Pussy Riot? I don't know...REVISED

Since I wrote this I've had time to reflect on the value that Pussy Riot has given to the Russian people and oppressed people everywhere, and how ultimately it may matter more than the criticisms I make below. I won't withdraw it, but just preface it to say that I'm no longer convinced that the doubts I raise are the very first order of importance.

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Like most good lib...er, PROGRESSIVES, I started out just generally advocating for Pussy Riot. I figure that if Putin throws them in jail, they MUST be heroes.

(In fact, Putin spoke out and SPECIFICALLY stated that their actions didn't merit prison. Perhaps he was disingenuous, it's hard to know. Many other people came right out and suggested they be imprisoned, but Putin did not.)

But realizing I didn't really know much about them, I checked out their page on WikiPedia. What I found there didn't please me.

Petty egotistical fixation
First of all, it seems that one primary member wrote to a former member while they were both in jail, or at least she was. And the woman she wrote didn't reply fast enough, so she just basically said, "Fuck her, she's dead to me."

In a letter dated February 1, 2013 and published by her father on the Echo of Moscow web site, Tolokonnikova distanced herself from Samutsevich, saying "Samutsevich hasn't written to me for two months. That's it, to me she is already dead. There will be no more talk of collaborating after this."

What kind of people are they?! This doesn't seem like the behavior of genuine ideological protesters, but more of pissed of suburban teenagers. "Um, so, like...I saw Tiffany and, she, um...like didn't even LOOK at me...so, like...as far as I'm concerned, she can, like, eat shit." Not inspirational, CHILDISH.

Sexual "minority"
Plus, they mentioned a little term on the page for a concept they seem to support called the "sexual minority". I clicked around a little to find out exactly what it meant, and it appears to have been originated by a Swedish creator of a counter-culture protest movement which advocated for, among other things, people's free right to have sex with CHILDREN, including, but not only, their OWN kids.

Pussy Riot members have been outspoken in their support of LGBT rights, and in an early interview they confirmed that the group includes at least one member of a sexual minority.

[switch to "WP/sexual_minority"]...

The term was coined most likely in the late 1960s under the influence of Lars Ullerstam's ground breaking book "The Erotic Minorities: A Swedish View"
. . .
Ullerstam was a propagator in those times for sexual relationships between children and adults, between parents and their own children. He stated that it also was very common among his friends. Lars Ullerstam was a medical doctor and psychiatrist in Stockholm, capital of Sweden.

Surely no one can say that the whole of their body of protest is illegitimate, and admittedly the term "sexual minority" has several definitions. But if you are a PROTEST group, then what you SAY is what MATTERS. And if you deliberately choose to use a specific term over another (they could have described the member as "LGBT", as "persecuted for gender preference", but they didn't). And if I can easily produce evidence that this term was ORIGINATED by a notorious advocate of what we consider "child sexual abuse" and "statutory rape", surely they can. After all, they are trying to get people to listen to them, so they are most particularly responsible for the specific terms they choose to represent themselves. They could have qualified their statement, adding, "...although not in the sense that we approve of the practice of having sex with children, a meaning that has been associated with sexual minority before." But they DIDN'T disclaim this implication. Maybe this means they're BAD, or just plain STUPID or CARELESS, but none of these are things I would choose to support.

Again, the main things protestors and dissidents use are WORDS. As such, just as we should respect their specific protests, we should hold them responsible for the specific language they choose to use.

(You are within reason if you point out that they didn't actually say, but merely "confirmed" this. But if a reporter asked me to confirm or deny if my friend might be considered a child sex abuser, I'd say, "Well, not exactly...I don't think I'm willing to confirm THAT." Even if she wasn't sure what it meant. "'Sexual minority' I don't know, but definitely having preferences that are subject to persecution by an immoral regime." Remember, as a protestor, YOUR WORDS ARE WHAT MATTERS MOST.)

Beyond that, their activities are punctuated by childish antics and behavior. Just because they excuse their actions by say, "only illegal acts are capable of gaining international attention", doesn't mean they deserve respect.

And you know what? I am much less interested in what now seems to me to be a group of opportunistic young women who found a cause to boost themselves into the international spotlight, while implicitly supporting STATUTORY RAPE, while they scrap among themselves saying, "WE'RE the REAL PUSSY RIOT!" "Nuh-uh, WE are!"

Weirdly, the ones that just got out of prison and have come to the US to inflame our most gullible. Just before that, they released a statement that they no longer considered themselves part of Pussy Riot.

In February 2014, both Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were announced as no longer being members of the group.

Huuhhh...??? So...are we still supporting Pussy Riot, or not?

Get your shit together or shut the hell up. Maybe the worst thing is that for anyone thoughtful enough to pay attention, they almost give people who righteously protest against the persecution of LGBT people a bad name. They should go home and play and leave the difficult stuff to the grownups. Because fundamentally the worldwide persecution of LGBT people is not a game, it's a serious issue. They have enough to cope with, they don't need a bunch of cranky punks confusing people about their right to be accepted.

Pussy Riot, I am OUTTAHERE!

PS to AMY GOODMAN: I have always had tremendous respect for your work on DemocracyNow! But not only do you give completely uncritical support to these questionable people in Pussy Riot, but just this week you had someone on that hailed a disgruntled former Olympic luge athlete as an "Olympic Snowden" (!), as if being pissed off because Verizon didn't give you exactly the endorsement deal you wanted was somehow comparable to sacrificing your freedom and possibly your LIFE to protect the freedom of others, as the ACTUAL Snowden did. Disgraceful.

(BTW, if anyone can prove me wrong, please do so. I would be delighted to not believe this. If they truly do not support these twisted, illegal behaviors, then they are responsible for clearing it up. its not like they haven't read their own WP page! If they question terms, have someone edit the page, its a WIKI! Again, it is a PRIMARY responsibility to pay attention to these things, so people cannot discredit you. If the info survives, it's more likely true.)

My source is Wikipedia, the quotes are from the pages for "Pussy Riot" and "sexual minority".