Ukrainian feminist group Femen are taking their topless protests around the world, having already stripped off in Western Europe to highlight a range of issues from democratic violations to sexual exploitation, in what some call a new brand of feminist activism.
While enjoying little support at home, Femen’s protesters have become a symbol of Ukraine abroad, having taken their tops off in Moscow, Paris, Zurich, Brussels and even in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican City, and now they plan to go even further afield.
“This year we hope to cover North Africa and South America,” one of Femen’s leaders, Anna Gutsol, said.
Photo: AFP
The group, which was founded in 2008, came up with the idea of its topless protests almost by accident.
During a demonstration in 2009, Femen activists decorated their backs with slogans and bared them to photographers. The pictures were a hit, leading the women to come up with an even more outrageous way to get their views across.
Since they turned to face the cameras, the international media has given them lavish coverage.
Femen’s first moment of glory came in 2010 on the day of Ukraine’s tense presidential elections.
Four young women boldly undressed in a polling station just before the arrival of presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych.
Recently, the group has shifted its activism to Western European countries.
In September last year, it launched its “first training center” in Paris to propagate its brand of “new feminism.”
Some academics see the group as successors to 19th-century suffragettes and the women’s rights movement of the 1970s.
Rejane Senac of the Paris-based National Center for Scientific Research, said that Femen represents a “third wave of feminism,” but in Ukraine people have became increasingly irritated by Femen’s protests, which at one point were staged on an almost weekly basis, seemingly without a clear agenda.
Some Ukrainian critics slam the movement as overly commercial, although Femen members strongly reject this, saying they live modestly on income that comes only from donations and an online store, where they sell Femen T-shirts and mugs.
“In France, we feel moral and material support. [The French] do not say: ‘Aah, those whores again’ as [some do] in Ukraine,” Gutsol said.
Femen members blame a lack of political culture and the weakness of feminist traditions for their failure to win over Ukrainians, but some accuse them of seeking publicity at all costs.
“This is a simulation of feminism ... [with] no serious political or social meaning,” political strategist Sergiy Gaiday said. “They use their bodies just to attract attention.”
Mariana Yevsyukova, a senior staff member at Ukraine’s branch of La Strada international women’s rights group, said that she believed Femen’s members “damage both Ukraine’s image and the true feminist movement.”
“They protest against everything, but not a single problem has been resolved thanks to them,” she said.
Femen is defying such criticisms by blazing a new trail as the first Ukrainian group to break out of national politics into international activism.
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS