Athena in Portland's naked protest

[vivariumvivariumsvivaria]

This page is full of clever minds - anyone want to help me pick through this woman's naked protest? nationalpost.com/news/protester-strips-naked-in-front-of-anti-riot-police-in-portland-she-was-incredibly-vulnerable

She's in a stand-off with riot police during the anti-racism demonstrations in Portland. She strips naked, strides in front of the police who were firing rubber bullets, and starts doing yoga for 10 minutes. She sits and spreads her legs. The police leave.

I think she's incredibly brave - being hit by a rubber bullet on a naked body is bound to hurt.

Part of me wonders what would have happened if she was not a slim, fit white woman - if she looked like me (too old, too heavy, too hairy); or was a black woman, or a man.

Was it just her startlingly zero-fucks that changed the mood of the evening? Or was it the shock of a vulva, light up by the glare of the police lights, that took the tension out of the crowd?

It's an amazing photograph.

Apparently, the police huddled together and then slowly started backing away, which I think is hilarious.
Part of me wonders what would have happened if she was not a slim, fit white woman - if she looked like me (too old, too heavy, too hairy); or was a black woman, or a man
I wondered that too. Definitely would have had a different reaction if it was a male, I think, and possibly if someone black or fat.
My brother lives in Portland. The protests have been going on for at least 50 nights. He's really disturbed by federal agents going in, unidentified, and hauling people off of the streets, but that's another discussion.

I think it's idiotic.

Well, yes, she could have been badly hurt. But, who'd want to be a police officer shooting rubber bullets at a naked woman?

I can't decide if she was tactical, or high.

I would say it was tactical, given that it is legal to be naked during protest in that particular state.

I don't know if she knew how incredibly vulnerable she was or how much youthful folly played a part, it's definitely a play you could only make once!

i don't like that kind of protest.

"look! woman naked! cool~"

I'm not really keen on the word "vulnerable" in this situation. I'm not sure why, other than I feel like it doesn't quite describe the situation she's in.

It reminds me of carrying my screaming baby outside in wintertime with DP asking "what are you thinking..?" Sometimes jolting a situation with something unexpected or leftfield breaks the deadlock. Worked a treat with my DD!

It looks tactical to me. And if fit white female bodies can use their social standing to mess with goon's minds, go for it!

There's a tradition I read about in Nigeria where women strip naked in protest. Since it's held to shame any men around, according to the article it was quite effective. Sounds like the same dynamic in Portland, even without the cultural background.

That said, I also agree with skql. The whole "Ooh! Look! Woman! Naked!" late-primary school BS is really old. It'd be nice to live in another world.

I think it's an amazing use of vulnerability. Shows that power does not have to mean aggression, that self-control is powerful, too, that peacefulness is powerful.

Hmmmm.... There have been discussions on here recently about Douglas Murray’s The Madness of Crowds. The general consensus was that Murray’s suggestion that ‘maybe attractive women possess a type of power that is unique to them’ was BS. The idea that an attractive woman can make a man behave in a certain way that doesn’t work the opposite way round was considered misogynistic.

Sadly, only one of two options can be true. Either she was ‘brave and clever’ and knew how to use her feminine power and Murray is right, or she is full of internal misogyny and Murray is wrong.

Either way, Portland looks like a total shit show.

Sadly, only one of two options can be true. Either she was ‘brave and clever’ and knew how to use her feminine power and Murray is right, or she is full of internal misogyny and Murray is wrong.

Just the two? I disagree. Perhaps no one wants to fire at a naked person, and that would apply if that person was male, or old, or unattractive. The protest is essentially about an unarmed person (the whole point of nudity in this instance being to show that one is unarmed) standing up to a group of armed men. It reminds me, more than anything, of Tank Man. edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/05/world/tiananmen-square-tank-man-cnnphotos/

Bit of a derail to bang on about Douglas Murray, but ... jeeeesus, what a twonk.

If it's "attractive" women with this so-called power, what makes them attractive? Social definitions and how others see them.

It's not the women's power. It's that the stereotypes/assumptions their opponents hold lead to massive dissonance when the women step out of the box.

Seeing all that, and having the courage to irritate the actual powerholders by forcing their brains to short circuit which does take bravery since men are known to react lethally to that that is indeed both brave and clever.

The unfortunate aspect is, of course, that it wouldn't work as well without the stereotypes, so it reminds us nastily of sexism. A 100kg male bodybuilder might not be able to count on the same reaction. Although the obvious, visual vulnerability of nakedness would still be a big factor. Just maybe no longer enough.

The best, bravest thing a woman can do is to take off her clothes and show everyone her genitalia. Yawn.

I also find the comparisons to the protestor in Tiananmen Square offensive. The latter was a moment of outstanding bravery in the name of principle. This was self-indulgent performance art on behalf of spoiled rich kids who just want to destroy things & hurt people and couldn't care less about George Floyd.

I don't agree with him politically, but take a look at reporter Andy Ngo's Twitter (at mrandyngo) if you want to see what's going on in Portland. It's a riot and looting spree, not a noble protest, and it's detracting from an opportunity to pursue needed reforms in the U.S.

@Kennebec

The best, bravest thing a woman can do is to take off her clothes and show everyone her genitalia. Yawn.

I also find the comparisons to the protestor in Tiananmen Square offensive. The latter was a moment of outstanding bravery in the name of principle. This was self-indulgent performance art on behalf of spoiled rich kids who just want to destroy things & hurt people and couldn't care less about George Floyd.

I don't agree with him politically, but take a look at reporter Andy Ngo's Twitter (at mrandyngo) if you want to see what's going on in Portland. It's a riot and looting spree, not a noble protest, and it's detracting from an opportunity to pursue needed reforms in the U.S.

I completely agree. I see nothing whatsoever to admire in what she did or what the so called protesters are doing. They are just violent criminals and she was just indulging in a silly, pointless showing off. She wasn't vulnerable- there was no possibility of police firing at her.

I don't agree with him politically, but take a look at reporter Andy Ngo's Twitter (at mrandyngo) if you want to see what's going on in Portland. It's a riot and looting spree, not a noble protest, and it's detracting from an opportunity to pursue needed reforms in the U.S.

His Youtube channel has videos of Antifa’s violent behaviour going back years. How CNN and other left-leaning news organisations can claim they ‘don’t exist’ is beyond me.

These (Portland) aren’t ‘peaceful protests’ and they never have been. Peaceful protestors don’t attempt to blind police officers with powerful lasers.

Why any woman would support this organisation is beyond me....

And as for "the Wall of Moms" - what the hell do think they are achieving?

Trump and Chad Wolf are absolutely correct on calling out these "protesters" for what they really are.

DidoLamenting Andy Ngo has just tweeted:

I recognize a lot of the so-called “moms” as the same antifa women who dressed in black as recent as a couple days ago. They just put on a yellow shirt now for optics. Most of these people aren’t mothers & many don’t even identify as female.

Watch "I am a grooming gang survivor" on last Sunday's Triggernometry on YT and you will see the sort of shit Antifa get up to.
Dr Hill the survivor inteviewed has had multiple death threats from Antifa as have her family and friends and also been doxxed by them, all for speaking out and fighting to end violent gang rape of countless thousands of children.
No wonder they all wear masks, I'd be ashamed to show my face too if I were vile enough to be a member.

Does anyone remember similar discussions surrounding FEMEN (takes you back, doesn't it?) and using the bodies of young, nude, white, able-bodied women as a media tool?

Femen, whatever you may think of them, were physically attacked by both police and random irate men on countless occasions; I don't think the whole Konrad Lorenz type of "display vulnerability and noone will attack you" thing works as well as some people seem to think it does.

This is really interesting. I had wondered why there wasn't more coverage about Portland - it was on a twitter thread, but my twitter thread is fairly skewed to feminism and barely any comment about it.

I'd forgotten about Femen, Uglyswan. I saw them as immature thinkers. Wonder what they are doing now?

@Durgasarrow

I think it's idiotic.

So do I

No wonder they all wear masks, I'd be ashamed to show my face too if I were vile enough to be a member

In the US, they smash up campuses to shut down freedom of speech. Serious irony bypass required to do that in Berkeley....

When Extinction Rebellion glued their naked arses to parliament it was seen as a bit cringe.

The Naked Rambler. Naked cyclists. More oddities than anything else.

I think she wouldn’t be called the ‘naked Athena’ if she had looked like a more typical naked protest.

A t-shirt doesn’t do much to dissipate the impact of a rubber bullet. In terms of being hit with rubber bullets you are not much more vulnerable being naked - it is just more obvious.

Whoever Naked Athena is I respect her tenacity.

As iconic as Vietnamese Napalm girl Phan Thị Kim Phúc and Tiananmen Square Tank Man.

I am guessing she is an African American naturalist with an interest in ballet and yoga and fearless going into "combat" unarmed but masked and wearing a beanie to keep her head warm while being fired at from Trump's soldiers.

Not interested in the political or criminal context but she is an eye opener! Not sure and indifferent as to good or bad but nevertheless a statement priceless piece of iconography.