It's all a point of view.

This week’s class became devoted to watching activists engage in behavior that could be considered far outside “the norm.”  First we watched a short documentary on Femen, a European women’s rights extremist group (Femen refers to themselves as “sextremist”) who fights three particular forms of the patriarchy; the sexual exploitation of women, dictatorship, and religion.  Femen fights these forms of the patriarchy by staging highly public and highly visible protests in the nude or while topless.  

We also watched a foreign documentary called “Mutantes:  Punk, Porn, Feminism” that looks deeply into non-traditional pornography, particularly the punk porn genre.  Essentially, the film shows the alternative forms of pornography that occur when a cis-male is not involved.  Much of the documentary shows explicit clips from this genre, and discusses how while many find these types of sexual behaviors bizarre or even wrong, for the people involved in the punk porn genre, they feel liberated and empowered.

One of the articles we read in class was “Unruly Arguments:  The Body Rhetoric of Earth First!, Act Up, and Queer Nation,” by Kevin Michael DeLuca.  The article discusses how these three organizations reach beyond the “normal” way of staging a protest to include protesting with their bodies in an unorthodox way, such as tying themselves to a tree, staging a “die in” on a major city street, or staging a “kiss in” at a hyper-heterosexual area such as a mall.  These events, as Kevin DeLuca describes it, help deconstruct the reality that the general public knows, accepts, and is familiar with, but also leave space for people to begin to comprehend there may be a different way to live, there may be an alternative to the social reality we know.

By individuals in these “extreme” groups using their bodies in this unorthodox way, it draws the public’s attention.  The attention may not cause the public to sympathize with the groups’ cause, but it does get the public not just aware of the issue, but talking about the issue.  

Groups like Femen and the punk post-porn genre use the same tools: they proudly display their views, feel empowered by them, and begin to chip away at mainstream public perception.

Another example of this (although far more mainstream than Femen and “Mutantes” is the 2005 film “Brokeback Mountain,” starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllanhaal.  This was one of the first mainstream, major motion pictures about a gay couple.  Not only that, but the two gay characters in the film not used as comedic relief or as a caricature.  The story, plot line, characters and themes were all strongly written, and the characters themselves were relatable to the average heterosexual viewer. I was 14 when the film came out, and reflecting back it was one of the factors that helped push me into the queer community and the person I am today.  

I had grown up in a very small, conservative town.  My parents had never really discussed homosexuality with me, so the only discussions I had about the queer community were the typical small town, small minded hatefulness speeches of “being gay is a sin you‘ll burn for,” and “they’ll turn you into a queer yourself,” and “they’re ruining our society.”  I wouldn’t necessarily repeat these words, but at a young age in this community, it quickly became ingrained in my mind that gays were “bad.”  They weren’t like us, they should be accepted, or around us if it can be helped.   Without an outlet for discussion or an option to consider an alternative point of view, I blindly accepted the views of those around me as true.

I watched the film with my best friend, specifically after being told not to by both of our parents.  The film deeply unsettled me.  These were two characters in a small town I could relate to.  They weren’t hurting anyone, they just wanted to be in love.  Ultimately, it left one dead and the other a broken man.  I struggled to process what I’d encountered in the film.  

A few days later, my best friend opened up to me and told me he was gay.  Again, I struggled.  All the small minded views I had accepted as true about gay people came crashing down around me.  My best friend was one of the best people I knew.  Could he really be such a good person but be damned to hell for being gay?  He’d never tried to make me gay, or any of our other friends gay either.  

The pressure started to get to me.  I eventually confessed to my mother everything that had happened.  She asked me what I thought about gay people, and I repeated everything I had heard around me.  Her face fell as I spoke.  “Do you really believe those things?”  I realized I didn’t.  “He’s always been gay, the only thing that’s changed is your knowledge of that fact.  He’s the same person he’s always been and who he’ll always be.”

In the course of a few days, a huge portion of the reality I knew had changed.  Without something considered extreme, in this case “Brokeback Mountain,” my perception of reality may have never shifted.  I was able to open a dialogue about something that challenged me, and learn through that dialogue.

So is the point of groups like Femen and films like Mutantes to immediately change the views of the general public, or is it too slowly facilitate the discussion around these issues in a different direction, the way “Brokeback Mountain” did for me?

I feel that ultimately, the end goal of groups like Femen or a film like “Mutantes; Punk, Porn, Feminism” are similar - the goal isn’t to change the minds of the mainstream crowd into accepting their beliefs and to accept the members to the two communities for exactly who they are.  I think the point to these groups is to start the conversation about the issues the groups care about.  Even if the discussion doesn’t lead to a new viewpoint, the fact that the message the groups leave resonates with the public opens up the opportunity for a more progressive view to form at another time.