22nd of November~ My Body is my Manifesto! Slutwalk, FεMεN an femmenist protest

Text: My Body is My Manifesto! Slutwalk, FεMεN an femmenist protest

Author: Theresa O’Keefe

SlutWalk in Chicago 2016 (Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/CiBpvUvnu-z4G5dbDbl3AlV29T2GqrFQolTqwrdodkOAStHrHC02DL4Q5eGCfEaqkfLChPI=s131)

            Theresa O’Keefe is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the National University of Ireland Maynooth. In her research, she talks about gender, social activism and radical social change. O’Keefe has a published book and published works in the International Feminist Journal of Politics, National Identities, Nationalism, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, and Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements.

            In this article, O’Keefe contextualizes two ‘feminists’ movements, and reverberates around some ‘difficulties’ she has with SlutWalk and FEMEN as feminist political projects. She explains how both movements fail to ‘(re)appropriate patriarchal signifiers’ and how by failing to do that they end up reinforcing these signifiers and their associated norms.

            The author starts the text explaining the importance of understanding the role of the body in movements that go against system of oppression, such as racism patriarchy, capitalism, colonialism, etc. O’Keefe points that the body, particularly the gendered one, can be used as a media of expression, and to manipulate and challenge the power(s) that ‘confine and define it’.

           O’Keefe contextualizes appropriation – and ‘(re)appropriation – in feminist movements history. She identifies it as a strategy in which the signifiers appropriated are playfully mocked, inverted and become a parody. This is a subversive component and she adds that ‘the failure to communicate parody can erase the subversive element of such performances.

              O’Reefe points that both SlutWalk and FEMEN are movements that adopt the sexualisation of the female body - especially FEMEN - and appropriates of elements that were/are considered symbols of patriarchal oppression used to control, objectify and restrict the female body and women to express their causes. However, despite the achievements in term of starting conversation around the figure of the female body, the author debates that neither of the movements were capable of mock and deconstruct these symbols, giving them a new meaning. In addition, O’Keefe points out that both SlutWalk and FEMEN, in different level, lack diversity and, therefore, representative. She says; “On a descriptive level these two forms of protest lack diversity in terms of organisational structure and participants, despite their spread to countries and locations outside Europe and North America. SlutWalk have come under fire for the overwhelming ‘whiteness’of the participants and organisers, leaning some women of colour to document their discomfort with participating in the marchers (Crunk Feminist Collective, 2011). Meanwhile, FEMEN are argueably worse in term of lack of diversity. There is one woman of colour in their coterie of protester, even though FEMEN’s more active factions are now located in multicultural societies such as Paris and Brazil” (O’Rheefe, 2015, p.12)

            In my opinion, this text is a great reading for those who are interested in feminist movements, as, although directed to academic proposers, it uses a friendly vocabulary for non-native English speakers and brings out an important topic. In fact, I hope that every participant in such movements would read this text, as I believe many might need to think over what exactly they are discussing and how. For me it unveiled worrisome aspects of movements such as SlutWalk and FEMEN that I did not know about, especially in regards of who they actually represent, the message that they end up sending and how they are marketed. As a designer and a woman I have interest in researching more and developing a way of establishing my practice alongside with my values. So far, all I can think is that we fashion designers should be extremely aware of the power of fashion over bodies and look for ways of making the fashion industry profitable without taking advantage of oppressive symbols – becoming oppressor ourselves; especially in what consers the sexualization and objectfication of women's bodies. Furthermore, I wonder how feminist movements will evolve and when, citing Dines and Murphy (2011), we women are going to abandon ‘male-defined terms’ and create our very own sexuality.

-------

You can see below some pictures I have collected online and some citations taken from the text:

"The public face of FEMEN consists of roughly forty topless activists who resemble high-fashion models in appearance - mostly white, with long blonde hair, able-bodied, conventionally attractive, with striking facial features and toned, slender, hairless bodies that make them statuesque figures or 'Amazons' as they call themselves" (O'Keefe, 2015, p. 8)

FEMEN Actvists (Image: http://www.ridus.ru/images/2013/12/2/132019/hd_52b8890f83.jpg)

FEMEN participants (Image: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ca/b1/b8/cab1b83069c754fc87d85f01a91822a8.jpg)

FEMEN Actvists (Image: http://www.habergunce.com/public/i/galeri/2015-12-03/Femen-Eylem-Fotograflari-1865.jpg)

"Membership to FEMEN is quite explicity restricted to women who  organisers deem 'physically fit' (read conventionally attractive). In a personal interview with researcher Jessica Zychowicz (2011), Hutsol openly admits that this is an intetional PR strategy for the group because 'by limitating the "cast" of performers in the show to a slim, trim troupe of 20 or so, Hutsol preserves their celebrity status and bolsters their marketability" (O'Reefe, 2015, p. 10)

(Image: http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CCOW7n2UIAEg7jR.jpg:medium)

(Image: https://thatswbrc.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/dsc4777-modifier.jpg)

FEMEN Activist invades Nina Ricci's catwalk show in Paris (Image: https://www.cursoderedacao.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/26set2013-seguranca-retira-ativista-do-grupo-feminista-femen-que-invadiu-passarela-durante-desfile-primaveraverao-2014-da-marca-nina-ricci-em-paris-na-franca-em-seu-corpo-esta-escrito-com-tinta-1380219995618_1920x1080.jpg)

FEMEN Activist invades Nina Ricci's catwalk show in Paris (Image: http://oglobo.globo.com/ela/gente/ativistas-do-femen-invadem-passarela-durante-desfile-em-paris-16944504)

More images of this protest here(page in Portuguese): http://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2013/09/ativistas-seminuas-invadem-passarela-durante-desfile-em-paris.html

"'This in turnpersonalizes their protests in a way that reinforces their iconicity at the expense of reifying and branding feminism as a product, to be sold rather than accessed in open dialogue' (ibid: 219)" (O'Reefe, 2015, p. 10)

Amber Rose and Blac Chyna at Amber Rose's SlutWalk (Image: http://www.dolphnsix.com/news/1326693/blac-chyna-joins-best-friend-amber)

(Image: http://images1.laweekly.com/imager/u/745xauto/7456344/dsc_1824.jpg)

Some pictures of feminists protest (SlutWalk) in Brazil:

Woman holding a sign saying "Black and Slut" (Image: https://thumbs.mic.com/MWE5YzYxNmFkZiMvRWZKTld5UHFRajFadllYa3BiSWN3TWxJSVBJPS8xNjAweDkwMC9maWx0ZXJzOmZvcm1hdChqcGVnKTpxdWFsaXR5KDgwKS9odHRwczovL3MzLmFtYXpvbmF3cy5jb20vcG9saWN5bWljLWltYWdlcy9pOXdwd294ZGdibXd2aXZyb2V1NnZiMHY0aWZsZDVjZGR3Y3FvZHVqeGZ0d3BwbXl2YmpiNXEwcGZ2aGN1OXp1LmpwZw.jpg)

(Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrw0E10azHNJbaYPfuegeXnULmo7s0rH3PACUyivjt-HNFt_LQ7__1gjRtJ4whLNC7NIMxLjElIoPMda_Lvbg9qHSgyv6JgNIzRFj_8dTvkYH9u6r_0u8zFMJa03R4emXennNNKYcN9AmP/s1600/BW3.jpg)

Woman with sticks saying "It's not about sex" and "It's about freedom". (Image: https://drscdn.500px.org/photo/7973540/q%3D80_m%3D2000/c570ecce7c6d4ed23fa3374dd1f9f272)

REFERENCES

Rampton, M. (2015) Four Waves of Faminism. Available at: http://www.pacificu.edu/about-us/news-events/four-waves-feminism (Accessed: 20/11/2016).