Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ph5wq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T10:11:02.334Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Russian feminist perspectives on Pussy Riot

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Valerie Sperling*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

While Pussy Riot's “Punk Prayer” and its aftermath constituted something of a turning point for Russia politically - as well as personally for the women imprisoned afterwards - it was neither the first nor last of Pussy Riot's endeavors. Among other things, their series of songs, published as video clips on the web, endorsed mass protest against the Putin regime, criticized state-sponsored homophobia, and praised feminism as a possible curative for Russia's many ills. In setting forth their ideas, however, Pussy Riot's lyricists made use of traditional masculine and feminine gender norms as well as homophobia, wielding these against their opponents in the regime and thereby reinforcing them in ways that other self-identified Russian feminists found problematic at best.

In this article, I review Pussy Riot's collection of songs in chronological order, highlighting the areas where gender norms and apparent misogyny, sexism, and homophobia appear. I weave my explications of the content of Pussy Riot's productions in with the responses of Russian feminist activists to Pussy Riot's lyrics and actions. Taking into account the views of some non-feminist Russian commentators in addition to self-identified feminist activists, I discuss a range of evaluations of the content of Pussy Riot's compositions, as well as differing appraisals of the means that Pussy Riot employed to achieve what they viewed as feminist ends: undermining or even unseating the Putin regime.

Type
Special Section: Pussy Riot
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

References

Abduliaev, Nabi. 2010. “Bears and Mammoth Bones Keep Putin on TV.” The Moscow Times, August 27. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/bears-and-mammoth-bones-keep-putin-on-tv/413788.html Google Scholar
Activist [a]. 2012. Initsiativnaia Gruppa Za Feminizm, interview by author, Moscow, 4 June.Google Scholar
Activist [b]. 2012. Moskovskie Radikal'nye Feministki, interview by author, Moscow, 22 June.Google Scholar
Activist [c]. 2012. Komitet za Rabochii Internatsional (KRI), Kampaniia protiv ekspluatatsii i diskriminatsii zhenshchin, interview by author, Moscow, 18 June.Google Scholar
Addis, Michael, and Cohane, Geoffrey. 2005. “Social Scientific Paradigms of Masculinity and Their Implications for Research and Practice in Men's Mental Health.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 61 (6): 633647.Google Scholar
Akulova, Ira. 2012. “Konformizm v protestnoi obertke?” OpenSpace.ru, February 27. http://www.openspace.ru/art/events/details/34649/?attempt=1 Google Scholar
Art-gruppa. 2011. “Art-gruppa ‘Voina’ zatselovyvaet mentov 1 marta.” YouTube.com, March 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa_ZUj4Vx88 Google Scholar
Azhgikhina, Nadezhda. 2008. Propushchennyi siuzhet: Istoriia novo go nezavisimogo zhenskogo dvizheniia Rossii s nachala 1990x do nashikh dnei v zerkale SMI. Moscow: ROO: Tsentr Obshchestvennoi Informatsii.Google Scholar
Belkovskii, Stanislav. 2013. “Pap ukazal put’ Patriarkhu.” Moskovskii komsomolets, February 15. http://www.mk.ru/specprojects/free-theme/article/2013/02/14/812869-papa-ukazal-putpatriarhu.html Google Scholar
Connell, Raewyn W. 2005. Masculinities. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Ekho Moskvy. 2012. “Osoboe Mnenie: Aleksandr Pliushchev Interviews Nikolai Uskov.” Ekho Moskvy, August 7. http://echo.msk.ru/programs/personalno/915946-echo/ Google Scholar
Elder, Miriam. 2012. “Feminist Punk Band Pussy Riot Take Revolt to the Kremlin.” The Guardian, February 2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/02/pussy-riot-protest-russia Google Scholar
Gitlin, Todd. 1981. The Whole World is Watching: Mass Media in the Making and Unmaking of the New Left. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. New York: Harper Colophon Books.Google Scholar
Golovko, Oksana. 2011. “Protoierei Dimitrii Smirnov: Ia protiv vseobshchevo izbiratel'nogo prava!” Pravoslavie i mir, November 29. http://www.pravmir.ru/protoierej-dimitrij-smirnov-ya-protiv-vseobshhego-izbiratelnogo-prava Google Scholar
Pussy Riot, Gruppa. 2011. “Pochemu feministskii khlyst polezen Rossii?” Grani.ru, November 7. http://grani.ru/blogs/free/entries/192925.html Google Scholar
Huffington Post. 2011. “Vladimir Putin Rides Harley-Davidson with Russian Biker Gang (Video),” August 30. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/30/putin-motorcycle-russia-_n_941963.html Google Scholar
Interfax. 2012. “Church Employee Says Pussy Riot Show Has Given Her ‘Unceasing Pain',” July 31. http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=9615 Google Scholar
Kichanova, Vera. 2012. Pussi Raiot: Podlinnaia Istoriia. Moscow: HocusPocus.Google Scholar
Kizenko, Nadieszda. 2013. “Feminized Patriarchy? Orthodoxy and Gender in Post-Soviet Russia.” Signs 38 (3): 595621.Google Scholar
Kostiuchenko, Elena. 2012. “Feministi-khuliganki dali kontsert na Lobnom meste.” Novaya Gazeta, January 20. http://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/53456.html Google Scholar
“Liteinyi Most Vstal Na FSB”. 2010. YouTube.com, June 15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIFZ41P6kfw&feature=related Google Scholar
Matveeva, Garadzha. 2012a. “Pussy Riot o kontserte ‘Putin Zassal,’ feminizme i protestakh.”YouTube.com, February 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPAaPWoJ-b8 Google Scholar
Matveeva, Garadzha. 2012b. “Pank-moleben ‘Bogoroditsa, Putina Progoni’ Pussy Riot v Khrame.”YouTube.com, February 21. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GCasuaAczKY Google Scholar
Parfitt, Tom. 2011. “Voina, Art Group Backed by Banksy, Wins Russian Prize for Erection.” The Guardian, April 8. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/08/voina-banksy-penis-prize Google Scholar
Plucer. 2010a. “Novaya aktsiya Voiny ‘Khui v PLENu u FSB!’ inauguratsiia Nashego Prezidenta Leni Ebnutogo.” Livejournal.com, June 24. http://plucer.livejournal.com/265584.html Google Scholar
Plucer. 2010b. “Novaia skandalnaia aktsiia gruppy Voina ‘Poshto pizdili Kuru?’ ili ‘Skaz o tom, kak Pizda Voinu kormila.” Livejournal.com, July 24. http://plucer.livejournal.com/281211.html Google Scholar
Plungian, Nadia. 2011. “Gendernye zerkala sovremennogo iskusstva: mezhdu soprotivleniem i dedovshchinoi.” Neprikosnovennyi zapas 2 (76). http://magazines.russ.ru/nz/2011/2/pl5.html Google Scholar
Polit.ru. 2012. “Chego khoteli i chego dobilis’ Pussy Riot,” June 28. http://polit.ru/article/2012/04/16/discussion/ Google Scholar
Riot, Pussy. 2011a. “Devchenki iz Pussy Riot zakhvatyvaiut transport.” YouTube.com, November 6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEiB1RYuYXw&feature=related Google Scholar
Riot, Pussy. 2011b. “Vtoroi nelegal'nyi tur gruppy Pussy Riot s podzhogami k okkupatsiei.”Livejournal.com, December 1. http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com/5164.html Google Scholar
Riot, Pussy. 2011c. “Gruppa Pussy Riot zhzhet Putinskii glamur.” YouTube.com, November 30. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZUhkWiiv7M Google Scholar
Riot, Pussy. 2011d. “Nelegal'nyi kontsert gruppy Pussy Riot na kryshe tiur'my.” Livejournal.com, December 14. http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com/5763.html Google Scholar
Riot, Pussy. 2012a. “Singl dlia prigovora - Putin zazhigaet kostry.” YouTube.com, August 17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxvQh02KRcw&feature=plcp Google Scholar
Riot, Pussy. 2012b. “Proryv i arrest Pussy Riot na Lobnom meste Krasnoi Ploshchadi s pesnei ‘Putin Zassal.'” Livejournal.com, January 20. http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com/8459.htm Google Scholar
Riot, Pussy. 2012c. “Pank-moleben ‘Bogoroditsa, Putina Progoni’ Pussy Riot v Khrame Khrista Spasitelia.” Livejournal.com, February 21. http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com/12442.html Google Scholar
Reuters. 2008. “Putin Saves TV Crew from Siberian Tiger.” Reuters, September 2. http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/09/02/us-putin-tiger-idUSLV19939720080902 Google Scholar
RT.com. 2012. “‘I'd Rather Be a Dictator Than Gay’ : Lukashenko to German FM.” RT.com, March 4. http://rt.com/news/lukashenko-gay-german-minister-807/ Google Scholar
Schippers, Mimi. 2007. “Recovering the Feminine Other: Masculinity, Femininity, and Gender Hegemony.” Theory and Society 36 (1): 85106.Google Scholar
Showstack Sassoon, Anne. 1988. Gramsci's Politics. 2nd ed. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Snow, David A., and Benford, Robert D. 1988. “Ideology, Frame Resonance and Participant Mobilization.” International Social Movement Research 1 (1): 197218.Google Scholar
Sperling, Valerie. 2012. “Nashi Devushki: Gender and Political Youth Activism in Putin's and Medvedev's Russia.” Post-Soviet Affairs 28 (2): 232261.Google Scholar
Sturdee, Nick. 2011. “Don't Raise the Bridge: Voina, Russia's Art Terrorists.” The Guardian, April 12. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/apr/12/voina-art-terrorism Google Scholar
Tolokno, Nadia. 2011. “Nelegal'nye feministskie kontserty v Moskve.” Livejournal.com, November 7. http://feministki.livejournal.com/1857679.html Google Scholar
Twickel, Nikolaus von. 2012. “Punk Band's Legal Team Reveals Full Performance.” The Moscow Times, June 6. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/punk-bands-legal-team-reveals-full-performance/459967.html#ixzz1×2CNf5X4 Google Scholar
Uskov, Nikolai. 2013. “Pro menia.” Snob. http://www.snob.ru/profile/24889 Google Scholar
Voina. 2008. “Voina ebetsya za naslednika Medvezhonka.” Ren-TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=BstpfQuQzuwGoogle Scholar
Washington, Tom. 2011. “Voina Come Back for Kisses.” The Moscow News, March 1. http://www.themoscownews.com/local/20110301/188458300.html Google Scholar