The
article I read focused on the radical feminist group based in Ukraine called
Femen. Femen seeks to bring attention to women’s rights issues by doing public
stunts topless. The women apart of Femen seek to desexualize the female body
and fight against patriarchal constructs as well as religion, and dictatorship.
The Femen movement was founded in 2008 to combat the sex trade industry as well
as prevent women from becoming mail order brides. Femen has gained support from
North America but sometimes have issues garnering the same support from within
their country. The women of Femen began baring their breast while do their demonstrations
and they say that this action does not diminish their campaign in anyway. The
Femen organization has had some controversy over the past few years. Femen in
addition to being a tops off campaign, also does bold stunts. Some of these
stunts include cutting down religious signs, attempted theft, and open mockery
of political figures. These actions have added even more scrutiny and
disapproval to their campaign and in some cases have put the members of Femen
in danger.
While
reading this article I didn’t feel like I was completely informed on what Femen’s
specific objectives were. I got the overall message that they were for equality
and against religious and dictators. Besides overthrowing the patriarchal paradigm
I am not sure what Femen wants to accomplish. I thought of ‘Slut Walk’ while
reading this article because of some of their methods are similar in a sense
that they use unorthodox ways to gain attention for their cause. ‘Slut Walk’ is
a series of rallies and marches where women dress “like sluts” to bring
attention to slut shaming, victim blaming, and female inequality as a whole.
There are some critics of both movements saying that they are bringing the
wrong type of attention to issues affecting females. I am on the fence about
whether or not these groups are employing the wrong methods to make a point. I
think some people may just see women going topless etc. and then refuse to find
out what they stand for based off of how they are presenting themselves.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20028797
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