Tololy’s Box » Blog Archive

Apparently, in some parts of the world women can only grab attention when they strip naked.

A group of Liberian women refugees who have held naked protests by the roadside are to be deported from Ghana, a minister has told the BBC.

Hundreds of the women were arrested on Monday and taken away from a refugee camp in 10 buses, witnesses say.

They were protesting at plans to send them home with $100 - they demand $1,000 and to be resettled in the West.

“$100 is not anything you can start life with. We are all lost,” one woman said.

Stripping naked is a traditional form of protest amongst poor and powerless women in Africa.

The women reported being beaten by police. But hey, that’s not so bad. In my country, they get shot or stabbed to death for doing far less than protesting naked on the roadside.

I applaud these Liberian women for their courage. It seems a woman always has to invest in her body to survive in the world. A sad state of affairs.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 11:58 am and is filed under Wonder Woman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Abdullah says:
March 18th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
‘Stripping naked is a traditional form of protest amongst poor and powerless women in Africa’ that’s why they stripped not because ‘It seems a woman always has to invest in her body to survive in the world’… and this statement is totally wrong, dangerous and offending for women themselves above all!!Do think protesting naked women get what they need by stripping only! Will the prices go down if Jordanian women strip and protest inflation?!Forgive me Tol but it is hella weird how you put things together by that conclusion!
Tololy says:
March 18th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I think you misunderstood what I said. Had the women not been naked, as is the custom it seems in Africa, their cause would not have garnered as much attention as it did.

Don’t get emotional. In a society that sees women as bodies only, neglecting their rights and intellect, they are forced to use that status to their advantage. It’s being smart, but it’s a sad state of affairs like I mentioned. Let’s hope it changes.
A.Rehman says:
March 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Demonstrating in any form takes the shape of what worked before and what scandalize the most. In some societies they burn cars and offices and hospitals-they dstroy. In some they block roads peacefully. In some they carry palcards and don’t even block the streets. In some they fast or resort to self-immolation. In all cases the final goal is to cause outrage and draw attention to a plight or percieved plight. In this case going naked may work for those women as it seems to have worked before. It applies to a specific society and does not work for all. Carrying a placard on the side walk in Jordan say may not work nor does going naked. Those women used the only weapon they have that is known to bring the desired effect. They succeeded by the fact we are reading this. Iam not condeming them,they have qenuine problem with that one solution, but they are the first to see themslves as bodies without delving into who is to blame for making them see themselves as bodies, another topic.
Craig says:
March 18th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Ahriman,

Demonstrating in any form takes the shape of what worked before and what scandalize the most. In some societies they burn cars and offices and hospitals-they dstroy.

That’s actually not called "demonstrating". That is called rioting.

Tololy, these women succeeded in drawing international attention to their cause. I saw this news article myself yesterday and it was reported as a top story. For whatever reason, their protest was successful!

PS-It’s actually customary in American society for old hippies in San Francisco to strip naked when they protest too. But journalists go out of their way to pretend they don’t notice all the wrinkled up old nasty looking naked people.
A.Rehman says:
March 18th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Ami glad you did not have a stroke God warrior, thought you did and was devastated. Demonstration can turn ugly and is called violent demo as in rioting or may be termed peaceful demo. Here in America we have some who zip through 9th grade or more and still hardly can read and write, a problem being addressed by educators. Warrior falls under this category.
Huh? says:
March 19th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Thank God that women in Jordan don’t act in such a vulgar and classless manner. A woman with a hint of self-respect would never demonstrate by taking her clothes off.
Hareega says:
March 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I wish all women in my town will learn for those liberian women

Abdullah says:
March 18th, 2008 at 2:17 pm

‘Stripping naked is a traditional form of protest amongst poor and powerless women in Africa’ that’s why they stripped not because ‘It seems a woman always has to invest in her body to survive in the world’… and this statement is totally wrong, dangerous and offending for women themselves above all!!Do think protesting naked women get what they need by stripping only! Will the prices go down if Jordanian women strip and protest inflation?!Forgive me Tol but it is hella weird how you put things together by that conclusion!

Tololy says:
March 18th, 2008 at 3:47 pm

I think you misunderstood what I said. Had the women not been naked, as is the custom it seems in Africa, their cause would not have garnered as much attention as it did.

Don’t get emotional. In a society that sees women as bodies only, neglecting their rights and intellect, they are forced to use that status to their advantage. It’s being smart, but it’s a sad state of affairs like I mentioned. Let’s hope it changes.

A.Rehman says:
March 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pm

Demonstrating in any form takes the shape of what worked before and what scandalize the most. In some societies they burn cars and offices and hospitals-they dstroy. In some they block roads peacefully. In some they carry palcards and don’t even block the streets. In some they fast or resort to self-immolation. In all cases the final goal is to cause outrage and draw attention to a plight or percieved plight. In this case going naked may work for those women as it seems to have worked before. It applies to a specific society and does not work for all. Carrying a placard on the side walk in Jordan say may not work nor does going naked. Those women used the only weapon they have that is known to bring the desired effect. They succeeded by the fact we are reading this. Iam not condeming them,they have qenuine problem with that one solution, but they are the first to see themslves as bodies without delving into who is to blame for making them see themselves as bodies, another topic.

Craig says:
March 18th, 2008 at 9:02 pm

Ahriman,

Demonstrating in any form takes the shape of what worked before and what scandalize the most. In some societies they burn cars and offices and hospitals-they dstroy.

That’s actually not called "demonstrating". That is called rioting.

Tololy, these women succeeded in drawing international attention to their cause. I saw this news article myself yesterday and it was reported as a top story. For whatever reason, their protest was successful!

PS-It’s actually customary in American society for old hippies in San Francisco to strip naked when they protest too. But journalists go out of their way to pretend they don’t notice all the wrinkled up old nasty looking naked people.

A.Rehman says:
March 18th, 2008 at 10:55 pm

Ami glad you did not have a stroke God warrior, thought you did and was devastated. Demonstration can turn ugly and is called violent demo as in rioting or may be termed peaceful demo. Here in America we have some who zip through 9th grade or more and still hardly can read and write, a problem being addressed by educators. Warrior falls under this category.

Huh? says:
March 19th, 2008 at 12:17 am

Thank God that women in Jordan don’t act in such a vulgar and classless manner. A woman with a hint of self-respect would never demonstrate by taking her clothes off.

Hareega says:
March 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am

I wish all women in my town will learn for those liberian women