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topless demonstrator with a message on her back walks towards Russian President
Vladimir Putin (left) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, during their
visit of the Hanover industrial Fair Monday. JOCHEN LUEBKE/AFP/Getty Images. |
How Vladimir Putin Beat FEMEN. By Matt Gurney. National Post, April 11, 2013.
Gurney:
It’s certainly true that under Putin, Russia has slid backward into autocracy, and Putin has serious human rights abuses to answer for. He is an entirely legitimate, even deserving, target of protest. But Shevchenko is more right than she knows when she huffs that no leader of a European country would react the way that he did. And that’s the problem with FEMEN: Its shock tactics work best in politically correct countries where they’re least needed. Polite, civilized societies may be unsettled by angry slogans written across bare breasts, but in the countries where human rights are weakest and women most oppressed, the whole thing comes across as an amusing absurdity, at best.
Whatever power FEMEN had was invested it in by the politically correct discomfort of Western leaders when presented with anything controversial or, especially, sexual. That’s not going to work on Putin, a guy who poses for pictures (while topless himself, no less) of animals he shot, to show off to his own people how macho he is. Indeed, Putin has now given voice to what a lot of people probably feel inside — even though FEMEN often targets worthy causes with their protests, their tactics are, well, silly. They don’t help their cause by getting naked, and can actually hurt it. Putin has laughed at them, and that’s made him more powerful.
“I liked it”: Putin takes a different view protesters after being confronted by angry topless activists in Germany. AP. National Post, April 8, 2013.
The feeling isn’t mutual: Topless protester hits out at “bastard” Putin after Russian president’s ogling. National Post, April 9, 2013.
Vladimir Putin topless protest: Femen activist speaks out. By Jeevan Vasagar. The Telegraph, April 9, 2013.
Put Your Shirts Back On, Ladies: The case against Femen. By Naheed Mustafa. Foreign Policy, April 8, 2013.
Femen attacks Putin in Hannover. Video. Russia Today, April 8, 2013. YouTube.
More on Femen here, here, and here.
