Nude protests on the rise, but do they work?

Nude protests on the rise, but do they work?

Gone are the days when protests used to be about crowds holding placards and shouting out their demands.

Today, protestors are looking for means to make an eyeball-grabbing statement and make themselves heard.And what better way than by stripping off to make a point?

In fact, in June, several such protests were held across the globe. The month began and ended with feminist protesters staging ‘naked’ protests for women’s rights — first in Ukraine, and then at a mosque in Sweden

While women are often at the forefront of protests seeking freedom or basic rights, the larger question is if nudity is the only way to make people sit up and take notice.Women have, time and again, shed their clothes for many social causes and continue to do so. “Women take to this form of protest because they feel it’s their only way to grab attention for a certain cause, which would otherwise not have received as much attention,” says stand-up comedian and VJ Cyrus Sahukar. “However, since the cause and intent are never voyeuristic, but always noble, it shouldn’t be questioned or curbed because it’s a form of expression for good intent,” he adds.

On the other hand, Swati Ramanthan, co-founder of an NGO, says, “I have no idea why anyone would do that. It’s not the way I would do it, but I guess it shows a level of frustration or irritation that has led women to take these steps.”

Men don’t feel the need

Women activists, who recently went topless into a mosque in Sweden, shouting, ‘No Sharia and Free Women,’ were called ‘Whores from Hell’ by onlookers. Why don’t the men take off their clothes, then? “Men can be only be shamed at something that they think is their property, and since patriarchy still exists, they consider women their property,” says filmmaker and activist Vijaykumar, adding, “When their ‘property’ (which is often violated in private) is violated in public, it obviously becomes a problem.When Manipuri women chose to protest in front of the army headquarters in Imphal by standing naked, it was considered a big shame. In a system that is primarily run by men, why would they protest naked?” Performing artist Sushma Veer agrees and adds, “This shows who has the upper hand. Men have not felt the need to speak out in such extreme ways because they have always had their ways.”

Alternative methods of protest

“Women shouldn’t adopt nude protests to communicate their point

If they do, they turn heads, but also receive a lot more negative attention from a larger section of society. By protesting naked, they become soft targets rather than strong communicators,” says Sushma. Actress Divya Dutta agrees: “Any kind of extremism is not good. Activists are taken seriously if they opt for better channels of communication. Women today have access to a lot of support from friends, family and other compassionate women. If they are vocal and expressive, they are given their rights.”