Category: Protest

Definition

Decker and Curry (n.d) define graffiti as a method of visual communication done by individuals or groups. Graffiti may be taken as an expressive art form, however, this act is often considered illegal as it involves writing or imprinting symbols or phrases on public spaces. The authors also construe that it is a type of rebellious behavior that seeks to gain attention or thrill.

History

The origins of graffiti can be traced back to prehistoric times in the form of cave inscriptions, long before the concept of ‘art’ existed. Later, forms of graffiti can be found during the time of Ancient Greece and Rome. According to Baird and Taylor (2011), public inscriptions in Ancient Greece served as advertisements by merchants, spells from prophets and oracles, praises towards gladiators, and as well as political criticism against the authorities of their time.

During the Middle Ages, historians and archaeologists discovered a plethora of graffiti among old European churches, reflecting significant collective information among the common folk of their time. This comprises about 95% of the period’s population, compared to mainstream imagery of knights, castles, and damsels, which depicted only 5% of the population.

What is now known to be modern graffiti began in the 1970’s by a young man named Darryl McCray, also known as “Cornbread”, who became recognized as the “Father of Modern Graffiti”. He initiated writing his nickname around different places and thus began the act of “tagging”. His actions, which was initially done to impress a young woman, later on evolved as a form of protest against racism and police brutality in the U.S. This later on progressed into more elaborate graffiti masterpieces and spread across the United States by the 1980’s and became a global impact by the 1990’s.

By 2000 and at present, people’s views towards graffiti are still divided. While there are those who still condemn the act and deem it as illegal, there are those who now uplift and even legitimize works of graffiti in elite art centers.

Relevance

Late in November 2019, spray-painted statements on the walls of Lagusnilad underpass, Manila, caught the attention of the public and as well as government authorities. The walls were written with “Digmaang bayan sagot sa martial law – PS” and “Atin ang Pinas! US-China layas! – PS”. The act was later on identified to be done by youth activist group, Panday Sining. Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso recently lead the clean-up of the underpass on July 15, 2019. The vandalism on the walls of the underpass sparked a public outrage because of the defacement of the newly-painted underpass walls. This also prompted Mayor Isko Moreno to call out and threaten the youth group to scrub the walls using their tongue. The mayor’s resentment towards the act caused an online debate on whether vandalism is acceptable behavior as a form of protest.

The Problem of the study

Presentation of the Arguments

The Lagusnilad underpass vandalism issue caused a massive debate on whether vandalism should be considered as acceptable behavior from protesters. On one hand, opposers of protest graffiti raised questions asking whether it would be acceptable behavior if people were to vandalize the homes of those who initiated the protest. Additionally, opposers state that these kinds of acts wastes government money. In an article by Winna Vista (2019) for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, she states that vandalized areas costs a lot of money to be cleaned and argued that the money used for cleaning could have been used for different purposes such as public health care.

On the other hand, youth group, Panday Sining, who were behind the Lagunsilad underpass graffiti, stood their ground explaining that protest art was meant to “sound the alarm of the public” against injustices such as martial law in Mindanao and it was not meant to provoke citizens. Protest art is also considered necessary by various activist groups.

Reasonings and Assertions from Various Contexts

Kantian Ethics

German philosopher known as Immanuel Kant believed that reason takes a huge part in the essence of morality. According to Kant, decisions can be made primarily on the contingence of the desires that drive you to act upon it, however, this relates more towards prudence rather than morality itself.

To determine whether a certain action is of good reason, Kant created formulas to examine and conclude whether the action is deemed to be good or bad in terms of violating the moral law adhering to the categorical imperative; to act as if through your will, the principle from which you were to act was to become a general law.

The act of graffiti as a means of protest can be seen as an imperfect duty. The act of protest in order to provide justice towards society in shedding light to help people live a better life can be quite vague to be considered a duty. Protestors who disagree with the practices of the governing body would want to let the population know that we are being treated unfairly; not letting the government reign free from injustice. In this sense, people creating graffiti for protest would rather act upon the matter to give rise to such issues than to sit still, however, this is quite difficult to judge without specific details of who owns the property being defaced, what is the government doing exactly, why doesn’t the individual commit a different approach to attend to the issue; maybe by being more direct. Without all the other details at hand given more specifically, it is considered an imperfect duty, at best.

The Principle of Respect for Autonomy

The Principle of Respect for autonomy stipulates that individuals have an obligation to respect other people’s independence even though it may be considered a negative duty not to interfere with other people’s decisions, furthermore, it is also a positive duty to encourage others for whom we are accountable and responsible for. In the case of graffiti made for protest, the individuals believe it is their duty to act for those who cannot, thus encouraging others to do the same. Living in a democracy gives the whole population a right to determine who is in power. This gives the population a responsibility for selected individuals abused by the system that elected representatives have imposed. It can be considered right to help those of whom you are accountable for in respect for autonomy, however graffiti for protest is simply one of the many acts that can be done regarding the matter. Therefore, the act should be made in full knowledge and understanding of the relevant information necessary to make such a decision, as an autonomous decision made freely without undue influence by a competent person. It should also apply to current circumstances or situations.

The Principle of Beneficence

The principle of beneficence specifies that in all actions done, mankind has an obligation to bring upon goodness. This principle is in direct conflict with the context given, graffiti as a means of protest. If all actions donee should connote and bring goodness, it implies that the individual should take the best course of action to do what needs to be done. Graffiti is one of many acts that can be done to aid the issues at hand and graffiti, when done in property of other people, could lead to a negative impact to those affected. If the principle of beneficence is to be followed, graffiti is not an act to be considered.

The principle of justice states that all beings are to be treated impartially, all individuals acquire an obligation to provide to others what they are owed or deserve. In the context of graffiti made for protest, the acts done to public property made by the government may do no harm to other people in a physical aspect, but act as a voice for those who have experienced the injustices made by the government to hopefully provide a change in the flow of information regarding the decision of the masses to support the government body. This is a great example of an action made for the benefit of those who are being treated unfairly.

Social Constructionism

The Social Construct theory is a perspective that views the realm of reality dictating what is real and differentiating them to the constructs made my humanity.

Utilitarian Ethics

Utilitarianism is known to be independent of religious belief focusing on the consequences of the act itself. It revolves around making decisions for the benefit of the majority of individuals which determines your moral choice. This acknowledges the role of pain and pleasure in human life, disapproving of action based on whether the results of the said action result in pain or enjoyment, it equates pleasure to be good and pain to be bad; both being measurable and quantified. In accordance with the Principle of the Greatest Good, the means of graffiti as protest needs to be observed through certain criteria.

Act Utilitarianism – the graffiti being made, despite defacing private or public property should lead to an outcome that lead to the greatest good. If the protestors are right about the unfair treatment of the government to the nation and their graffiti has led to the realization of the masses regarding the issues being faced, it could lead to an overthrow of the current administration giving more opportunities for improvement rather than receiving injustice. However, if the information the protestors believe in is wrong, it could lead to a more negative outcome to the general population. There is also a possibility of the graffiti leading to no changes in the government body, hence, the outcome would just be the damages brought to the property defaced. The problem however, is that the pleasure of an individual making graffiti could be different to the pleasure of others. The probabilities are uncertain if the action is taken place, reliant on the principles of the person committing the act.

References

1. Hope, J. (2018, August 22). Medieval graffiti: The lost voices of England’s churches in the Middle Ages. Retrieved from https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/medieval-graffiti-the-lost-voices-of-englands-churches-in-the-middle-ages/
2. INQUIRER.net. (n.d.). Vandalism wastes gov’t money. Retrieved from https://opinion.inquirer.net/125345/vandalism-wastes-govt-money
3. Pao, J. (2019, November 13). Vandalism is a necessary tactic, say HK vanguard: Article. Retrieved from https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/11/article/vandalism-is-a-necessary-tactic-say-protesters/
4. The Power of the Brush: Protest Art in the Philippines (1st in a series). (2010, January 18). Retrieved from https://thanksforthefishes.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/the-power-of-the-brush-protest-art-in-the-philippines-1st-in-a-series/
5. Staff, C. P. (n.d.). Youth group sorry, but justifies Manila underpass vandalism. Retrieved from https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/11/13/Lagusnilad-Manila-vandal.html

Raise the Rates protest on March 22, 2014 in Ontario was all about the fight against poverty. Protesters claimed that the poor majorities or people laid off from work had to rely on a significantly reduced or hard-to-get Employment Insurance. Consequently, people who may be jobless for few months were most likely to fall into poverty while many Canadians survived on Social Assistance. At the same time, both the rates of inflation and poverty have grown to unmatched levels while the government continued to reduce social systems through various austerity approaches. These events sparked the protest in the community with specific messages to Kathleen Wynne.

The main demands

Raise the Rates protest opposed the Government of Ontario’s proposal to merge (Ontario Works) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and bring the delivery system to municipalities. From the campaign posters, protesters clearly outlined their demands with immediate call to actions.

• Increase social assistance rates by 55%
• Increase minimum wage to $14 per hour
• Restore the Special Diet and Community Start Up Benefits

The rally target

The campaign targeted the government and politicians, but with defined claims against Kathleen Wynne and her liberal wars against the poor. Protesters warned the government and all targeted parties that they would not be swayed by fake gestures and empty rhetoric.

Interest group

Raise the Rates campaign represented various interest groups, which included public workers, people living with disabilities, people on Social Assistance, the poor masses, and the community.

Sponsoring groups

The most vocal sponsoring groups were the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). These organizations mobilized resources, including town halls to promote Raise the Rates protest. They also engaged in public education on the relevance of the protest. The groups encouraged communities to resist poverty, inequalities, and austerity measures by the government. They planned and coordinated various meetings in different locations and encouraged communities to attend.

People participating

Protesters were mainly community members and members of the OW and OCAP. They represented people in Ontario who live on Social Aid, including children. Majorities live on basic monthly welfare.

There was also a concerned group, which benefits from the Rates for the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). The ODSP claimed that rates were declining rapidly and did not keep up with the rising inflation.

Protesters also represented the interests of the Community Start-Up and Maintenance Benefit. The program supported individuals who struggled with residential issues, but was eliminated in 2013. Consequently, protesters claimed that they were headed for a bleak future if the government continued to eradicate most social services that supported the vulnerable majorities.

Strategies/actions to draw attention to the issue

Raise the Rates protest involved street protests. It started with a meeting at the Town Hall and proceeded with a mass march. This was a method of expressing viewpoints against poverty, inequalities, and austerity measures perpetuated by the government and politicians. Posters indicated the effects of such public issues in people’s homes.

Prior to the meeting, protesters used social media to inform members and encourage others to attend. For instance, protesters claimed that there were tweets, which encouraged them to forward messages to other people or compose their own messages and encourage members to meet at the Town Hall and join the fight against Wynne’s war on masses. Social media allowed them to reach many people, save costs on training, recruitment, and coordination.

Effectiveness of each strategy

Both strategies used complemented each other. For instance, social media tweets encouraged people to inform others and meet at the Town Hall while people who turned out for the protest participated in the street march.

Social media were effective in raising awareness before the street march. It motivated and inspired protesters to leave their homes and go to the Town Hall and protest against social issues. Hence, social media ensured that there was awareness for street action.

While social media drove awareness among members linked through chats in the Internet, the street protest also created the required awareness among the public. It ensured that communities understood the relevance of the protest. Therefore, the street protest was effective in drawing support from the public.

Street protest attracted media attention because of the need to provide extensive coverage and live updates to audience. On the other hand, social media also received media attention. Protesters claimed that social media have facilitated social reforms and regime changes because they enhance the ease of organizing and executing protests.

The link between poverty and social policy

Protesters asserted that effective social policies had positive impacts on poverty. For instance, they noted that Social Assistance and the Special Diet and Community Start-Up Benefits offered valuable risk-protection to vulnerable majorities in Ontario. Therefore, any attempts to reduce or eliminate them would expose such persons to deep cycles of poverty.

That is, any cutback or increment on social aid could greatly affect poverty rates in Ontario among the minorities, people living with disabilities, children, and the elderly. Raise the Rates campaign was a social protest that had critical implications for policymakers. Protesters wanted the government to focus on anti-poverty measures and abandon its austerity fight against the poor masses.

The Second Wave of Feminism dates back to the beginning of the 1960s and stretches out to the 1980s. Feminist activists managed to accomplish many notable achievements throughout this period. Among these was the establishment of the first department of Women’s Studies and respective programs at Cornell and the University of San Diego, the recognition of lesbian rights, the development of feminist art, a significant number of court cases concerning the issues of gender equality and discrimination, and the legalization of first-trimester abortion, to name a few.

This paper focuses on a movement that occurred within the Second Wave of Feminism, at the end of the 1960s. To be more precise, the particular movement that is explored in this paper is the 1968 protest of the Miss America Pageant. This movement can be viewed as consisting of two different events that happened within the same location and time frame and were directed at two different issues—a protest against beauty contests as competitions that degrade women, and a protest against the exclusion of African-American women from beauty contests (Craig n. p.).

Core Claims, Goals, and Target

The Miss America Pageant protest took place on September 7, 1968, in Atlantic City (Green 270). The participants gathered to stand against the image of women that the pageant promoted as well as the set of values and views it stood for. In particular, the activists protested against the public evaluation of women based on their looks, by a predominantly male jury, as an action degrading the value of women and their contribution to society.

The main target of the protesters was the Miss America Pageant that was held that day. The core claim of the activists was that the beauty contest served as one of the key phenomena determining the national view of what an “ideal woman” should be and look like. This event became an annual tradition and grew to produce a powerful impact as its audience became larger and larger every year. The values promoted by the pageant conflicted with those the feminist activists were trying to popularize. In particular, career-building opportunities for women and equal employment rights clashed with the views of a woman as primarily a housewife and a mother. The feminists’ attempts to communicate the value of women as intellectuals and professionals were faced with the bold objectification and focus on external beauty that the contest proclaimed.

The goal of the protesters was to draw public attention to the event to provoke critical thinking in the masses about the kind of ideas the pageant stood for and how much harm they could produce for women, as a population group working hard to win more respect, fit into new roles, defeat stereotypes, and adopt unconventional lifestyles. In other words, the Miss America Pageant was a very clear and symbolic representation of traditional gender roles: of women doing their best to please men and fit into male perceptions of “ideal females,” and men acting as judges of women’s capabilities and value-based mostly on the women’s appearance. Rosenberry and Roos add that the theme song of the Miss America Pageant epitomized “the queen of femininity” and emphasized the idea that the perceptions of women’s most important characteristics, typical for the contest, were general standards for evaluating women, applicable throughout the country (151).

The second protest against the pageant, taking place on the same day, targeted the contest from a different perspective. Namely, the activists who participated in the second protest fought against the beauty standards that were being promoted in the country, where beauty contests and the search for an ideally beautiful woman involved only white women, completely excluding African-Americans as not fitting into what was considered an “acceptable” appearance for a beautiful woman (Craig n.p.). The major claim of this protest was that the division created by the initiators of beauty contests in the United States enforced the alienation of ethnic minorities and their diminished status as lacking value and “others.”

Major Participants

The group of protesters who gathered to denounce the idea of beauty contests was relatively small and included one or two hundred participants only; the activists identified themselves as a part of the Women’s Liberation movement. Interestingly, regardless of the small size of the group of protestors, the event received relatively thorough mass media coverage; thus, it is possible to state that the protesters achieved their primary goal: to raise awareness and attract public attention to the matter (Rosenberry and Roos 151). Moreover, in response to the reflection of the protest in the news, many women from nearby areas started to come to the Atlantic City pageant location to take part in the event and join the Women’s Liberation organization and the New York Radical Women.

The core message carried by the activists was to emphasize that, while female beauty and appearance, in general, are viewed as the major criteria defining a woman’s value, there exists a very powerful exclusion of women’s achievements of any other nature—intellectual, professional, and social (Rosenberry and Roos 151). In other words, the solution that the feminist activists proposed was to stop focusing on so-called “standards” as needless and limiting stereotypes and start seeing new qualities that deserve respect and appreciation.

Form of Collective Action

The protesters, whose purpose was to denounce the beauty pageant, initiated an action that involved several activities. First of all, the activists carried signs with slogans such as “I am a woman—not a toy, a pet, or a mascot” and “No more beauty standards—everyone is beautiful!” (Green 270; Rosenberry and Roos 151). Second, the action for which the Miss America Pageant protest of 1968 is best known is what later came to be called “bra-burning.” To be more precise, the women involved in the protest had a large trash bin that was specifically brought to the event for the public burning of attributes associated with the objectification of women and the harmful focus on appearances and traditional gender roles that often discredited women’s achievements and personalities.

In particular, the feminist protesters burned such items as lingerie, false eyelashes, pans, pots, mops, curlers, girdles, wigs, and issues of magazines that promoted the use of all of these items—Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Ladies’ Home Journal, and Playboy, among others (Rosenberry and Roos 151; Green 270). Apart from the slogans and the bra-burning, there were picket lines, marching, and promotion of the action. Also, the protesters were willing to meet and speak with beauty pageant contestants and persuade them to join the protest and denounce the harmful values of the contest. The women in charge of the action announced that, in the cases of arrests, they would only agree to comply with the requirements of the police if female representatives of law enforcement were to arrest them; interestingly, at that time in Atlantic City, the legislation did not permit policewomen to carry out arrests (Green 270).

The other protest was organized in the form of another beauty pageant that included only Black women as contestants, promoting pride, confidence, and equality. The protest was covered by the press but did not become as powerful as the bra-burning event.

Cultural Representations

The representations used by the feminists protesting against the beauty contest involved items associated with traditional gender roles and the objectification of women: household appliances (such as mops and pans) and beauty tools (such as curlers, girdles, bras, and wigs) created to help women fit into artificially promoted beauty standards with no correspondence to reality.

The representations of the Miss Black America contest involved ethnic self-expression on the part of the participating women, e.g., wearing traditional African-style hairdos and doing ethnic dances. The objective was to emphasize and embrace diversity.

Conclusion

The bra-burning protest was one of the best-known feminist actions to take place during the Second Wave of Feminism. This event is often looked at as a controversial action; however, it was a loud and powerful statement expressing a valid point concerning the harmful and destructive impact of beauty pageants as promoting artificial beauty standards, diminishing women, and focusing on appearances while overlooking personalities and intellectual achievements. The Miss Black America contest is noteworthy as the first step toward the inclusion of Black women and the promotion of diverse beauty standards.

Works Cited

Craig, Maxine Leeds. Ain’t I a Beauty Queen?: Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print.

Green, Howard L. Words that Make New Jersey History: A Primary Source Reader. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2005. Print.

Rosenberry, Lynn and Johan Roos. Bridging the Gender Gap: Seven Principles for Achieving Gender Balance. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2014. Print.

The flag and the national anthem are sacred because they represent the country’s struggle for and acquisition of freedom. The USA’s anthem symbolizes the country’s culture, but its interpretations by different people can “shape individuals’ ideals and values” (Andrea and Sheffield-Hayes 51). In particular, the American anthem represents the strive for equality for all citizens and the endeavor to put an end to slavery and wars. However, Kaepernick’s message about the representation is that instead of being a “moral promise,” is it a “moral failure” (“The Kneel”). Athletes may choose to participate or not participate in kneeling during the anthem as a form of protest based on the First Amendment of the US Constitution granting the freedom of speech to all citizens (Edelman 8). Thus, if an athlete considers that his feelings of a US citizen are being violated, they may choose to show their attitude to the situation in such a silent protest as kneeling instead of standing during the anthem.

Some of the reactions to Kaepernick’s actions are extreme because people believe that the athlete’s reaction to the political and social situation in the country has nothing to do with the anthem (“The Kneel”). It would be wrong to say that there is a “proper” time or place for engaging in collective action since it is impossible to predict the outcomes of such action. However, there is some significance of the protests taking place at sporting events since there are many observers, whose reaction to the social issue may change if the most renowned sportspeople show their opinion.

The concerns raised by Kaepernick are not new, the most prominent one being the protest against racial injustice expressed by two African American sprinters during the 1968 Summer Olympics (Edelman 4). However, the protests are sparkling much attention at present because much attention is drawn to it in social media and even in politics, with President Trump as one of the most ardent opponents of Kaepernick’s actions (“The Kneel”).

Empathy plays a crucial role in helping people understand the oppression at the center of the protests. Many citizens may not pay sufficient attention to social issues since they do not touch them directly. However, when they see that their favorite athlete (or any important figure in some other sphere) is hurt by the events and when they hear his point of view, their attitude is likely to change. At this day and age, individuals are more empathetic due to the emergence of many physical and social media movements, which raises awareness and increases the chances for the supportive and caring treatment of others.

To help address public’s concerns about crucial social issues, people could engage in peaceful movements aimed at increasing the recognition of serious problems existing in societies. Also, they could make speeches and announcements not directly during some grand events so that no patriotic citizen could be disturbed. Instead, the latter might join the movement if it does not hurt their feelings. However, the current state of race relations in the USA is far from being favorable. Too many cases of violence against Black people indicate that the values that the anthem proclaims are not being cherished by all citizens. The controversy fits into the broader discussions about the First Amendment right to free speech since the right is violated in many cases. Kaepernick’s situation is one of the most pronounced examples: he has been fired and has not been able to find a job because of his social stand.

Works Cited

Andrea, Pauline A., and Elizabeth Sheffield-Hayes. “America’s Greatness Compromised: The “Start-Spangled Banner” as a Symbol of Nationalism, Identity, and Division.” Pro Football and the Proliferation of Protest: Anthem Posture in a Divided America, edited by Stephen D. Perry, Lexington Books, 2019, pp. 45-68.

Edelman, Marc. “Standing to Kneel: Analyzing NFL Players’ Freedom to Protest During the Playing of the U.S. National Anthem.” Fordham Law Review Online, vol. 86, pp. 1-15.

“The Kneel: The Colin Kaepernick Story.”YouTube, uploaded by Noah Rubin. 2017, Web.

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.

Introduction

This is a critical paper on From Protests to Politics: Sex Work, Women’s Worth and Ciudad Juarez Modernity by Mellisa Wright. In this article, Wright uses ethnographic research to explore how commercial sex workers are slowly disappearing from the streets of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. The writer discusses deeply how these commercial women sex workers are protesting against their forceful removal from their ‘workplace’ and the politics behind it.

Coincidentally, the more police officers intensify their bid to remove these women from the streets, the more women and girls are being murdered or kidnapped. Wright rues that, while being denied a place in public areas is one thing, kidnapping and murder is a completely different thing.

Nevertheless, these commercial sex workers are pushing for their stay in streets; they are doing this by staging protests across Ciudad Juarez, and they are gaining support from like-minded activists, and this association is a potential political alliance.

Wright asserts that removing commercial sex workers from the streets of Ciudad Juarez is tantamount to devaluing these workers on humanity basis and their protests are acting as powerful tools to counter such humanity devaluations. Surely, “Their battle is not, in this case, present, over wages; it is over their meaning as women, as economic agents, and as valuable members of society” (Wright 383).

Critical Analysis

Generally, this paper is well written. It makes sense in that; the writer explores the forceful removal of casual sex workers from the streets of Ciudad Juarez compellingly, validating each claim made in the paper. At the end of it, the writer finds then paper interesting because it makes sense with the writer achieving the objective of the research.

It is interesting and informing too, to learn the challenges that women in this Mexican city go through every day in a society that is grappling with modernity. Interestingly, it is ironical that the forces that created a conducive environment for prostitution to thrive are the same forces trying to root it out.

The author identifies research questions early in the paper by stating the research’s objective explicitly. After a compelling introduction, the author puts across a thesis statement on page two of the paper.

There are three well-stated objectives of this paper: to demonstrate how representation in Ciudad Juarez progress has shifted from women’s work representation to women’s disappearance from streets, to show how prostitutes in La Paz are staging their comeback to proclaim their traditional space in the streets and to show how this comeback is facing stiff political and economical resistance.

The author then uses a question that encompasses all these objectives, “how do age-old stories; so familiar around the world, of prostitutes as symbols of danger, filth, and contamination come to have meaning for the renovation of the Ciudad Juarez economy today?” (Wright 369). These statements come early in the paper, a typical element of a well-written research paper.

Moreover, the author justifies the relevance of this research topic. Two main points indicate the relevance of this research topic; one, currently, the corporate and political elites in this city are pooling their efforts together to draw high-tech investments in a maquiladora in a bid to reinvigorate tourism in this city.

Secondly, there are pullulating social movements as people try to raise the alarm over increasing violence against women in this place. These two observations validate the research topic as the author seeks to draw any correlation between the two pertinent issues. The aforementioned research question caps it all as it explicitly covers all these areas.

On matters of literature review, the author does a commendable job by reviewing the available literature materials extensively. To emphasize this, the author uses over three pages to review the available literature. Given the nature of this study, it is only theoretical literature that is valid and that is exactly what the author reviews. The reviewed literature is relevant to the research topic because it talks about the same thing.

For instance, Karl Marx’s remarks that “value, under capitalism, does not stalk about with a label on its forehead” (Wright 370) resonates well with this topic and the author synthesizes this information well stating that “I find a similar logic at work in the issues I investigate in Ciudad Juarez today” (Wright 371).

This is to mention but a few instances where the author synthesizes well the reviewed literature. Some of the reviewed materials include works by McDowell 1997, Lawson 1999, Gibson-Graham, 1996 and Spivak 1994, to mention but a few. All these articles touch on the objectives of this paper.

This is basic research. It seeks to establish the correlation between commercial sex workers protests and the concerted efforts to invigorate tourism industry in Ciudad Juarez. As aforementioned, the author carries out research based on ethnographic studies, interviews, and archival reviews. These methods are appropriate; for instance, interviewing commercial sex workers is very appropriate since the research is dealing with prostitution.

Retrieving archival information also plays a key role in this research because the author is in a position to establish what has been found out concerning the same subject for comparison purposes. Ethnographic studies come in handy in this case as it describes Ciudad Juarez as an individual human society. Therefore, these research methods are the most appropriate in this study.

The author uses qualitative data in this research and is appropriate, given the nature of the study. This is social research, and quantitative research may not be applicable given the fact that the author seeks to draw a correlation between two social events. The data comes from mainly observation and media. The author visited Ciudad Juarez, observed what was happening like protests, and interviewed some of the protestors. Media availed a lot of information concerning murders and kidnapping of women in this city.

The author does not rely on samples, probably due to the nature of this study. Other information, as previously mentioned comes from the literature review. The qualitative data used here include a personal interview, observation, and group focus. These data forms are appropriate, and the author can answer the research questions using them. Interview and observational data come in handy in this study as the author interacts directly with the involved subjects. To overcome the biases of the personal interview, the author uses group studies.

The central conclusion in this paper is that “the women of La Paz illustrate how the designation of their social identity as ‘‘prostitute/prostitute’’ and ‘‘whore/puta’’ functions as a powerful technology for devaluing their labor and their lives as women and as human beings. And as they fight to reassert their presence in downtown Ciudad Juarez, they are fighting against such forces of devaluation” (Wright 383).

Another conclusion is the more political and economic forces subject commercial sex workers to violence, the more the city continues to lose its “maquiladora” manufacturing base, and this works against the very purpose of improving tourism in the area. It is unfortunate, that political and economical forces are not only battling to appease and compete with the world by pushing for capitalist investments, but also containing activists who cannot stand the brunt of women violence.

The author concludes that political and economical forces have failed in their developmental visions and they need to re-strategize if Ciudad Juarez is to develop like any other city in the contemporary world.

The conclusions made here make sense, as the author does not overstate them; on the contrary, the author draws logical conclusions from the data analyzed and results obtained.

Conclusion

In this article, From Protests to Politics: Sex Work, Women’s Worth, and Ciudad Juarez Modernity, Wright explores the relationship between the removal of sex workers from the streets of Ciudad Juarez, the politics behind them, the killing and kidnapping of sex workers as Ciudad grapples with modernity. The article is compelling given the nature of data collection and analysis coupled with clear use of language.

The author achieved the objectives of the research establishing how women’s worker representation has shifted to demonstrations as these women disappear from their ‘workplace’ through mysterious deaths and kidnapping. Moreover, the author explicates how women sex workers are fighting this violence and discrimination, pointing out how this comeback fight is affecting political and economical efforts to reinvigorate the tourism industry in Ciudad Juarez.

The reader learned so much from this article. The article informs the reader how commercial sex workers are undergoing tough times as Ciudad Juarez comes to terms with modernity. It is disturbing how authorities can devalue people through heinous ways like murder and kidnapping while there are channels to enact rules and policies. Generally, the paper is compelling and informative.

Works Cited

Wright, Mellisa. “From Protests to Politics: Sex Work, Women’s Worth, and Ciudad Juarez Modernity.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 2004, 94(2): 369–386

We face various kinds of protests in our everyday life. These protests may be formal and informal, political and diplomatic, within the family or of the external character. Various protests are regarded in literature, cinematography, or simply in everyday news, and the aim of this essay is to regard some of the sources and to sum up the main heroes’ experience in protesting and relating with state institutions. One of such novels is RAW by Scott Monk. This novel is written for young adults and is claimed to clearly inform the reader about the impact of institutionalization on an individual. The text reveals the influence it encompasses on the behaviors of those who are placed in institutions. An explanation of any institution could be “an organizational prototype of group behavior established, and usually accepted as an essential part of a culture,” as a result, the institutions submit to psychological circumstances which have been brought about due to a depersonalized environment. Automatic behaviors often take place as a result of institutionalization, such as inexpressive faces, along with general indifference. Their personal appearances, as well as personal principles, become less important. Institutionalization is likely to surface if the residence in which their uniqueness is, interests, and strengths are not respected. There are few kinds of institutions such as Education systems, Legal systems, and Economic systems, along with Health and Social Culture systems. The main character Brett faces the law system as he is imprisoned, but his actions have not deviated from his criminal actions. His withstand to the system is described in the mentioned above book by Scott Monk and can be characterized as an unsuccessful attempt to change the state system during his sojourn in state prison. (Scott Monk. RAW 2001-2007)

Another example of withstanding the system and sociological incongruity can be the movie by Clint Eastwood, “The last samurai.” The character by Tom Cruise faces the problem of social inappropriateness. When he gets into a Japanese village, the first problem is that he is regarded as a foreigner and treated standoffish, as any gaijin (from Japanese – foreigner, white man). To communicate with the villagers and to express his wills or thoughts, he needs to study the Japanese language, and thus he starts to study it, taught by non-English speaking children. Another example of his social noncoincidence is the ability (more disability) to defend himself. To survive in that world of unfamiliar civilization, anybody needs to have a sword and be able to use it. This film is a fictional story, which describes occasions absolutely incompatible with real life. But it could be a bright example of noncoincidence and the attempt to struggle the system. (eBay, 1995-2007)

The real story which is necessary to describe in the present essay is the story of David Hicks, also known as Abu Muslim al-Australia, and Muhammed Dawood, an Australian citizen who is accused of terroristic organizations assistance. His official verdict is “providing material support to terrorism,” for which he was sentenced to seven years in jail in 2007. A kind of protest which he provides is called an affidavit. It describes all the sufferings and humiliations he had been exposed to. It needs to be amended in advance, that this information is rather subjective, and it can not be regarded as a source, showing the whole objective picture of the occasions. This affidavit provides 27 points, including a short biography of David Hicks and all his complaints. After looking through the text, the reader can conclude that he had been subjected to beating every day, before and after interrogation. But the fact is that we can not persuade if it is really so. Australians and some of his followers argue that this imprisonment violates international treaties and Australian law. Peter Vickery, a Special Reporter of the International Commission of Jurists. Vickery stated that the verdict of “providing material support for terrorism” was a “retrospective offense.” Australian law proscribes protection for offenses committed before the laws that made them indictable offenses had come into force. According to Vickery, so make both the Geneva Conventions and the Civil and Political Covenant — both treaties to which the USA and Australia are signatories. (Wikipedia, David Hicks 2007) The text of the official verdict provides the information, according to which Hicks cooperated with Al Qaida and participated in preparing Muslim hit men training to conduct battles in urban conditions. According to international law, any assistance to international terrorism development is unlawful, and any who assists materially or spiritually to terroristic organizations must be imprisoned, according to international lawmaking. The full text of the affidavit by David Hicks may be found on the page of Fairfax Digital (Fairfax Digital, 2004) and compared with the text of the official verdict, which is available at Wikipedia. (Wikipedia, Charge sheet 2007) As only by comparing different and opposite to each other sources is it possible to get the whole picture of any affair.

References

1. Fairfax Digital, 2004, The David Hicks affidavit. Web.
2. Wikipedia, the free on-line encyclopedia. 2007 David Hicks. Web.
3. Wikipedia, the free on-line encyclopedia.2007 David Hicks. Charge sheet. Web.
4. Mega essays.com, 2001-2007. Scott Monk. RAW. Web.
5. eBay, 1995-2007 “Last Samurai” The description of the movie. Web.

People often disagree with the decisions of governments and protest to defend their positions. There are different forms of protest, ranging from posts on social media platforms to demonstrations involving millions of citizens. In 2020, a multitude of massive public protests occurred around the world, including the United States. Many people argue whether demonstrations are the most effective form of protest or not and present reasonable arguments. Without any doubt, this discussion is worth deep consideration, as it concerns everyone and is extremely relevant. Without any doubt, I belong to the proponents of demonstrations as the way to present public opposition due to various reasons.

First, demonstrations make people politically active and help to get minority voices heard. Unfortunately, numerous individuals are not aware of political problems until they see demonstrations on the street. They do not follow political leaders on social media and neither watch nor read the news. However, some of them solely lack the knowledge to understand complex issues deserving some expertise and are unwilling to invest much time and effort in figuring out how the whole system works. Nevertheless, most individuals have their own precise positions regarding same-sex marriages, police brutality, and minority rights. Therefore, when they discover that government policies oppose their views, they involve in demonstrations and become more politically active. In addition, everyone can express their position despite their race, socioeconomic status, and religion; thus, minority voices get heard.

Second, petitions and posts on social media are not as effective as demonstrations in sending signals to policymakers. They often pay little attention or even ignore such forms of opposition. On the other hand, hunger strikes and civil disobedience can lead to adverse consequences for both ordinary citizens and political leaders. Therefore, peaceful demonstrations appear to be the most effective form of protest. They can involve numerous individuals, so policymakers cannot resist the pressure. Consequently, they feel compelled to reconsider and change their position. Moreover, national and often global media resources represent demonstrations engaging those who are not directly affected and making signals to political leaders stronger.

On the other hand, opponents of demonstrations present numerous arguments defending their position. For example, they state that demonstrations often involve disorder and harm those who disagree with demonstrators. Unfortunately, during different public protests, acts of violence often occur even in developed countries. However, the police should endeavor to keep law and order on the street so that to prevent brutality. Even though most demonstrators may oppose any form of misconduct, there are always individuals who want to benefit. Without any doubt, acts of violence can be prevented by the united effort of police officers and ordinary citizens. In fact, numerous demonstrations are peaceful, and only sometimes exceptions appear.

In conclusion, I am convinced that demonstrations are the most effective form of protest due to powerful arguments. They have more advantages compared to other forms of protest and have excellent potential to lead to positive results. Demonstrations make people more politically active and help to hear the voices of minorities. Moreover, they make sound signals to policymakers and motivate them to reconsider their positions and take action. Even though some people argue that demonstrations necessarily involve violence, this argument appears to be biased. Besides, both demonstrators and policymakers can prevent acts of violence. Therefore, public protests are among the most powerful tools to express one’s views and defend positions.

The Country and Its Local Strategies

This essay will analyze the United States of America and the approaches to non-violent conflict resolution that were employed in it. The United States is a diverse environment where a variety of cultural and racial conflicts have existed for a considerable amount of time.

One such issue is racism, which remains a concern in parts of the country to this day. The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission notes the government’s failure to address one such situation and the community response via grassroots organization (21). The non-hierarchical style of the structure served to empower members of the black community and achieve improvements. The idea can serve as an example of appropriate forms of aid to disadvantaged communities in other countries.

Ultimately, the black workers and their supporters decided to organize a rally in protest against the Ku Klux Klan tendencies they observed in the community. According to the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the effort ended in tragedy due to insufficient community engagement and planning (21). These issues can be attributed to the top-down structure of the organization that organized the march, but ultimately, as shown by the consequences, public demonstrations are an effective tactic. They help gather attention from the public, and the reaction of various groups to the rally can be used to show their beliefs to the world. Lastly, the approach is universal, and demonstrations are commonly accepted as one of the fundamental methods for non-violent protest.

Peacemaking and Peacebuilding

The United Nations’ efforts to reconcile countries are commonly used as an example of a peacemaking approach. Forces that are engaging in conflict or are close to it are separated by a neutral party that encourages negotiation and reconciliation. The goal is to mitigate or remove the threat of violence, and the peacemaking forces stand down when they are convinced that the two groups will not engage in combat.

However, the underlying motives and reasons for the altercation are left for the two sides to try and resolve. As such, the approach constitutes peacemaking, as its aims are immediate and do not provide any confidence that the conflict will not resurface in the future.

An example of peacebuilding would be humanitarian aid to disadvantaged regions, especially those where civil war is negatively affecting the societal situation. The provision of food and supplies to all members of the population helps to reduce the number of cases where people would attempt vital resources from others by force. As such, the approach aims to prevent acts of conflict instead of mitigating the result, a trait that Christie et al. describe as the critical difference between peacebuilding and peacemaking (20). The former is proactive and aims to change the situation while the latter is reactive and attempts to maintain the status quo, leaving resolution efforts to the participants.

Case Study

The case study will use the situation in Greensboro, where misdirected activism efforts led to a shooting during a demonstration march. The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission has described a variety of recommendations for the improvement of the situation, most of which can be considered to involve development initiatives (29-37). Suggestions include improved acknowledgment and transparency about the circumstances, increased social services budgets, and more awareness about racism and each person’s role in its propagation and elimination. The overall aim is to transform the city and its community into ones where social justice is valued and supported by law, creating a more comfortable environment for everyone involved.

The tragedy of 1979 has been enabled by a combination of the inadequate organization on the part of the protesters, the poor reception of the march by the community, and the unhealthy social climate maintained by the government. The suggestions offered by Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission seek to address the latter two, as the report states that the advocates for social justice have learned from their mistakes and restructured themselves (21). As the Commission identifies racism as the primary concern, they seek to introduce changes that will help eliminate it and provide disadvantaged people of color assistance should they need it.

Peacebuilding Strategies and Principles

Racial and ethnic conflicts are prevalent in the United States to this day, with particular endangered population categories including Hispanic people, African Americans, and Native Americans. Two strategies listed by Popovic et al. that can and have been used to alleviate the disagreements are public speeches and mass petitions (252). Martin Luther King Jr. became famous due to his active social justice efforts, in which speeches played a vital role. Petitions, on the other hand, help display widespread denouncement of racial and ethnic hatred and focus public attention on specific cases of injustice.

However, social change does not happen immediately and should not be forced on people harshly. As such, peacebuilders should apply the principle that states that peace is a long-term transformative process. Through the efforts of last century’s activists, racism has become socially unacceptable and is being eradicated from the minds of the people. However, while incidents of racist behavior should be noted and highlighted, efforts to control what people think would only meet with backlash and strengthen hateful tendencies. Instead, it would be best to ensure that beliefs based on inequality do not take root in the minds of young people and therefore fail to spread.

Works Cited

Popovic, Srdja, et al. Canvas Core Curriculum: A Guide to Effective Nonviolent Struggle. Canvas, 2007.

Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report: Executive Summary. 2006. Web.

Christie, Daniel J., et al. “Introduction to Peace Psychology.” Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century, edited by Richard V. Wagner, Daniel J. Christie, and Deborah Du Nann Winter. Prentice-Hall, 2001, pp. 1-25.

The connection between the numerous acts of protest through history can be assigned to different factors. The mutual goals of these protests were always to create changes and attempting to transform one state of life conditions to another, to a better state as intended. Whether it peasant protest, a rebellion, or systemic protest they differ in the methods and mostly coincide in circumstances, they demonstrate what the differences in social conditions may lead to, proving that most of the mentioned protests are led against the hegemony of wealth and power resulted in the extreme difference between the highest and lowest layers of society.

In the book entitled “Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism” by Richard Robbins, the different historical backgrounds of human protests are followed and the author gave an objective overview of the most significant events of this category.

Taking examples to compare and to find connections between two of the examples given it is seen that peasant protest in Malaysia and the Rebellion in Kenya are different in the methods, the outcome, and the historical background. The protest against which started against the land rent raises and obviously human greed was the result of the green revolution which provided the building of two dams in Malaysia. The sudden change of the land’s value after the peasants started to harvest the fields twice the year, awake the desire to earn more in Malaysian landlords. The raised value of land started the wave of unfair contention from people outside of the village who were willing to pay more and to substitute the human efforts with harvesting machines leaving the peasants without work. Another example is the rebellion in Kenya, which although ended as a political revolution, started similarly as land deprivation by Britain’s settlers.

The state of overall poverty of Kenyan people along with the prolonged drought, smallpox, and cattle disease, started the rebellion in Kenya which resulted in more than eleven thousand victims in what considered being the first African liberation movement. Analyzing these two historical events, while omitting the political background of the British colonization, the reasons, and motives of both cases are the same. Poverty and taking away what is considered to be yours result in almost every act of protest in history, these motives with the desire for equity which modern capitalism rejects pushes the desires of people to reject and repair the injustice.

In examining the other forms of protest which comparing to the previously mentioned which were more of a result of globalization, the protest, and strikes against the system can identify as the result of capitalism which in bringing new aspects of innovation and development also brought waves of disapproval around the globe. The examples given compare the two revolutions in 1848 and 1968 from the same perspectives, the motives, background, and the results.

The first revolution which started in 1848 in France as a workers protest and rapidly spread throughout Europe, although did not achieve their goals it started two different movements which set the tone for all the subsequent protest that followed in the world. The first movement is the worker’s movement which fought against the exploitation of the working class in the industrial world. The immediate response for this revolution was not achieved, although it started to set the probability of future negotiation and by 1945 as a result of forming labor unions and in some countries political power the overall improvement was attained.

The second movement that resulted from the 1848 revolution was the national liberation movement which was mostly to gain freedom in colonized countries, started by mid-class layer, and the movement almost stopped by 1968 when all the countries gained their independence.

The second revolution was in 1968 which started as a student protest against the war in Vietnam, although it had a deeper meaning as it was a revolution against the groups which resulted from the movements of the first revolution. It is needed to understand that this concept is generally speaking not about the concrete organization as the period between 1868 and 1968 contained a lot of movements, this article covers the most significant trying to keep the chronological order and the effect-result basis. The protests in 1968 in general though varied in different countries in the pushing factors, they all against the old oppressing regime that being in power did not solve the different social problems that were existed. The movements that resulted and followed after 1968 were different might seem addressing different targets such as capitalism, the blacks, the Jews, world globalization in fact address social problems in the first place.

From the examples mentioned, it becomes obvious that the protestants in all the cases rejecting and fighting for the rights and improving their social statuses were not targeting the system which led to their state. Instead, they fought what represented the system in their opinion, symbolic figures which in some cases had no personal profit from the oppression or the exploitation the protestants were suffering. The problems occurring will still be existed as long as by the end of the new revolution and until the new one, the effects will continuously diminish until the new blood will be poured into the system.

Works Cited

Robins R. “Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism”. 4^th edition. Pearson Allyn and Bacon. (2004).