Thoughts on “Sextremism” [View all]

[seabeyond]

So who are FEMEN, what even is ‘Sextremism’ (hint: It’s not the latest 50 shades book) and why am I bothering to spend my Sunday evening talking about them? Well – as far as Google tells me (though I could very well be incorrect), FEMEN is the only radical action group that claim to be ‘Sextremists’, taking feminism into a “new wave” because “classical feminism is dead” (according to a promo video concerning their ‘creative’ campaigns methods). Essentially, FEMEN use the fact that women’s bodies grab attention on the streets every day and take it to a new level: full on naked protest level. Now I’m all for freedom to dress however you want – slut-shaming for personal presentation being a pet peeve in my books – yet I find myself asking if nude women parading through the streets with painted slogans across their breasts such as “Muslim: Let’s get naked” and “go to war against patriarchy and dictatorship.” are really the best uses of the female body.

What perhaps annoys me the most about this group is the fact that in their promo video about campaigns they state that women need to use their bodies to grab attention in a new and more radical, provocative way; as if our voices count for less than our cup size when getting a point across. Surely that’s the opposite of feminism? The FEMEN official website proudly displays countless numbers of topless women with signs declaring how very free they are, yet I can’t help but notice they each look like something out of a L’Oreal advert: perfect hair, make up and slim tanned bodies – all to ‘grab attention in the name of feminism’ no doubt. I can’t help but feel that they’ve missed the point of objectification of women being a bad thing, that they’ve overshot it when they say they want to give attention to women’s rights and that they’ve crossed a boundary between ‘decent feminism’ and ‘that stuff we don’t want to be associated with any more’.

I mean who takes kindly to a bunch of topless women with flowers in their hair shouting abuse against the Catholic Church at the moment the Pope comes out to give an address? Yes, they actually did that. They also walked through a “predominantly Muslim” part of Paris painted with potentially very offensive slogans over their chests. Granted, sometimes these religions can give as good as they take, and some people say the Church and Islam even deserve a bit of feminist backlash after so much oppression ‘in the name of religion’ towards women. But exactly how far should that be taken? FEMEN – or indeed feminist that considers themselves a ‘Sextremist’ – needs to know that the ‘freedom’ they express by wearing no clothes and protesting is the same type of freedom that worshippers share and there needs to be a bit of peaceful ground between the two.

It’s simply unfair to tarnish feminism with radical and offensive messages like these Sextremists do. Perhaps this is why so many young women feel frightened that by calling themselves a feminist they put themselves in the same boat as FEMEN members, because those are the women that get the media attention. Don’t get me wrong – I’m very liberal, but topless model-like women running around and using their ‘greatest’ assets to get attention really doesn’t equate to the sort of feminism that the world needs. I think what FEMEN, and radical Sextremists need to remember is that, not all publicity is good publicity – especially when it comes to feminism.


http://community.feministing.com/2013/01/13/thoughts-on-sextremism/



a thought. we on du are "radical" feminists fuckin' up the movement because our "tone" is not sweet and submissive enough. or for the mere fact we have said something. yet the very same people that continually tell us this applaud this org and are all over it in their feminism. ya.