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Introduction
Female activists have advocated for their rights for many decades. Today, social media have transformed political protest and opened an opportunity for women to raise public awareness of feminist issues. Nude protests have become one of the means female activists use to claim their rights and freedoms. This paper presents a discussion on the role of social media in political protest, as well as an analysis of the limits and potentials of nude protest. It also features the issue of sexual violence as a form of state control and its relation to the problem. The paper concludes that although nudity is a powerful tool in the feminist movement, it is not an effective form of protest and cannot ensure lasting change.
Social Media and Online Sources in Political Protest
Social media and other online sources have transformed political protest in many ways as, currently, any person can use websites like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to share their opinion on acute political problems. Moreover, social media sources have become a determinant for the current trends related to social issues. For example, Instagram guidelines prohibit sharing pictures of female nipples on the platform (“Community guidelines,” 2018).
It is vital to mention that the perception of the public square has also shifted with the rise of social media. Asmaa Mahfouz, an activist from Egypt, has become known as “the leader of the revolution” after sharing a video in which she encouraged people to advocate for changes and participate in demonstrations (culturecaster, 2011; Al-Ali, 2012).
During the Arab Spring, many women used online sources, such as personal blogs, to share information and gain the media’s attention. The example of Aliaa el-Mahdy, the “nude Egyptian blogger”, also showed that women started to use online sources to advocate for their rights and freedoms by openly oppressing common social and cultural norms. Like el-Mahdy, many female activists use their nudity as a political statement.
Limits and Potentials of Nude Protest
The nude protest is a popular but controversial tactic that has been publically debated for several decades. The example of el-Mahdy, who posted a nude photo of herself, shows that this form of protest is an effective way of gaining attention to problematic issues. Although el-Mahdy’s post received comments from many detractors, it also gained broad support too. It means that the efforts to advance sex equality via nudity in social media and on the streets may be considered effective as they achieve the goal to raise public awareness of the issue. The woman is one of many females who have used their nudity as a political statement. Other examples can be found, for instance, during the protests held by Femen, the feminist activist group, which is famous for removing clothes in public as a symbol of women’s rights over their bodies.
However, the limitations of nude protest should be discussed too, as they may be more significant than the potentials of it. First, it is vital to mention that although nudism aims to address gender inequality, it does not solve the problem.
The nude protest cannot lead to significant reforms in workforce discrimination, nor can it prevent women’s bodies from being sexualized. Second, nudity is often used as a tool to minimize the objectification of women’s bodies, which may not be an effective strategy to address the issue. I believe that although nude protest may attract attention to some gender inequality questions, such as banning of female nipples, there are other measures that may be more significant. I believe that nude protest, compared to modest fashion, is less likely to promote lasting social change, as it may seem overly expressive. On the contrary, modest style may show that hijabs and other elements of clothing do not mean that women support the patriarchal society.
Sexual Violence as an Element of State Control
It is undebatable that sexual violence against women has become one of the tools that governments and state authorities use to control women in the public square. This fact is supported by many studies in the field; for example, Hafez (2014) notes that in recent decades, females’ bodies have turned into elements of social control. Sexual violence may be used to impose patriarchal values, cultural and social norms, as well as to prevent women from expressing their political views publically by shaming and harassing them.
One of the primary reasons why sexual violence has become such a powerful method of state control is because it allows states to humiliate women by using primitive ways that are often not criminalized or publically condemned. This point may be illustrated by the example of “virginity tests” that Egyptian female activists were subjected to during political protests, as well as the “girl in the blue bra” case (Eltahawy, 2011; Hafez, 2014). Although these incidents gained broad public attention, they were not considered unlawful.
Personal Reflection and Conclusion
The issues of sexual violence as a tool for state control and nude protest are related as women feel the need to declare their rights over their bodies. With the expansion of feminism, more cases of sexual harassment have become discussed publically, which increases activists’ concerns. However, in the current society, nude protest cannot ensure stable change. Nudity draws attention to the existing problems but often is not perceived seriously, as many people do not understand the reasons for such actions. I believe that to support women’s rights, it is vital to raise awareness to them by educating the public on the history of feminism, its background, and the current challenges women encounter. In my opinion, nudity is not the tool that can serve these purposes.
References
Al-Ali, N. (2012). Gendering the Arab Spring. Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, 5(1), 26-31.
Community guidelines. (2018). Web.
culturecaster. (2011). Asmaa Mahfouz Democracy Now February 8 2011 Mitochondrial revolutionary Eve!. Web.
Eltahawy, M. (2011). Egypt’s naked blogger is a bomb aimed at the patriarchs in our minds. Web.
Hafez, S. (2014). Bodies that protest: The girl in the blue bra, sexuality, and state violence in revolutionary Egypt. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 40(1), 20-28.
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