Who Is Pussy Riot? And Why Should We Care?

Pussy Riot burst onto the FIFA World Cup final and got a high-five from Mbappe – but who are they?

Pussy Riot, a Russian feminist group that demands equal rights.

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube/Pussy Riot) 

We believe that our art should be accessible to everyone, therefore we perform in diverse public spaces. Pussy Riot never means to show disrespect to any viewers or witnesses of our punk concerts … The themes of our songs and performances are dictated by the present moment. We simply react to what is happening in our country, and our punk performances express the opinion of a sufficiently large number of people.

Tolokonnikova, member of Pussy Riot to Oxford Research Encyclopedia

Pussy Riot is a feminist punk-rock group that started in 2011 in Moscow, Russia. Their aim was to disrupt the socio-political landscape of the country and lay bare the hypocrisies, discrimination and rampant sexism.

The group first shot to fame when President Vladimir Putin decided to stand for the presidential elections for the third time in a row in 2011. Some Russians were vehemently against Putin’s ideologies; they couldn’t take another term under his leadership.

Sensing the general discontent in the Russian political climate, these girls came together to demonstrate their disapproval. Taking inspiration from the punk-rock revolution of the 90s, they wrote songs that questioned the powerful government and its religious institutions.

They titled their debut album ‘Kill the Sexist’ and released their first song, Egyptian Air Is Good For You, performing it atop a metro and trolley cars. The women wore brightly coloured clothes with black balaclavas, defying traditional notions of how women should dress.

Pussy Riot has snowballed into a movement for all genders. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Pussy Riot) 

Their first song was symbolic of the world that we were living in, in 2011. The Arab Spring had just begun and Egypt was rising against Dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Each performance was recorded and published online.

With time, their videos began to go viral, which meant that they had garnered international fame – and domestic notoriety. Soon, Pussy Riot became a modern-day feminist movement, faintly reminiscent of the feminist movements across the world decades ago. Was Russia finally waking up to women’s rights? Alas, their victory was short-lived.

Of Jails and Protests

On 20 January 2012, Pussy Riot’s Putin Has Pissed Himself featured eight women performing in front of St Basil’s Cathedral. During the performance, the women ignited a smoke bomb, calling for a national uprising against the Russian authorities and against President Putin as the symbol of the oppressive regime. Pussy Riot’s previous performances never led to any legal repercussions, but after this demonstration, the performers were arrested and detained on administrative charges.

They were, however, soon released.

The big scandal was yet to happen.

On 21 February 2012, Pussy Riot performed Dear Mother, Chase the Putin Away, at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in a section reserved for priests. During the performance, Pussy Riot urged the Mother of God to become a feminist and claimed that the church’s leader, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, venerated President Vladimir Putin instead of God.

After this ‘blasphemous’ indictment, members Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were arrested and a criminal case was opened on charges of aggravated offence of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. They were jailed for several months.

According to Oxford Research Encyclopedia, Putin first commented on Pussy Riot’s performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour during his visit to London on 2 August 2012. He said that Pussy Riot should not be judged “too harshly”.

After the trial, however, the president’s commentary reflected a stark contrast in attitude. He stated that “to arrest them was a right thing to do, and the court’s decision was also right because one cannot undermine the principles of morality and virtue and destroy the country.”

What Pussy Riot Sought to Achieve

Pussy Riot actively sought to be categorised as criminal, a strategy that ultimately contributed to their work having a much more far-reaching impact than did that of the earlier generation of feminist protesters.  

Lizzie Seal in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10282580.2013.798718">Contemporary Justice Review</a>

Shortly after members of Pussy Riot were released, they began work on prison reforms. Their fight singularly remained women’s rights, but after spending a considerable amount of time in the prison, they set up a semi-NGO dedicated to advocacy of prisoners’ rights.

Although the group received appreciation from the western feminists and liberals, the Russian intelligensia remained sceptical.

Russian feminist groups and organisations unanimously spoke against Pussy Riot’s incarceration. But not all agreed with the group’s feminist ideology or approved of its means of protest, accusing the band of sensationalism and superficiality. Even the band’s name, an audacious double entendre in English, was criticised not only as insolent, but also as meaningless to an average Russian.

<a href="http://criminology.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-208">Oxford Research Encyclopedia</a>

Often lauded for their ‘blasphemous’ lyrics, many critics noted that their songs were rooted in the same language of abuse. For instance some critics find the following lyrics hurtful:

...We got pussy for days...Back up, pussy don’t play...First they come and then they stay...You gon’ always gonna find it when you need it...You gon’ always come back and repeat it...Oh, ‘cause you know where home is...Go down like you know what dome is...

Straight Outta Vagina

Despite the criticism, the group has been able to establish itself as a force that cannot be stopped. They have started ringing feminist bells at the Kremlin’s doors, a bell that is resounding in several parts of the world.

They even disrupted the FIFA World Cup final in Moscow this year. They made themselves visible and actually had the vagina to claim responsibility. They cannot be ignored and they cannot be gagged.

In the dark times will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.

Bertolt Brecht