Ukraine Is Not a Brothel

I read Victor Malarek's excellent book, "The Natasha's" this morning and followed it up with this film which covers some of the same material.

"Natasha's" are prostitutes who are predominantly from Russia and Ukraine and in this documentary we are shown protesters who use their states of undress to deliver a message against patriarchy. Say what!!!

The founder of the Femen movement is a Charles Manson type who organized the rallies and even came up with the slogans displayed on the women's bodies. Victor is interviewed and he says that women are not capable of leading their own movement.

The women agree that he has controlled them and one of them compares it to the "Stockholm Syndrome." I found it all rather silly although I was captivated by many of the beautiful Ukranian women. Victor has great taste.

It's naive to expect anything but propaganda from this documentary, but the ideological part of it is all over the place, proving that not even the scripts writers are women in this movement.

The activists that degrade themselves for attention, come as damaged as the sexual exploration victims they pretend to fight for, and ironically it proves that regardless where you stand politically, the weakest and most vulnerable amongst us are always the most abused and exploited.

Another irony is that they oppose the church that offered some structure and protection to women, even if antiquated, with an revolutionary ideology that offers nothing, whose only purpose is to destroy and create a void.

A no-holds-barred exploration of the ever fascinating minefield at the intersection of sex and politics, this documentary is a must-see for anyone who considers him- or herself a feminist. That is, anybody who thinks women deserve as much respect and consideration as men do. And anyone who doesn't, simply does not belong in this century.

As a red-blooded heterosexual male, I found the role of Victor Sviatsky, the male leader of Femen, especially thought-provoking. It made me acutely aware of my own complex response to these sexy feminists. How do I reconcile the animal and the human in me? Can I be both at the same time? What is the right ratio of testosterone to estrogen, to have both desire and empathy, and is there a conflict between the two? How do I maintain eye contact when breasts are on display? Eternal questions and lifelong struggles, all of these.

Meanwhile the females of Femen are truly awe-inspiring. They are brave, intelligent and beautiful. Here in the West, we have popular comedians like Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer who push the envelope and bring new awareness to feminist issues, all while making us laugh and earning a living. This would not work in Ukraine, Russia, or much of the world for that matter. Not yet, anyway. There women have to get naked or get arrested, or both, to be heard.

Whether you see these women as heroes or exhibitionists, - and they could be both, - this doc deserves your attention. To say that you will never look at a naked woman the same again might be an exaggeration. We will still be animals, deep inside. But this film will certainly help you not to regard women as pieces of meat, even when they are naked and sexy, and should be a required viewing for that reason alone.

As a minor criticism, the soundtrack could be more judicious. "Kalinka" and Boney M. don't help this film to be taken seriously.

Best wishes, love and respect go out to the filmmaker and the formidable women of Ukraine.

This has been something I've wanted to watch for ages, but only finally found. Kitty Green's a very interesting filmmaker/documentarian, but her other films (Casting JonBenet and The Assistant) are definitely better than this one, which was her first feature.

It's a very interesting topic, and has only become more topical in recent years. I think it explores the basic idea behind the protests well, and the way it looks at some of their shortcomings as well as accomplishments makes it more neutral and thought-provoking than it would be if the message was clear and more one-sided.

I just don't know if there's enough here to warrant a feature length documentary. It runs out of steam quite a while before it ends, but much of what comes before it starts to get repetitive is very interesting - I think it could have been a great short documentary.