Femen / Edition 1

by Femen, Galia Ackerman

Overview

'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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745683218
Publisher:	Polity Press
Publication date:	06/09/2014
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Femen is a feminist protest group which was founded in Ukraine in 2008 by Anna Hutso, Oksana Shachko, Alexandra Shevchenko and Inna Shevchenko, who are among its key members. They have attracted worldwide attention for a series of high-profile protests at key international events and currently live in exile in France.

Table of Contents

Manifesto vii

A Movement of Free Women: Preface by Galia

Ackerman xiii

Part I: The Gang of Four

1. Inna, a Quiet Hooligan 3

2. Anna, the Instigator 13

3. Sasha, the Shy One 24

4. Oksana, the Iconoclast 34

Part II: Action

5. ‘Ukraine Is Not a Brothel’ 43

6. No More Nice Quiet Protests 68

7. Femen Goes All Out 89

8. In Belarus: A Dramatic Experience 105

9. Femen Gets Radical 117

10. ‘I’m Stealing Putin’s Vote!’ 122

11. Naked Rather Than in a Niqab! 128

12. Femen France 150

13. Our Dreams, Our Ideals, Our Men 161

One Year Later: Afterword by Galia Ackerman 168

Notes 182