Pussy Riot: Because She is not a sinful creature

Psychoanalysis strives toward increasing freedom to live an increasingly broadened, enriched life. I am glad to be an American citizen, born in the USA, in the country whose Constitution has survived longer than any other. It was hammered out and became the law of the land more than a decade after the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence-- the latter, of course, the event we today celebrate. Last week the Supreme Court broadened our freedoms by striking down DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act which narrowly defined marriage so as to discriminate against homosexual couples). I have long awaited the day when women would be free of their minority status, too. I have wondered why nations don’t rise up in outrage against rape as a weapon of war, against female genital mutilation, glass ceilings, sex slaves, child brides, and other socially sanctioned violence against women.

So I smile when I think of the Feminist - punk rock - protest - performance group Pussy Riot, formed the day Russian President Medvedev announced that power would be handed back to Putin for six more years. Mass protests ensued. Members of Pussy Riot were arrested six months later for their performance on Feb 21, 2012 in Christ the Savior Cathedral. This hooliganism garnered a two year prison sentence for two of its members. Pussy Riot accused Putin of depriving Russia the right to decide its fate. ‘Nadia’ says the alter of the cathedral where the feminists performed was chosen because “a woman should occupy it.” [the altar] “I believe that a woman should be allowed to run services and that a woman should stand at the altar because she is not a sinful creature.” What a concept: egalitarianism in religions.

Called “demons” by those who support the Russian Orthodox Church, Pussy Riot says, “As artists, our goal is to change humanity,…to free society from prejudices and stereotypes, to be the voice of the voiceless….We are jokers, jester, holy fools.” Their offensiveness, to some, was meant to challenge complacency and ask uneasy questions. Psychoanalysts ask uneasy questions, striving not to give offense. Still, I applaud these exuberant, brave, questioning, young women, fundamentally non violent, their guerilla performances, colorfully clad and masked (in balaclava), waving purple flag, fisted as they scream their protest to electric guitar. A favorite is Putin Zassel, written in response to regime troops being sent out to contain anti-Putin demonstrators of Dec 24, 2011. Performed in Red Square Jan 2012:

Lyrics (to Performance No. 4

The masses rise up and move on the Kremlin

Explosions set off at Security headquarters

Bitches piss themselves behind red walls

Riot is here to abort the system

An attack at dawn? Don’t mind if I do

When we’re whipped for our freedom

The Mother of God will learn how to fight

Magdalene the feminist will join the demonstration

Uprising in Russia

The charm of protest

Uprising in Russia

Putin pissed himself

Uprising in Russia

We exist

Uprising in Russia

Riot! Riot!

Take to the streets!

Occupy Red Square

Show them your freedom

A citizen’s anger

Uprising in Russia

Riot! Riot!

Take to the streets

Occupy Red Square!

Show them your freedom

A citizen’s anger

As Egypt struggles to find its way, having ousted Morsi yesterday, perhaps the huddled masses yearning to breathe free will one day no longer need to be on U.S. soil to do so. I hope Egypt strives in its future toward a more inclusive constitution where woman are equal under the law and toward a democracy that does not solve its mistakes with military powers. Do Pussy Riot members Nadia and Masha  smile from their respective jail cells? Thomas Jefferson who, as you know, penned the Declaration of Independence, advocated revolution, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”