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seabeyond

(110,159 posts)
59. even that was created by men and used in derogatory. unfortunately.
Thu Feb 7, 2013, 11:39 AM
Feb 2013

Before learning more about the case, the first thing that made me frown was the fact progressives were hailing P Riot as the “new feminists”, despite that their name is fairly insulting to women. It is certainly not apolitical, since we are in a context in which pornography has deeply colonised our movement and the only groups that the media presents as feminist are those that either insult us or reclaim the very instruments of our subordination, that is, male sexual violence, PIV, pornified femininity and all the associated harmful cultural practices. These tactics of destroying the meaning of feminism form part of a general worldwide backlash against women.

I found it suspicious that P Riot was getting so much media attention, even for pseudo feminist standards. You can measure the degree of feminism of an action by how men react to it, and if men collectively cheer and celebrate it, then you can be pretty sure there’s something wrong about it, or that it doesn’t somehow support our liberation from men. And as far as I can recall, even the slutwalks didn’t get as much coverage or public appraisal. What was it that men liked so much about P Riot?

Well, under closer inspection I discovered that the high level of coverage was related to – though indirectly – promoting men’s right to women’s sexual subordination and the pornification of our movement. The arrested women actually form part (and are victims of) a mixed anarchist group called “Voina” (meaning “war”), founded in 2007 by two men called Oleg Vorotnikov and Leonid Nikolaïev, who regularly engage the women in extreme and degrading women-hating pornography as part of their public “political stunts”. Some of Voina’s men have actually already been incarcerated in 2011 for hooliganism – which is punished for 7 years of prison in Russia, but their bail was paid for by an artist named “Banksy” four months after their imprisonment. (More information can be found here and here)

“How to Snatch a Chicken: A Tale of How One C... fed the Whole of the Group Voina… in honor of their hero, a 19th century political philosopher/prisoner, Voina’s president’s wife dubbed “Vacuous C*** With Inconceivably Huge Tits,” smuggled a chicken out of a grocery store in said “Vacuous C***…” : First, the troupe searched for a large and fresh enough chicken. Then, the store isles and CCTV cameras were blocked by the members of the group holding up banners with “FUCK WHORING YOURSELF!” smeared on them in I-don’t-want-to-know-what. The blockade allowed Vacuous C*** to promptly stuff and smuggle the poultry out of the store, which was then presumably cooked and eaten.


*

Now what does this mean for us, what can be understood from the media’s silence about Voina’s pornographic exploitation of women, when all the attention is focused on promoting P Riot as our modern heroines? The effect and intent is political. While all the public eyes are set on the Russian representatives of the state and religion as the ultimate fascists, dictators and machos, we are made to forget that the primary oppressors and tyrants of these particular women are the men closest to them, that is, Voina’s men and their use of pornography to demean, oppress and enslave their female comrades. They are their everyday police, the fascists and colonisers breaking the women’s resistance, occupying their souls, sentencing them to public humiliation and subordinating them through sexual abuse. We are made to forget that these women are doubly victimised: first victims of the violence by the men of their own group, they are then punished and held responsible for the abuse committed against them.

http://radicalhub.com/2012/08/20/pussy-riot-whose-freedom-whose-riot/

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

I agree that the word is offensive Sherman A1 Feb 2013 #1
Yet again jollyreaper2112 Feb 2013 #2
Skin tag? Anal cyst? Rush Limbaugh? Atman Feb 2013 #6
Or a continuous favorite... Zephie Feb 2013 #16
Message auto-removed dipit30 Feb 2013 #49
And there's *more* where that came from. Smarmie Doofus Feb 2013 #60
I understand for weak and cowardly. But what about for anger? Glassunion Feb 2013 #3
It is sexist, I agree BainsBane Feb 2013 #4
All our insults must be happy words! Atman Feb 2013 #5
Pony is UK slang for rubbish / crap. dipsydoodle Feb 2013 #10
"Pussy" *is* a happy word for me. dawg Feb 2013 #13
+1 Go Vols Feb 2013 #32
lulz Champion Jack Feb 2013 #31
So, you don't like the 1st Amendment either? As Spock would say, "Fascinating". nt. OldDem2012 Feb 2013 #7
Yeah, because DU is just like the United States government shutting down the printing presses. Sheldon Cooper Feb 2013 #8
What's fascinating is how you can have no fucking concept of what the 1st Amendment means. cali Feb 2013 #9
You can use the word "f__king" but you don't like using the word p___y in your OP.... OldDem2012 Feb 2013 #27
Exactly n/t godai Feb 2013 #50
It's the inherent sexism in the word pussy that I object to cali Feb 2013 #56
A request for sensitivity and respect is not the same as a call for censorship. lapislzi Feb 2013 #41
Just stating my personal opinion. Is that now a problem on DU, too? nt. OldDem2012 Feb 2013 #44
No problem. lapislzi Feb 2013 #45
Your concern is duly noted and filed in the appropriate place. nt. OldDem2012 Feb 2013 #46
Does't bother me in the slightest. It is also ill used. alphafemale Feb 2013 #11
I agree. dawg Feb 2013 #12
There are many offensive words Bad Thoughts Feb 2013 #14
+1 LiberalLoner Feb 2013 #38
Belongs in Meta trumad Feb 2013 #15
I generally agree - although i am interested in the comment el_bryanto Feb 2013 #17
you use the p word on a man to insult him, saying he is weak/cowardly like a woman. you use dick seabeyond Feb 2013 #20
I think it depends on the person el_bryanto Feb 2013 #22
That is one of the silliest things I've ever heard. Atman Feb 2013 #33
Keywords being "associated with" lapislzi Feb 2013 #42
Many words may be considered offensive. TheCowsCameHome Feb 2013 #18
Perhaps you should look up the origin of the word eh? Soundman Feb 2013 #19
lol Sheldon Cooper Feb 2013 #21
What a stupid post gollygee Feb 2013 #23
Well said. LisaLynne Feb 2013 #28
bullshit bigtree Feb 2013 #30
It isn't used specifically about male people gollygee Feb 2013 #39
I thought it didn't start out as a reference to a woman's body part bigtree Feb 2013 #24
lol tjwash Feb 2013 #25
. gollygee Feb 2013 #43
First It Was The C Word... KharmaTrain Feb 2013 #26
whatever Botany Feb 2013 #29
My coworker has a pussy scab Orrex Feb 2013 #34
I love this thread because of the lame comments that try to... Little Star Feb 2013 #35
Geez, it's not like she is trying to ban people What's wrong with being sensitive to a fairly large Evoman Feb 2013 #36
It's offensive when it's used to denote weakness, because it implies that women are weak. yardwork Feb 2013 #37
Personally? I really, really, dislike that word as a term for "female genitalia" as well. Spider Jerusalem Feb 2013 #40
I agree with you, and have never used it as a pejorative Tom Ripley Feb 2013 #47
How about everytime somebody wants to use it they replace it with pendejo? snooper2 Feb 2013 #48
So now it says Pussy in a thread title on the greatest page Viva_La_Revolution Feb 2013 #51
don't you think the connotation may be evolving? zazen Feb 2013 #52
"pussy" in any context marions ghost Feb 2013 #58
even that was created by men and used in derogatory. unfortunately. seabeyond Feb 2013 #59
Pussy? KansDem Feb 2013 #53
You've got some nerve calling other people... 99Forever Feb 2013 #54
I love watching the sexist "free speech" idiots swarm thread like this. MadrasT Feb 2013 #55
Civility is supposedly required on DU, but in reality it doesn't happen very often. slackmaster Feb 2013 #57
Good topic. Please repost in Meta Stinky The Clown Feb 2013 #61
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