Femen

by Femen, Galia Ackerman

'Ukraine is not a brothel!' This was the first cry of rage uttered by Femen during Euro 2012.

Bare-breasted and crowned with flowers, perched on their high heels, Femen transform their bodies into instruments of political expression through slogans and drawings flaunted on their skin. Humour, drama, courage and shock tactics are their weapons.

Since 2008, this 'gang of four' - Inna, Sasha, Oksana and Anna - has been developing a spectacular, radical, new feminism. First in Ukraine and then around the world, they are struggling to obtain better conditions for women, but they also fight poverty, discrimination, dictatorships and the dictates of religion. These women scale church steeples and climb into embassies, burst into television studios and invade polling stations. Some of them have served time in jail, been prosecuted for 'hooliganism' in their home country and are banned from living in other states. But thanks to extraordinary media coverage, the movement is gaining imitators and supporters in France, Germany, Brazil and elsewhere.

Inna, Sasha, Oksana and Anna have an extraordinary story and here they tell it in their own words, and at the same time express their hopes and ambitions for women throughout the world.

Genres: Feminism

269 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2013

Reviews

[Ietrio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an okay book if you want to find out more about Femen. Actually instead of searching youtube and various blogs, you can just check out the local library if they have this book. It is quite an easy read. And it has even most of the contents of future articles written in the press by the creators of Femen. Apart from Sasha, they all come from the provincial upper middle class and they had a shock around 18 that they are not exactly the elite once they got into the city. Steeped into an orthodox [as religion] culture they see the world in a mixture of pure good and pure evil. Homosexuality thus is good, probably because they believe it is somehow voluntary. And Prostitution is equally bad because some women are in bound slavery. Sadly freedom is just a word to write on boards.

So this comment is more about Femen. As written above, the book is okay.

[Kev Nickells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rough with the smooth kind of book. Reading it in 2022, it's fascinating to get the context of Ukraine just prior to euromaidan. While Femen are clearly on the side of 'European' Ukraine - there's a line something similar to thinking of Europe as the smell or French perfume rather than Russian something or other - they're strongly opposed to the conservative forces within Ukraine. There's an innocence and a (sometimes) clumsiness to their actions that's massively charming. I don't mean that in a kind of patristic, West European sense but rather that they are young women who are happy to be candid about the mistakes they make.

And on that... they make it quite clear they're about action and not theory. They're very strongly anti-religious. Typically this is fascinating, and necessary; there's plenty of this book that sits very uncomfortably with me. Most specifically with regards the niqab - there is a sense in which they're interested in the global emancipation of women, but when it comes to putting what they consistently refer to as 'Islamism' in their sights, it comes across as clumsy and misjudged. There's absolutely a space in which Islamic women can and should object to enforced gender roles; taking aim at a cultural artefact, an item of clothing, which is only sometimes enforced by Islam-majority country, when they themselves are from a country with an absolutely tiny Muslim population, comes across as wrong-headed. I don't say that to give the impression that their sentiment is wrong in toto - but solidarity with Muslim women is probably more nuanced than to impose, or assume, that a cultural artefact is always oppressive.

I'd say that it's worth avoiding if you're particularly sensitive to those issues - while the niqab only occupies one chapter, it's the sort of thing that's liable to throw off a lot of readers, probably the more liberal sorts. Which in a sense is a shame - not to endorse their views on the niqab, but also because there's a lot of inspiring stuff here about angry young one women using sexist social standards to make feminism a front-page subject. Stepping out of my own area of expertise now - my impression is that Ukraine has become if not more right-wing, then at least more complexly fractured subsequent to this book (c2013). So it's interesting to see this as the beginnings of the kind of complex but conservative society which emerged - one in which Putin is clearly a mendacious and disruptive influence, one in which neighbouring countries are similarly under the kosh. Also one in which four normal, non-urban Ukrainian women managed to find a voice on a global stage and start a movement. Perhaps most of all this is honest about activism - there's plenty of talk on funding and their own mistakes along the way.

Inspiring, really - but it comes with a strong pinch of salt not because of the mode of their actions but because it's not always easy for me - perhaps in my Western European biases - to entirely endorse their political perspective. Nevertheless, in a world gone largely fascist I can't help but feel that we need more Femens than not - if only their shortfalls were the only shortfalls in the political landscape...

[Brietta C · Rating 5 out of 5]

inspiring

[Lapauselibrairie · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://lapauselibrairie.wordpress.com...

Comme dit en 4ème de couverture, vous trouverez le manifeste inédit de FEMEN soit une explication de leurs objectifs, etc… Ce qui est très utile pour savoir ce que nous allons lire mais qui est très mal écrit, avec des fautes et des expressions qui vont droit au but mais qui semblent plutôt mal traduites [qui sape les fondements de la culture patriarcale pourrie]. Egalement, la préface est vraiment très moyenne. → J’ai eu très peur de ce qui allait suivre !

Ensuite il y a une petite biographie de chaque fille : Anne, Inna, Oksana, Sacha. Cela va surtout me servir pour parler de la leader Anna lors d’une présentation orale à l’université. A la fin du livre, nous en apprenons davantage sur elles, leurs envies et un sujet clin d’oeil !

FEMEN est une organisation très récente ce qui est assez dingue au XXIème siècle mais très compréhensible par rapport à ce qui se déroule (encore) dans leur pays, l’Ukraine. J’ai eu l’impression de lire des choses qui se sont passées à l’époque de mes grands-parents voire avant, mais non ça se passe bien dans les années 2000 !

Dans une deuxième partie (après les biographies), elles nous racontent comment elles en sont venues à créer FEMEN et décrivent les actions qu’elles ont mises en place. Je ne vous les détaille pas car le but est de les lire ! Je peux juste vous dire qu’elles sont souvent impressionnantes et très bien préparées. Vous pourrez lire leur début en topless, pourquoi FEMEN et retrouver 3-4 filles face à plusieurs hommes du KGB, en très mauvaise position…, et bien plus ! Leurs actions sont d’abord décrites globalement et ensuite une fille raconte son impression vue de l’intérieur, ce qui est très intéressant.

Cette industrie du sexe fonctionne comme un fast-food. [...] C’est facile et bon marché

Mon but en lisant ce livre, outre le fait de récolter des informations pour mon oral, était de savoir quelle(s) causes elles défendent réellement car cela semble assez confus. En fait ça l’est aussi pour elles dans le sens où FEMEN se construit au fil de l’actualité; les filles se sentent concernées par toutes les minorités (femmes, membres de la société qui subissent des pressions, lesbiennes, gais, bis, transgenres,…) et souhaitent défendre tous les individus qui sont face à l’injustice. Elles ne veulent pas rester dans des discussions futiles de filles gnan gnan.

J’ai été choquée par tout ce qui se passe autour des FEMEN, des pratiques contre lesquelles elles se battent qui ne devraient plus exister, des complots contre elles organisés par des politiciens… FEMEN est une organisation radicale composée de filles prêtes à tuer et à laisser leur vie pour défendre l’importance de leur cause.

Est-ce pour faire peur ? Pour prouver qu’elles ne sont pas juste de belles filles ? Qu’elles ne font pas ça pour rigoler ? A vous de juger. Ce livre est-il objectif ? Je le pense mais j’ai préféré me poser la question. FEMEN peut-elle exister dans d’autres pays ? Peut-elle mobiliser de vraies "soldates" en France comme en Ukraine alors que la position de la femme n’est pas la même ? Oui car il nous reste des choses à apprendre et nous pouvons aider d’autres pays dans leur combat. Que vont-elles devenir ? Finiront-elles emprisonnées comme les Pussy Riot ? L’avenir nous le dira.

Petit grand + : nous en apprenons davantage sur la politique, les coutumes, etc… de leur pays.

Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQh7F0...

[☼Pam Might Read Too Much ☼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manifesto

"In the beginning was the body, the sensation the woman has of
her own body, the joy of it's lightness and freedom. Then came
injustice, so harsh that it is felt with the body; injustice
deprives the body of it's mobility, paralyses it's movements,
and soon you are hostage to that injustice. Then you push your
body into battle against the injustice, mobilizing each cell
for the war against the world of patriarchy and humiliation."

FEMEN makes a timely appearance as issues of gender are bubbling to the top of American political agendas -- yet again. The line between an employer's rights and those of the employee come to mind. That these aren't simple issues is demonstrated by the fact that as a society we are having to push the debate up to the Supreme Court, because there is no general consensus.

Because of current politics and because the women of FEMEN are so radical and outspoken I was interested in what the founders of this movement had to say for themselves. I hoped to pushed beyond my comfort zone. To be helped to see what they caused these four women to begin this new style of feminism.

I became even more intrigued as I read. As my ignorance of social environment of Ukraine and Russia became apparent, I recognized parallels to the limited options women in the USA had in 1950's. And I realized how stifling this must have been to these strong, intelligent young women.
.
.
If you want to understand their roots, consider that they think about perestroika the way they do about the Soviet imposed faux-famine of 1932-3 --which effected the genocide of 6 million people. What the communist bureaucrats didn't entirely crush, the capitalization of the USSR did.

And part of this destruction was what happened to Ukraine. It became a sex capital, and under the watchful eye of the government Ukrainian women were being sold and sold out.
.
.

This book is brilliantly written. The introductory section gives an easy introduction to the politics of the Ukraine.

What follows is their political stance. I-myself am a capitalist, while they are communists in the old Marxian sense. That did not keep them from opening my eyes though, for it's clearly true that women are the first to suffer from poverty and the last to recover. So what they said could not be denied in my capitalist world.

I don't think those with a strong political bent will get much from this book. The Femen are far-far left leaning, and what's the point of reading something if you it is only going to make you froth and spit, and elevate your blood pressure. Just pass this by.

For those able to look pass any politics they might not agree with, there are some thought provoking ideas here, and some interesting material that explains what drives these women.

[Orion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Femen tells the story of the Femen radical feminist group that originated in Ukraine and has become an international movement based in Paris. Told by French historian Galia Ackerman this brief history also includes many sections written by the four major founders of the movement Anna Hutso, Oksana Shachko, Alexandra Shevchenko, and Inna Shevchenko. The result is both an objective look and a personal statement.

Femen is a nonviolent radical group opposed to women's oppression that uses the tactic of appearing at public meetings of major sexist patriarchal political figures with flower crowns on their heads and bare chests covered in brief feminist slogans like "Ukraine is Not a Brothel." They are radical in that their purpose is to disrupts events, so as to be arrested and removed forcibly by police, creating publicity for their cause.

The book tells the story of how these women met, became radical feminists, and built a movement in five years that drew world-wide attention. It explains how they developed their ideology and their methodology. There is an Afterword entitled One Year Later that tells of events in 2013 after the completion of the book. The book is one-sided telling Femen's history from the perspective of its leaders. While conflicts and criticisms are mentioned, the leaders are portrayed as they see themselves.

[Michael Griswold · Rating 2 out of 5]

Femen is a feminist group based in Ukraine that is fighting for gender equality throughout the former Soviet Union and various locales in Europe. This book is basically a manifesto informing the reader about the goals and mission of the organization along with brief sketches of the key members of the group. It also goes deeper by outlining some of the actions that the group has taken and in the last section it talks about the consequences of those actions. Femen rose out of the perceived inequality of post-Soviet society that left these women feeling alienated and without opportunity. This feeling led to the creation of Femen. I think for a manifesto document that it ultimately does what it's supposed to, but ultimately it is not something that I will be reading again.

[Temperance Brennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bon j'ai mis trois étoiles parce que j'ai trouvé intéressant de lire a propos d'un mouvement que j'avais tendance à juger et sans le connaître le problème c'est que dans le fond je deplore bcp de choses

[Christine Turgeon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essai intéressant pour mieux connaître le mouvement Femen. Il s'agit d'un condensé de leurs actions dans un style conci et journalistique.

[Mills College Library]

305.4 F3292 2014