Athena in Portland's naked protest

I going from Sarah Ditum's article which referred to his own Twitter biography. If you know more or otherwise then why not tell us?

I don't think he's a photographer. AFAIK he's a writer from Portland who has been previously published in Playboy.

Why?

Call me a killjoy but, if I were that young woman and I discovered that my idealistic protest had been captured and sent around the world by a 'men's lifestyle' photographer, I would be none too happy.

Or as you put it yourself:
Those who reduce women to Tits and Vag do so for their own reasons.

Why @Floisme?

The Playboy connection is most unfortunate.

If she has turned into nothing more than tits and vag that is of her making
I disagree. Those who reduce women to Tits and Vag do so for their own reasons.

Oh bore off with the claims that anyone criticising this silly woman is right wing etc etc.
I don't think that all the criticism has come from the right wing. She has also been criticised by left wingers, those who abhor nudity and misogynists who will put down any woman who stands up and call her names.

If she has turned into nothing more than tits and vag that is of her making

Precisely. There just happened to be a Playboy photographer around at the exact moment the naked protest took place.

It’s almost as coincidental as a bat coronavirus turning up at a seafood market just down the road from the only lab in Asia studying bat coronaviruses.

My first thought was that it was a powerful/poetic image.

Second (from the part of my brain that watches a lot of reality TV) was "I bet she's really annoying".

She has become a target for misogynists, anti-Americans, right wingers and others who reduce her to nothing more than Tits and Vag

Oh bore off with the claims that anyone criticising this silly woman is right wing etc etc.

If she has turned into nothing more than tits and vag that is of her making, in the absence, in my view, of any engagement by her brain.

She is a narcissistic show-off. She and the other "protesters" (aka looters, rioters, criminals, thieves and vandals) are doing no good whatsoever for cause they claim to support.

They have on the other hand demonstrated that even Donald Trump can occasionally be in the right and speak sense. What an achievement.

She was in no danger
That's not true. Everyone who takes part in a protest is in danger of being hurt by protestors and police. A badly aimed missile, a misfire will do damage. She may have been taken into custody or to the hospital by strangers whilst naked. She did her protest knowing that it would be on the news/internet and knowing how hostile and personal anyone who opposed her protest would be. She has become a target for misogynists, anti-Americans, right wingers and others who reduce her to nothing more than Tits and Vag.

So yes, I do think she was brave.

‘Women seeking liberation for yourself or others take your clothes off’ wonder who that benefits? Maybe I’m a cynic.

The male gaze business is always just the male gaze business.

Yep.

I like Sarah Ditum. Thank you for posting that link.

This article discusses "Athena" and naked protest. The photographer who took the image often works for Playboy
unherd.com/2020/07/the-shock-of-the-nude/

I've got no issue with the peaceful nature of her protest. I just don't think it was as deeply profound as the eloquent cheerleaders on thread are suggesting.

I agree with floral.

And I have to admit that I know jack shit about antifa.

What was brave about it? She was in no danger

I agree with everything Floisme has said.

I would just also add that what Trump has said about Portland and Antifa is correct. I wonder how this will play out come the election?

I might have found the image striking if I didn't know anything about the context. But the thing is, I do know. The context is Antifa. And as soon as I see that word, I see other images too: images of violent, misogynistic arseholery, and no amount of posturing about iconography or invoking Trump can airbrush them away.

I thought she was magnificent, very clever and brave. The image is striking.

Pointing out the very obvious flaws in what this silly woman has done is not misogynistic.

It's always interesting to do reversals. For instance, what if this had been a naked Black woman? Or a naked White man? Or a naked Black man?

I know it’s not 100% comparable, but the comments under this video clip are probably indicative.

twitter.com/mrandyngo/status/1282152650860003329?s=21

BaronessBollyKnickers

I'd've thought that the point is that the heavily armed men with protective gear would've looked like monsters if they'd fired rubber bullets (or worse) at a naked human. The optics wouldn't have looked good. She chose to protest that way which didn't involve any violence. And yet she is the one being rubbished on FWR. Yes, I know the thread is about her, but still. She didn't harm anyone, she protested peacefully; I support her.

a) The only reason she's getting press is because she's naked. The message sent is that the very best thing a woman can do is take off her clothes and shut up - reduce herself to a faceless, mute pair of breasts and vag.

b) While she is nonviolent, her actions were not taken on behalf of the nonviolent. She is acting on behalf of those who have been rioting for weeks to burn down government buildings in Portland, who have looted countless businesses and caused tens of millions of dollars in property damage, and who have attacked police and civilians alike with explosives, chunks of concrete, bats, pipes, lasers capable of blinding, and much more.

I live in the U.S. I absolutely don't want Trump reelected. These idiots are giving him ammunition.
Yes, I agree.

And it looks like white privilege to me too.

And yet she is the one being rubbished on FWR.

That’s because someone started a thread about her and asked for posters’ opinions of the photograph and her actions.

This is not a case of someone starting a thread about Antifa/Portland and it then become ing a misogynistic attack of an individual.

While she is nonviolent, her actions were not taken on behalf of the nonviolent. She is acting on behalf of those who have been rioting for weeks to burn down government buildings in Portland, who have looted countless businesses and caused tens of millions of dollars in property damage, and who have attacked police and civilians alike with explosives, chunks of concrete, bats, pipes, lasers capable of blinding, and much more. I live in the U.S. I absolutely don't want Trump reelected. These idiots are giving him ammunition

Well said.