Femen: Offending those they sought to 'liberate'

*This article is also published online here with the international political forum*

This week Ukrainian feminist protest group FEMEN once again sparked international debate for their controversial protest, ‘topless Jihad day’ in solidarity with Amina Tyler, a young Tunisian woman who posted a nude photograph of herself on the group’s facebook page. Tyler posted the photo of herself with ‘fuck your morals’ written on her body  as an act of female liberation and in response received death threats from Islamic extremists, beatings from her own family, and a forced virginity test.

Whilst Femen’s support of Tyler is admirable, their choice to stage topless protests in support of Islamic female liberation was damaging, humiliating and offensive to the Muslim female community. Femen’s protests, which took place outside mosques, involved topless women with anti-Islamic slogans scrawled across their chests, and the burning of a flag bearing the Muslim profession of faith in Paris. The protests initiated an overwhelming response protest via social media from Muslim women all over globe as Femen’s action brought to light the question ‘do western feminists have any right to speak out for the Muslim female community?’

The anger felt by the Muslim community towards Femen’s protest centres on the fact that the group hijacked Islamic voices.  The response protest and facebook group ‘Muslim Women Against Femen’ involved women of the Islamic faith holding signs with statements such as ‘I speak for myself’, ‘I don’t need to be saved, I'm already free’ and ‘Amineh does not represent Muslim women across the globe’. Although the statements differ, in each there is a clear message that Femens act has been perceived as derogatory as it sends the negative message that Muslim women are victims of their own culture who need to be rescued by Western feminists.

Jonathon Jones of the Guardian seems to revere the extreme group’s acts as ‘gloriously crude’. Jones argues that the group defiantly, courageously and provocatively sought to challenge perceived Islamic patriarchy with no regard for political correctness or fear of offending. Whilst it is true that the group’s support of Tyler is commendable, the problem lies in their method, which rhetorically was damaging and humiliating to the very women Femen sought to support. If Femen want to support Islamic female liberation, great; but Breast baring is not going to liberate Muslim females experiencing oppression because whilst nudity may be empowering to some women, feminist demonstrations need to support the beliefs of those they are fighting for.

These women are outraged that what is considered best for them is being dictated by Western feminists. In response to the images posted online the leader of Femen’s German branch issued the controversial and infuriating statement in an interview with The Huffington Post ‘They say they are against Femen,..They write on their posters that they don't need liberation but in their eyes it's written 'help me'’. Uneducated preconceptions really do seem to form the basis of Femen’s views of Islamic female experience, with Femen’s founder stating in an interview for theatlantic.com ‘As a society we haven't been able to eradicate our Arab mentality towards women.’

In 2007 Muslim writer Fatemeh Fakhraie wrote an eye-opening piece examining gender issue within the Islamic population entitled ‘the dos and dont’s of defending Muslim women’. Referring to an earlier letter of hers titled ‘An Open Letter to White, Non-Muslim Feminists’ she states:

‘I notice a lot of condescension when you talk to us or about us. Let me be clear: you do not know more about us than we know about ourselves, our religion, our cultures, our families, or the forces that shape our lives. You do not know what’s best for us more than we do.’

This message reflects the general sentiment of those angered by Femen's protest and is one that Femen seem to have neither acknowledged nor understood. In trying to support Tyler’s plight Femen have in fact offended, embarrassed and taken action in a manner contrary to the religious beliefs of the community they aimed to ‘liberate’. Amina Tyler herself stated of the group’s actions ‘they have insulted all Muslims everywhere and it’s not acceptable.’ Tyler is also considering fleeing her homeland for fears over her life, aggravated by Femen’s radical action. In their attempt to tackle oppressive Islamic traditions the group has paid no attention to the view of Muslim women themselves and this recent protest has merely served to demonstrate the ignorance of this radical feminist group.

Femen’s assertion that nudity must be an essential part of female liberation is bold, and draws attention, but cannot be used to support the plight of Muslim female independence. In fact it does the opposite. As Fakhraie continues in her open letter ‘speaking for me when I did not ask you to actually takes my voice away. It is oppression just the same when a feminists does it as when, for example, a man speaks for a woman without her consent.’ If Femen wanted to help the progression of Muslim female liberation, they need to consider the fact that religious dress is often a choice and a personal expression of faith, not simply an oppressive tool. As Mai Yamani has noted in her text Feminism and Islam the real issue is not the tradition of veiling itself but ‘the element of choice attached to the garment […] whether it is a woman's right to choose whether to veil or not’. A bunch of Ukrainian women getting topless in public and protesting the veil, as Femen did in France a few years ago, does not ‘liberate’ Muslim women or affect this choice, but does mock, offend and hijack a voice already battling western stereotypes.

Female emancipation from misogynistic tradition must come from inside the Muslim female community, where its messages, aims and actions are led with understanding of Islamic culture and the needs of the women themselves, rather than from a westernised  and distanced perspective. Protests such as ‘topless jihad day’ led by radical, western feminist groups only serve to offend, humiliate, and aggravate the view of Muslim women as victims, who need rescuing my progressive, nude western feminists. So well done FEMEN- your actions have offended the very woman you were trying to support and the Islamic female community. 

Considering their track record it seems unlikely that FEMEN will consider their actions more carefully in the future as  despite the backlash they have received for their recent antics they still view themselves as liberators of the Islamic female population. But hopefully their latest fail of a protest will bring attention to the ignorance, thoughtlessness and senseless of this somewhat irritating topless bunch.