Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist punk collective that calls for women’s equality, democracy, church/state separation, and LGBTQ rights. Protest performances of Pussy Riot are closely associated with Gay rights initiatives in Russia. Although there is no claim by Pussy Riot that its members are LGBTQ, opponents label them as such in efforts to smear and silence them.
Pussy Riot’s members are adept at using social media as an international platform to air their grievances. A video from an impromptu performance at an important Russian Orthodox church in Moscow led to arrest and trial of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, which in turn became another means by which Pussy Riot got national and worldwide attention. Musicians from other countries pledged support to Pussy Riot as a cause célèbre.
Pussy Riot (theriskyshift.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Pussy_Riot.jpg, September 2012)
Background
Pussy Riot appears to have coalesced in 2011, drawing members from the street art group, Voina (War). Tens of thousands of Russians took to the streets of Moscow in the wake of the December 2011 Duma (parliamentary) elections, which many considered unfair. In January 2012, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin announced that he would run in the spring presidential elections. Pussy Riot performed “Revolt in Russia” at Red Square that same month as a reaction to Putin’s candidacy.
Pussy Riot. “Русский: 20 января 2012 года группа Pussy Riot проводит акцию «Бунт в России — Путин зассал» (краткое название — «Путин зассал») на Лобном месте Красной площади. Фотография Денис Бочкарев. English: Pussy Riot at Lobnoye Mesto on Red Square in Moscow – Denis Bochkarev” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pussy_Riot_at_Lobnoye_Mesto_ on_Red_Square_in_Moscow_-_Denis_Bochkarev.jpg, September 2012)
Genre and Performance
Members of Pussy Riot see themselves as part of punk and feminist movements within a twenty-first century Russian context. Citing early Oi! bands for their inspiration, they take the ingredients of punk dissidence and superimpose local discourses over international ones. They choose not to play at venues to avoid any mainstream connotation. Band members dress in bright colors and wear balaclavas (ski masks) over their faces.
Incident at Christ the Savior Cathedral
On February 21, 2012, five members of Pussy Riot staged a controversial crash performance at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Lyrics in their “Punk Prayer, ‘Mother of God Drive Putin Out!’” highlight the persecution of LGBTQ activists, who at that time were protesting a homophobic bill introduced in St. Petersburg: “Freedom’s phantom’s gone to heaven/Gay Pride’s sent to Siberia in chains.” Complete with vocal melodies mimicking Orthodox chant, the song has lyrics that also describe the corruption of the Russian Orthodox Church and decry the Patriarch’s cozy relationship with Putin. Pussy Riot called on the Virgin Mary to become a feminist and drive out Putin as she might a demon.
Pussy Riot in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (stereogum.com/1129602/pussy-riot-putin-light-up-the-flames/mp3s, September 2012)
Pussy Riot’s performance was as much visual as it was aural. Band members entered the cathedral in winter outer clothes, which they shed to reveal their trademark solid, brightly colored jumpers, tights, and balaclavas. Each woman’s outfit technically respected the rules about female dress in churches (skirt, covered head). The members immediately occupied the platform in front of the iconostasis (a wall of icons that separates the nave of a church from its sanctuary). In a video clip of the performance, church staff can be seen trying to tell the group to stop. The group did not damage any church property or threaten staff or churchgoers. Pussy Riot was forcibly removed after roughly a minute of performance.
That same day, a video of the stunt (which included the full song) went viral on social media. Two group members were arrested that March, and joined later by a third. The three women remained in custody without bail until their trial and sentencing in August 2012, despite pleas to return to their young children.
“Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. The three members who were jailed in March following a guerrilla performance denouncing President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral, and they now face a maximum seven years in jail. T-shirt on right worn by Tolokonnikova is Spanish and translates to “They shall not pass”, a slogan often used to express determination to defend a position against an enemy.” Photo: Mikhail Metzel/AP (huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/08/16/pussy-riot-protest-topless-feminists-femen_n_1787741.html#slide=1393035, September 2012)
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich were convicted on charges of hate-motivated hooliganism and sentenced to two years in prison (the minimum sentence). Initially, the prosecution and religious leaders called for up to eight years in prison, claiming that Pussy Riot’s actions had caused psychological and emotional harm to Orthodox believers. Witnesses testified they had indeed been offended. Upon sentencing, the judge said that feminism incited religious hatred. The Russian Orthodox Church asked that the courts show the band members mercy. There were protests outside the courts and world chess Grand Master-turned politician, Gary Kasparov, was arrested along with opposition leader, Sergei Udal’tsov.
After sentencing in that same month, the band released the song, “Putin Lights up the Fires.” Members who were not arrested are reported to have fled the country.
International Support
Pussy Riot’s cause was quickly taken up by international human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and AllOut. Many people within Russia and abroad called for the band’s release, believing that the judicial system was biased against dissenters and controlled by the Kremlin. President Putin issued a statement saying he hoped the courts would not be too hard on Pussy Riot.
As a show of solidarity, people (and some statues) outside of Russia have been photographed wearing balaclavas in support of the jailed band members.
In her Saint Petersburg concert, Madonna donned a balaclava and stripped to her bra, exposing the words “Pussy Riot” on her back (nme.com/news/madonna/65424, September 2012)
Pussy Riot has become an internationally recognized symbol representing the injustices of the Putin administration. To conservative Russians, however, the band, feminism, and coarse lyrics serve as a symbol of foreign ideas forced upon Russia from the West. American popstar Madonna called for the release of Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina, and Samutsevich during a concert in St. Petersburg in August 2012. In addition to demanding that the Pussy Riot members be freed, Madonna called for LGBTQ rights and tolerance, and her fans cheered and displayed pink armbands. Others in the Russian Federation were incensed, and nine activists filed a lawsuit against the artist, the concert organizer, and the venue for 333 million rubles. Madonna has not responded publicly to the lawsuit.
Protestors in Hamburg supporting Pussy Riot. Photo: Marcus Brandt/European Pressphoto Agency (nytimes.com/2012/08/26/arts/music/pussy-riot-was-carefully-calibrated-for-protest.html?_r=1, September 2012)
Protestors in London (telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/9482820/ Masked-Pussy-Riot-supporters-stage-demonstrations-around-the-world.html, September 2012)
“Demonstrators hold a banner in support of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot during a protest outside Spain’s Foreign Office in Madrid Picture: Paul White/AP” (telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/9482820/Masked-Pussy-Riot-supporters-stage-demonstrations-around-the-world.html?frame=2313037, September 2012)
“Supporters of Pussy Riot hold up masks depicting group members in front of the Russian embassy in Brussels” Photo: Virginia Mayo/AP (telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/9482820/Masked-Pussy-Riot-supporters-stage-demonstrations-around-the-world.html?frame=2313024, September 2012)
Lyrics
Pussy Riot’s song lyrics are in Russian, and various translations, from the crude to the poetic, are available in English online. The group is best known for the song “Pank-moleben, ‘Bogoroditsa, Putina progoni’” (Punk-prayer, “Mother of God, Drive Putin Out”). Notably, the words “Gay Pride” are Russianized to Gei-praid. Pussy Riot punctuates their lyrics with swear words, known in Russian as mat, which lose their transgressive edge when translated into English. The use of such harsh language by women, especially in the cathedral, shocked many Russians.
(Chorus) Mother of God, Virgin, Drive Out Putin, Drive Out Putin,
Mother of God, Virgin, Drive Out Putin!
“A supporter of punk group Pussy Riot, wearing the group’s trademark coloured balaclava, holds a poster reading Mohammed, stop Putin! outside a mosque in St Petersburg” Photo: Olga Maltseva/AFP/GettyImages (telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/9482820/Masked-Pussy- Riot-supporters-stage-demonstrations-around-the-world.html?frame=2313038, September 2012)
Black robes, gold epaulettes
All the parishioners crawl to bow
The phantom of freedom in the heavens
Gay Pride’s sent to Siberia in chains.The head of KGB, their patron saint
Leads protestors to jail under escort
So as not to upset His Holiness
Women must give birth and obey.Shit, shit godliness shit!
Shit, shit, this holiness shit!(Chorus)
Mother of God, Virgin, become a feminist,
Be a feminist, a feminist become.
“A Soviet Army memorial in Sofia, Bulgaria, has been decorated with colourful balaclavas as a sign of support of the three members of Pussy Riot on trial in Moscow” Picture: AFP/GettyImages (telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/9482820/Masked-Pussy-Riot-supporters-stage-demonstrations-around-the-world.html?frame=2312888, September 2012)
The Church praises rotten dictators
A holy-cross procession of black cars
The preacher prepares to visit you in school
Go to class – bring him money!Patriarch Gundy believes in Putin
Better in God, bitch, to believe
The sash of the Virgin can’t replace mass meetings –
To protest together with us, Virgin Mary!(Chorus)
Mother of God, Virgin, Drive Out Putin, Drive Out Putin,
Mother of God, Virgin, Drive Out Putin!
“Supporters of Pussy Riot place masks on a monument to WWII heroes at an underground station in Moscow” Photo: Yevgeny Feldman, Novaya Gazeta/AP (telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/9482820/Masked-Pussy-Riot-supporters-stage-demonstrations-around-the-world.html?frame=2313021, September 2012)
– Lauren Welker
QEGF Authors and Articles
QEGF Introduction
Comments? Post them on our Encyclopedia facebook page.
Further reading:
Human Rights Watch. http://freepussyriot.org/news/human-rights-watch-conviction-blow-free-expression
“Madonna sued in Russia for Supporting Gays.” http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/story/2012-08-19/madonna-russia-lawsuit/57136198/1
Amnesty International. http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/c.6oJCLQPAJiJUG/
b.8302257/k.9A29/Free_Pussy_Riot/siteapps/advocacy
/ActionItem.aspx
“New Pussy Riot song slams Russian President Vladimir Putin.” http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-pussy-riot-prison-lyrics-vladimir-putin-20120820,0,631508.story