Victor Svyatski: Man Behind Femen Picks "Prettiest Girls," Calls Them Bitches
Victor Svyatski: Man Behind Femen Picks "Prettiest Girls," Calls Them BitchesFEMEN is a global feminist movement that began in Ukraine in 2008. More than 300 female activists in the group firmly stand behind the organization, who regularly engages in topless protests that often result in their arrest, severe beatings, and verbal assaults. FEMEN's aim is to fight political and female oppression around the world, using their bodies as weapons, and have fearlessly gone as far as stampeding on a trade fair attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
So who's the political director behind this radical feminist movement? A man named Victor Svyatski.
While, there is nothing wrong with having a man be part of a feminist movement, the validity of the movement is in question given Svyatski is the main leader and founder of FEMEN. Still, one could remain open-minded ... that is, until he told 28-year-old Australian film-maker Kitty Green "These girls are weak" during the filming of FEMEN's upcoming documentary, Ukraine is Not a Brothel. The founder is known for calling the female activists "bitches" and "submissive." Sadly, the reputability of the movement has waned.
It's difficult to stand behind a group positioned to end women's oppression politically, sexually, and religiously when these feminist activists are paradoxically led by a dictator they publically oppose. According to the Independent, Svyatski describes his hostile feelings towards the women he "hand-picked" ...
"They don't have the strength of character. They don't even have the desire to be strong. Instead, they show submissiveness, spinelessness, lack of punctuality, and many other factors which prevent them from becoming political activists. These are qualities which it was essential to teach them."
They don't have strength of character, Mr. Svyatski? What do you call being brutally beaten, harassed, and verbally assaulted on a regular basis? Is spinelessness defined by diligently and passionately preparing yourself for battle and dedicating your life to ending gender and sexual inequalities every day? The FEMEN founder calls himself a political scientist; perhaps he should reconfigure his definition of activist. Or maybe his statements are merely a projection of his own insecurities.
Svyatski also orders the female activists to follow dangerous requests. One example was their mission to Belarus, "where they were arrested by secret service agents, stripped, humiliated, and abandoned in a forest close to the Ukrainian border," as Sify reports.
With Svyatski as leader, this group cannot honestly fulfill their mission of empowering women and raising awareness against political dictatorships. To further support this opinion, one of the FEMEN campaigners tells Green, "We are psychologically dependent on him and even if we know and understand that we could do this by ourselves without his help, it's psychological dependence," she says.
For the most part, these audacious female campaigners have been doing it themselves and are entirely capable of continuing in their political efforts without dictator Svyatski. They just have to believe they aren't weak without him.
