Image:Bastiend Can you be a male and a feminist, or a male feminist, or a pro-feminist male? I think so. Can you be a man and start a feminist society. I suppose so. I mean... there's no law against it. It's probably not the optimum feminist environment for a group or men (group? Gang? Pod? Fistful? What's the collective term for men?) to be the founding members of a feminist society. It rather smacks of what some might call a manarchist movement.
Some feminist societies have certainly noticed men coming in trying to be supportive, but forgetting that space is required over suggestions or statements. Kelley Temple put it well saying: "Men who want to be feminists do not need to be given a space in feminism. They need to take the space they have in society and make it feminist."
Some feminist societies have certainly noticed men coming in trying to be supportive, but forgetting that space is required over suggestions or statements. Kelley Temple put it well saying: "Men who want to be feminists do not need to be given a space in feminism. They need to take the space they have in society and make it feminist."
It appears that one man has taken such a back seat in his feminist action that it is only now coming to light how involved he is, or was. Femen have allowed for it to be known that they have a staunch male supporter in Victor Svyatski. But now it appears not only might he have been there from the beginning, but he might be the beginning of Femen.
| Kitty Green's documentary Ukraine Is Not a Brothel - currently been shown at the Venice Film Festival features an interview with Svyatski. In it he acknowledges that he may have treated the group as a method to meet women (it's like he'd never heard of the wristband idea), he tells Green: "Perhaps yes, somewhere in my deep subconscious." | Breasts and bras have been a source of feminist protest before Femen or Svyatski thought that a pert bosom might convey a message |
Femen is not just a rather attractive organisation due to its dating potential. It is alleged that Svyatski picked the prettiest girls to stage the topless protests. The protest techniques and beyond questionable slogans of Femen have apparently been inspired by Svyatski's discipline: "They show submissiveness, spinelessness, lack of punctuality, and many other factors which prevent them from becoming political activists. These are qualities which it was essential to teach them."
As Guardian writer Bim Adewunmi puts it: "Allies are an important component in the march towards equality But if you have friends like this, who needs enemies?"
Breasts and bras have been a source of feminist protest before Femen or Svyatski thought that a pert bosom might convey a message. P J Harvey has taken to the stage bare chested, as has Dandy Warhols keyboardist Zia McCabe. Nude hippy love/sit ins have occurred and lactivists have milked the publicity their toplessness has gleaned. Yet it is Femen's photogenic breasts that have gained the headlines. While many people - feminist or not – have felt their messages repeatedly miss the point.
They haven't become the champions of sex workers, perhaps because they are anti. The idea of International Topless Jihad Day, inspired by Amina Tyler, was hardly nuanced and only highlighted the many issues white feminists need to address about how they use feminism. Perhaps these campaigns make more sense if a man has been at the helm all along.
One day it might somehow come about that in general was the brain child of a man. And I wouldn't particularly mind. It is not the parent, it is child that matters. I don't disagree with Femen because it has a father, I disagree with Femen because it of its politics.
Squeamish Kate
As Guardian writer Bim Adewunmi puts it: "Allies are an important component in the march towards equality But if you have friends like this, who needs enemies?"
Breasts and bras have been a source of feminist protest before Femen or Svyatski thought that a pert bosom might convey a message. P J Harvey has taken to the stage bare chested, as has Dandy Warhols keyboardist Zia McCabe. Nude hippy love/sit ins have occurred and lactivists have milked the publicity their toplessness has gleaned. Yet it is Femen's photogenic breasts that have gained the headlines. While many people - feminist or not – have felt their messages repeatedly miss the point.
They haven't become the champions of sex workers, perhaps because they are anti. The idea of International Topless Jihad Day, inspired by Amina Tyler, was hardly nuanced and only highlighted the many issues white feminists need to address about how they use feminism. Perhaps these campaigns make more sense if a man has been at the helm all along.
One day it might somehow come about that in general was the brain child of a man. And I wouldn't particularly mind. It is not the parent, it is child that matters. I don't disagree with Femen because it has a father, I disagree with Femen because it of its politics.
Squeamish Kate
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