Battle of the balaclavas: the young feminists taking on Putin
“First, I am part of the universe. Second, I am a punk feminist,” said the one in the pale yellow balaclava. “I am against the system. Any system.”
Russia’s latest protest group is nothing if not radical. Last month the Pussy Riot collective leapt onto the walls in Red Square, where executions were carried out in the time of the Tsars. “Putin is wetting himself in fear,” they shouted and sang. Passers-by loved the show so much they asked for an encore. Then the group were arrested.
“We think that to change the regime we have to use methods that the authorities don’t allow,” said the one in the pink balaclava. “We’re waiting for the moment when many more people start acting illegally like us.”
They are all in their early 20s, apart from the little one, who also wore a pale yellow balaclava, and told me she was seven. (At one point during our interview she tried to pick her nose, which was tricky through a layer of wool.) They remain anonymous – hence the balaclavas – and won’t talk about their personal lives. “We are musicians, artists, poets and industrial electronic workers,” said Yellow Balaclava. “If you’re creative and aspire to more than just physical comfort and prosperity then you can break the system.”
All very kooky and fun – but these young women had the most acute political analysis I’ve heard in my week in Russia.
“There’s no democracy here, it’s just a show,” said Red Balaclava. “The system pretends that people can express themselves politicially but it’s not true.”
“One of the three foundations of democracy has to be the courts and here they just protect those with power and those who pay,” said Pink. “Our children grow up detached from politics. We want people even from school age to be drawn into politics and realise that they can change things.”
Pussy Riot are part of a new protest movement which burst into life after December’s parliamentary elections, which many Russians say were rigged.
Vladimir Putin’s admission that he and President Medvedev had decided between them that they should swap the posts of Prime Minister and President made people feel they were being taken for granted.
Putin is still likely to win next month’s presidential poll, not least because no-one else with any mass recognition and appeal is standing. But it’s not just angry young women who are calling for change.
The Russian middle class complain that official corruption is ruining the country, and – now they’re no longer struggling to survive – they want a greater say in how Russia is run.
“The political atmosphere has changed,” said Pink Balaclava. “We’re not alone.”
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Heart-warming, inspiring! The ways of democracy are changing. The old guard even here in the UK is falling steadily behind the democratic curve: attempts to curtail Freedom of Information Act (present government/Blairites both), Cameron’s 20 February Downing St NHS summit deliberately excluding GPs) – just two of most glaring examples of recent attempts at direct political censorship.
Ms. Hilsum – I love ability to get into he mindset of another person from another culture and see through that person’s eyes. Not many people, even reporters, can do that. I lived in the USSR when the people still thought of themselves as a top-world economy, even if they couldn’t buy a good pair of jeans. I was back in Russia right after the Iron Curtain fell, when Yeltsin had stood on the tank and shook his fist. They were embarrassed to learn that they were really a 3rd world economy. They had to accept charity from other countries (they had in the past, but the leaders didn’t let them know from where the help came). They saw pension erode to nothing and were afraid. So, in the end, they will vote for the man that they don’t especially like but will bring order. They’ve got their religious freedom. The Orthodox Church in particular is a symbol to all, believers and non, of the spirit of Russia. People in democracies might say, “They deserve what they get.” But so many of us have not faced what they have. I admire, and I’m sure many Russian admire, these young ladies. They are brave. However, in the end, order will win out. They want to know from where their next meals…