russian punk band Pussy
Riot shows members' faces smeared in paint after an attack in a McDonald's. (from CNN.com)

If a man

isn’t secure enough in his own masculinity

to name women among his heroes…

…then he’s just a big p*ssy !

- Mark W. Laughlin