Typical Girls: Women in Punk/Post-Punk/Underground Music (Circa 1975-1980s)

[Joly MacFie <joly AT punkcast.com>]

On the wires today..


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/13/punk-band-arrest-at-heart-russia-church-feud/

Punk band arrest at heart of Russia church feud

MOSCOW (AP) — The skinny dissident is thrown headfirst into a police
van by camouflage-clad officers. Nearby, a dozen bearded men bearing
Russian Orthodox crosses and wearing skull-and-crossbones T-shirts
cheer on the cops.

It's the latest flare-up in a growing feud pitting supporters of the
influential church, which sees itself as the nation's spiritual guide,
against opponents who say the church has sold out to Vladimir Putin —
becoming an arm of his regime more interested in gold than souls.

Roman Dobrokhotov was on his way to Christ the Savior Cathedral,
Russia's biggest church, to protest against the arrest of members of
female punk rock band Pussy Riot. They were jailed in early March for
belting out an anti-Putin "punk prayer" in front of the church's
gilded altar wearing garishly colored balaclavas.

The church's leader, Patriarch Kirill, cried blasphemy. Critics
claimed church-state collusion was keeping the women locked up

............

The church's backing for the Kremlin became so fawning that it
consecrated new nuclear missiles as "Russia's guardian angels" and
urged young Russians to volunteer for military service in Chechnya.
Shortly before the Pussy Riot escapade, Kirill met with Putin and
praised his two presidential terms as "God's miracle." In return,
Putin said that "the state still owes much to the Church."

The band said it performed its "punk prayer" inside the cathedral on
Feb. 21 to protest Putin's return to the Kremlin. They thrashed their
heads and shouted: "Mother of God, Drive Putin Away!"

Three members were charged with hooliganism and face up to seven years
in jail — severe even by the standards of a government notorious for
crackdowns on dissent.

Protesters see Kirill's influence in the harsh treatment. The bearded
patriarch in a recent sermon described the punk performance as
"devilish mockery" and part of a broader assault by "enemy forces" on
the church.

The church maintains that desecration of icons and other acts of
vandalism have become more frequent since the punk protest. As the
patriarch led a procession around the cathedral, priests carried a
crucifix and an icon that had been damaged in attacks elsewhere in
Russia this spring.

......

Some believers applaud the Pussy Riot arrest.

"It's very good that they were jailed, because otherwise some fanatics
would simply tear them apart," said Natalya Dolina, a 55-year-old
historian and churchgoer from Moscow. "They soiled a church; they
fouled icons that are dear to many. They are devoid of talent; they
just latch onto a trend."

But believers such as Lidya Moniava, who manages children's hospices
at a charity fund in Moscow, asked Kirill in a web-posted plea to
forgive the pranksters and facilitate their release — and thousands
joined her petition.

A Church spokesman said, however, that the Church will forgive the
punk rockers only if they "repent and change their lives."

Several Orthodox priests declined to be interviewed for this story,
saying they feared reprimands or were not allowed contact with a
non-Russian news agency.

Many non-religious Russians found the prank tactless, but were shocked
by the arrest and possible punishment.

"They should have gotten those girls out of the church — and left it
at that," said Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Russia's most prominent human
rights activist who considers herself non-practicing Orthodox.



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