Pussy Riot talks Trump, Putin and why women need to take charge
Interview with Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of the feminist performance art collective Pussy Riot:
Q: You, like the rest of the world, predicted Putin would once again win the Russian presidential election (he was re-elected on March 13). Is it hard to have hope when it feels like the future is already written?
A: I actually had Putin in my dream the last night. It’s not easy when Putin is a part of your reality almost through all your life. His system is penetrating your pores. Even when you’re rebelling against him, after 18 years of Putin it takes constant conscious efforts to keep imagining the future of another Russia that should be possible. Right now, our activism is about small victories. Through them we hope to make people believe that activists are not that useless as our current political structures. The main enemy is apathy and a belief that nothing can be changed. It should be slowly replaced with people’s understanding of the power of civil society.
Q: What is the most significant way Pussy Riot has changed the conversation about what is happening in Russia?
A: We were the first ones who were repressed in the beginning of the third term of Putin. I guess we helped to reveal the real face of this term, and it’s far from being friendly to outspoken people. Also, we pointed that Russian Orthodox Church is one of the most conservative and patriarchal structures in our society — not that it was not clear enough before, but always good to reiterate
Q: You have spoken frequently about the parallels between American President Donald Trump and Putin. What alarms you the most?
A: Their attitude to media and that they cannot take criticism at all. Also, that their intention (is) to put their political opponents in jail. The fact that they belong to the cast of ultra-privileged rich white man who believe that they can decide for everybody how they have to lead their lives.
Q: In what ways did your time in prison deepen your sense of conviction?
A: You’re always asked by investigators to give up your convictions, to say, “Oh, I was wrong. I’m OK with Putin,” and be released in exchange. If you manage not to give up your views for two years of jail, they inevitably grow stronger.
full interview @
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainmen...-the-parallels-between-Trump-and-12786310.php
