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Pussy Riot, What Is The Deal Today?

Written by Angela Miller

Last updated on April 16th, 2022

Table of contents:

Who Are The Main Pussy Riot Members?
Why Is The West So Fond Of Pussy Riot?
Are Pussy Riot's Views Shared In Russia?
Do Russian Women Relate To Pussy Riot?

The majority of Russian women are known to be conservative and traditional when it comes to most aspects of life. They value family, children, and traditions. They like to be feminine and dress in beautiful clothes and to be treated like women and not something in between. However, that are trends in Russia today where some women feel the Western way of doing things serves them better. The Russian activist group and punk rock band Pussy Riots is an example of this. Thus, we’ll here give you an introduction to Pussy Riot and what they signify in Russia. Pussy riot was founded in August 2011. Originally the group had around 11 members and wanted to challenge the Russian governmental leadership and role in Russian society. The leaders and most likely the initial founders were Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina. Pussy Riot staged illegal provocative guerrilla performances in public areas such as squares, halls, and churches, which especially created an outcry from the public, the Russian orthodox church, and the government.

Pussy Riot’s performances were filmed and posted on the Internet. Their musical statements included feminism, LGBT rights, opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Russian Orthodox Church. On February 21, 2012, Pussy Riots became famous overnight with a provocative performance inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The group’s actions were condemned as heretical by the Russian Orthodox church and stopped by church security officials. Two weeks later, the leaders of Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, were arrested and charged with hooliganism. A third member of Pussy Riot, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was detained on March 16. On August 17, 2012, the three members were convicted of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.” All three Pussy riot members were sentenced to two years in prison. In Western countries, their sentences were criticized widely by organizations such as Amnesty International and state officials from many Western countries.

However, in Russia, the public, for the wast majority, thought that Pussy Riot and its members deserved the sentences they got. In February 2014, some unidentified Pussy Riot members stated that the leading founders, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, were no longer members of the group. However, the same year Russia held the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where both Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina showed up and participated in a Pussy Riot act, and where they again managed to get arrested for breaching the peace. Their arrest again got a lot of attention in Western countries as they were pepper-sprayed and attacked by the security detail guarding the Olympics, culminating with a civil suit a the Europen Court Of Human Rights. Nevertheless, in Russia, people saw them as saboteurs of a great event that made Russian look bad rather than vigorous. Also, from hereon, the Russian public opinion of Pussy Riot reached a new low, culmination in that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina were attacked and sprayed with green dye by local youths in Nizhny Novgorod in March 2014.

Who Are The Main Pussy Riot Members?

After giving you an introduction to Pussy Riot and who they are and for what they are known. We’ll now take a closer look at the main members of the activist group, where we focus on Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina. Both of them were the founding members of Pussy Riot when it was created in 2012; however, before Pussy Riot even existed, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova had been a member of the anarchist and artistic group Voina (War). The performances of Voina have varied from protests, pranks in public places, and happenings to vandalism and destruction of public property. And as a result, more than a dozen criminal cases have been brought against the group. Also, the groups used sex events performed in public to draw attention to their cause. In 2018 Nadezhda Tolokonnikova went viral and was trending on porn sites such X-Hamster, where she is in the last months of her pregnancy, participated in a sexual event in front of the camera. After the video of her having sex went viral, Russian media picked up on the story resulting in an hour and a half long interview, which you can watch here in full.

In the interview, she explains that she identifies as pansexual as not as a woman. And that she did the sexual event even though she was pregnant to bring attention to the rights of lesbians and gays in Russia. Similarly, in 2012 film director Michael Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin started doing a documentary about Pussy Riot’s leading members Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich called Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer. For over six months, a film crew followed the three Russian women in everything they did, from being arrested inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour to when they were facing prosecution by the Russian state and sent to prison. In Russia, the documentary received very little attention in contrast to the West, where it was celebrated as a masterpiece and even got on the Academy Awards Oscar’s so-called longlist.

Likewise, the documentary won a Special Jury Award for Punk Spirit after debuting at the Sundance Film Festival. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has, over the years, got most of the media attention, most likely for her good looks and camera appeal. Whereas Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich always have been somewhat in the background. Even today, many years after Pussy Riots more or less have faded out regarding media attention, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova still gets a lot of attention in magazines such as V Magazine. Ironically enough, a magazine like V Magazine is known for its luxury fashion brands and expensive lifestyle features, and regardless it still portrays Nadezhda Tolokonnikova as a hero of the day even though Tolokonnikova sees herself as anti-capitalist and a fighter for the working class. Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich are still active as self-proclaimed human rights warriors. Maria Alyokhina, as late as March 2021, might face another two years in prison for her political activism, where she is indicted for breaking Coronavirus restrictions and encouraging other people to protest the imprisonment of Russian political activist Alexie Navalny.

Why Is The West So Fond Of Pussy Riot?

The sections above went through some of the most mentionable actions of Pussy Riot, from their initial claim to fame inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the arrests made during the Winter Olympics till today. Since the beginning of Pussy Riot, it has seemed that no matter what the protest group did, even when vandalizing and expressing hate to religious beliefs in Russia, etc., the West has shown its support. Western celebrities such as Madonna and Patti Smith have invited Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina on stage to give speeches and perform. Political activist and philosopher Noam Chomsky have sent personal letters and meet with Nadezhda Tolokonnikova in person to discuss Pussy Riot’s course. Former presidential candidate Hillery Clinton, and former president Bill Clinton, have shown public support. The group has appeared on the popular TV series “House of Cards.” The documentary Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer has been nominated and won prominent awards. On social media such as YouTube, their videos have been promoted and viewed by millions of people.

Governments have invited Pussy Riot to speak about their course and provided media coverage. Institutions such as Amnesty International and the European Court Of Human Rights have brought attention to their prison cases in media and politically throughout most Western countries. And of course, on top of it all, Western mass media has made Pussy Riot famous worldwide – providing them with concert opportunities, exhibitions at the Saatchi Art Gallery, paid speeches at prominent Universities opportunities, and much more. The group has released 14 songs and videos — “Panic Attack,” “Straight Outta Vagina“, “Organs,” and “Make America Great Again” among them that have been played worldwide on radio stations. Nobody today knows how much money the leading members and front figures of Pussy Riot have made, however looking at radio royalties and the numbers of events, concerts, and TV appearances they have performed worldwide, it is probably a lot.

Ironically, one would think it would go against Pussy Riot’s contempt for global capitalism and their philosophy of anarchism, where they want to destroy all governments and capitalist institutions together with abandoning any form of patriarchies. Furthermore, Pussy Riot has never been popular in their home country of Russia – on the contrary. Thus, their ideas and beliefs have very little support from the Russian population as a whole, so to argue that they fight for the Russian people seems somewhat absurd. Thus, begging the question; why Western countries are so keen on promoting a Russian anarchist punk group. To writers such as David Joel Horowitz, the founder, and president of the think tank, the David Horowitz Freedom Center, there is no doubt that it is more than a geopolitical game played out. Horowitz’s view is that there is a coordinated attempt to destroy Christianity not only in Russia but worldwide, by forces within Western governments and institutions. In his book Dark Agenda – The War to Destroy Christian America, Horowitz put forward a compelling argument if you are interested.

Are Pussy Riot's Views Shared In Russia?

Having mentioned briefly in the sections above how the general public in Russia views Pussy Riot and what they stand for, we’ll now take a closer look at how and why the vast majority of the Russian population is against their beliefs and actions. However, first, it is evident to know a little Russian modern history. In 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia no longer was a communist regime ruled by a political elite that dictated almost every little detail in everybody’s life, it was a chance for the Russian people to start anew. Having suffered wars and famines under the communist regime together with restrictions on almost everything, from traveling to what books to read, the banning of religion, etc., the people of Russia were now able to create their future. However, since the collapse of the Soviet Union was more than an ideological failure but also a financial collapse, the Russian state had no money to uphold laws or to maintain any public services and healthcare. Consequently causing suffering and distress to a large percentage of the general Russian population.

Westerners who visited Russia at the time described it as the wild west, where formations of interest groups from common gangsters to former communist party and military officials fought a physical war together with a political war. The country was up for grabs when it came to its resources and new power structures, and every strongman in the country wanted a share. To the common Russian people, this situation naturally was perceived as a period of anarchy with no law and order. Thus, today the Russian population, maybe except for the youngest generations, know all too well what suffering means when there are no structures of control and anarchy rules. Nonetheless, from the 2000s, Russia started to get back on its feet, and people on average began to enjoy a more carefree lifestyle, and where hard work also meant a better standard of living. Today Russia has for the past 20 years had stable economic growth, salaries have gone up, and more possibilities for the general population have emerged.

Bringing us to the matter of how and why Pussy Riot is unpopular in Russia. Pussy Riot has, on countless occasions, identified themselves as anarchists who are anti-capitalist and who do not believe in any hierarchical structures, i.e., no state, no church, no genders, no patriarchy, and so on. Thus, they place themself on the absolute extreme left of the political spectrum, which to most Russian people is perceived as an anti-authoritarian interpretation of left-wing politics in line with communism and collectivism. Furthermore, as Pussy Riot gained their fame in one of Moscow’s most holy churches, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the orthodox Russian Christians see them as something the devil has created to bring down their church. What is more, most of Pussy Riot’s videos are satanic in nature, attacking Christ and his church – which of course, is not helping the situation. The Christian religion in Russia is still strong, and many people remember that during communist times all worship took place illegally underground.

Do Russian Women Relate To Pussy Riot?

Having examined some of the reasons why Pussy Riot is not popular in Russia and only in the West in the section above, we’ll now look at how Russian women, in general, relate to a group like Pussy Riot or if they can relate at all. Any Western man who has been to Russia on business or for tourism has come bach perplexed by the number of beautiful Russian women you see everywhere, no matter if you are in a big city like Moscow or a small town in the far East. Russian women generally dress to kill and love to wear beautiful dresses, high heels, and fancy jewelry. Thus, most Russian women try to magnify their femininity rather than hiding it. Also, when going out in Russia to, e.g., a restaurant or bar, you see men pulling out chairs, opening doors, and lighting cigarettes for women, who seem to enjoy that a man behaves like a gentleman. Moreover, most Russian women who are single try hard to find a suitable man to start a family and have children.

In contrast, when you see videos or pictures of the Pussy Riot members, it seems they have gone to great lengths to hide their femininity and do what they can to be as obnoxious looking as possible. In the video SEXIST, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova wears rubber and lack clothing while she is singing about killing sexist men. Moreover, the video is full of religious symbols such as inverted crosses painted on the Pussy Riot members’ foreheads to mock Christ and the Russian orthodox church. Likewise, all the men in the video are shown semi-naked with pig noses at the feet of women with whips. This, of course, is ironic since the Pussy Riot event at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 that got Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina arrested lead to a filled lawsuit at the European Court For Human Rights, where both women claimed they got whipped by security people when they refused to stop the event. Nevertheless, when it comes to Russian women in general, they are not big fans of this type of activism.

Also, they find it hard to understand why women in their right mind would expose themselves to this kind of publicity, especially for a cause that does not make any sense to most women in Russia. Even though Russia has its problems regarding men and chauvinism, most Russian women think the way Pussy Riot goes about the issue does more harm than good. Thus, to answer the question, do Russian women relate to Pussy Riot? The answer is that most Russian women don’t, and what is more, they find Pussy Riot’s behavior and ideology absurd and counterproductive for women’s rights in Russia. Likewise, to Russian women being feminine is still a virtue they appreciate, and they don’t see any reason to initiate a conflict between the sexes on purpose. You often hear Russian women say, “We make the man believe he is the boss.” Meaning that Russian women are good at getting what they want but without unnecessary confrontations.