Pussy Riot: Hooligans or Prisoners of Conscience?

In the summer of 1993, I sat in a bedsit room in a converted Victorian vicarage.  With my newly dreaded hair and combat trousers, I was ready to save the world.

It was in this context that my friend Julie first handed me V for Vendetta (the graphic novel) and played Bikini Kill's Rebel Girl.  My mind was duly blown and the two have been interlinked in my head ever since.

A whole wave of Feminist Punk Rock bands passed through my Walkman.  L7, Bikini Kill, Hole, Huggy Bear, they were all present and correct.

Then it just all seemed to fizzle away.  Maybe I got older.  Maybe they did.  But the idea remained.

Only this winter I bumped into a lady of my generation.  Somewhere along the way, Riot Grrrl was mentioned in conversation. I looked at her and she looked at me. Our eyes locked in a secret smile.

Kids today.  They have no notion of how exciting that was.  Or at least I thought, in my smug, rose-tinted nostalgia kick.

But then, I don't recall Huggy Bear ever being thrown into a reconditioned Gulag in Mordovia.

It's the summer of 2012 and Riot Grrrl is back, this time with balaclavas.  Though I maintain that the music was better back in the day.

That moment of reminiscing isn't as random as it seems. Pussy Riot have self-identified as Riot Grrrls, citing Bikini Kill as their inspiration. It was not a movement which had its equivalent in Russia, until now.

It's in this riotous context of empowered femininity, striking out against stereotyping and kicking down taboos, that Pussy Riot acted. 

Their shows were never in ticketed halls, but illegally grabbed sessions on governmental steps and in public squares.

It was mostly street theater.  In your face, punk rock with a huge dash of what society deems obscene and inappropriate for young ladies.  That's kind of the point.

(In my day, it was a member of L7 removing a blooded tampon from her body, and throwing it at a heckler live on television.  This was Riot Grrrl.  It was designed to shock and kick against the norm.

Riot Grrrl never asked politely for the glass ceiling to be removed. They took sledgehammers and smashed it to smithereens.)

On a pro-Feminist platform, Pussy Riot performed raucous songs proclaiming against patriarchy; particularly as represented by President Putin and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill I of Moscow.

It's all activism.  It's all protest.  Every lyric that they yell is attacking those they perceive to be causing the repression of women and other societal ills.

On one occasion, members of the twelve piece band forced their way into a high end fashion shop. They were simulating masturbation in the window display, while the rest of the group performed their music outside.  On another, they climbed onto scaffolding in a Moscow subway, raining feathers from a pillow down on trains, as they played.

Their gigs don't tend to last long.  Their songs are only two minutes long, probably as insurance against actually completing one before the police arrive.

Then came the action in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. 

On February 21st 2012, Pussy Riot entered Moscow's main cathedral, Christ the Saviour. They were dressed in overcoats, with their colorful balaclavas hidden in their pockets.

In addition to band members, a collective of fifteen technicians are associated with the band.

They follow with cameras and record everything. They mix their songs and publish them.

This is the geek element of Pussy Riot; and some of them were also present on the day.

Within two days, what they captured on film would be publicly available on YouTube. It would form the promotional music video for the band's latest release, Punk Prayer.

Once the party were inside the cathedral, the performers removed their coats and put on their trademark balaclavas.  They rushed to the central altar - an area usually reserved for high ranking clergy - and fell to their knees, crossing themselves.

Before church guards could react to their trespass, the women began a raucous, impromptu performance of Punk Prayer.

The Feminist lyrics beseeched Mary, Mother of God, to join them in the fight for female equality. They highlighted how the traditional place of women, under Church doctrine, was to 'birth and love'.  Basically they are baby incubators and little else.

But moreover, the song attacked the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church. It accused him of supporting a succession of dictators, despite the obvious human rights abuses going on. It was the intervention of the church which kept the people in check, so no-one would criticize 'gay pride sent to Siberia in chains' nor the 'cross-bearer procession of black limousines'.

Ironically, in light of subsequent events, the song also accused KGB leaders of leading 'protesters to prison under escort, in order not to offend His Holiness'.  The corruption ran both ways.

While nuns rushed to stop the camera women filming, security guards poured into the sacred center to pull Pussy Riot from their makeshift stage.  Worshipers and tourists merely stood around, staring in shock at all that was happening.

The action that you are about to watch led to the arrest of three women.  Maria Alekhina, Ekaterina Samutsevich and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova each received two years in prison for 'hooliganism' and 'religious hatred'.  Other members of the group have fled Russia, so not to submit to the same.

English language lyrics of 'Punk Prayer - Mother of God, Chase Putin Away!'
The Feminism element is evident in the refrain: 'Virgin Mary, Mother of God, become a feminist Become a feminist, become a feminist.' It's also there in a verse: 'Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin Bitch, better believe in God instead The belt of the Virgin can’t replace mass-meetings Mary, Mother of God, is with us in protest!'

In the Pussy Riot trial, Judge Marina Syrova out-lined the three areas in which the trio would be prosecuted.

Their hooliganism and religious hatred was evident in their choice of venue; their continuing performance, even after security guards and church worshipers tried to stop them; and the conduct of both the defendants and their accomplices in the aftermath.

She ruled that:

'People who consider themselves feminists presently struggle for actual equality [for women]. These activities are not considered criminal in accordance with the Russian law.

At the same time, Orthodox Christianity, and Catholic Christianity and other denominations do not agree with feminism and their own values are not inline with feminists.'
The Guardian: Pussy Riot jailed for two years - Friday 17 August

It was this opinion which added the tag of 'driven by religious hatred' to the charge of general 'hooliganism'. 

The 'hooliganism' charge wilts somewhat in the light that none of the band physically hurt a member of the church, nor was there any criminal damage. The 'religious hatred' ruling only works if you concur that Christianity is anti-equality for women.

It's not a view accepted by Amnesty International, amongst others.  As far as the human rights organization is concerned, Maria Alekhina, Ekaterina Samutsevich and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova are all prisoners of conscience.

They are in the Mordovia penal colony because they dared to publicly condemn both the Patriarch and the President.

Amnesty's Free Pussy Riot campaign has already seen action on their behalf in cities across the world.  Meanwhile, Yoko Ono has awarded the LennonOno Grant for Peace to the group. They are just two of the prominent supporters of the women.

It's all playing beautifully into Pussy Riot's ideology, hence the defiant smirks as they were led away from the courtroom.  Their protest platform just got amplified beyond their wildest dreams.