Babe Theory of Political Movements
Apologies in advance if the title seems a little sexist or flippant, but it’s true. All successful political movements throughout history have involved women, and especially young ones. Indeed, during opposition protest movements staged in 2003, 2005 and 2007, one of the main criticisms and reasons for their failure wasn’t just inadequate and indecisive leadership, but also the lack of young people.
The same is true when it comes to analyzing the makeup of opposition demonstrations based on gender and it’s all part of what WILLisms calls the Babe Theory of Political Movements.
The babe theory of political movements essentially holds that:
Where and when there are hot babes, an exponential number of men will show up. If 100 cute girls with voluptuous bodies are protesting for freedom, you can count on a thousand men being there as well.
If sexy babes are involved in a peaceful political movement, it has a far greater chance of succeeding. If there are no good-looking women involved, the odds of a successful (and peaceful) movement fall dramatically.
Where and when alluring women are excluded from demonstrations, you can expect greater chances of strife, rioting, and failure.
[…]
Recently, in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, elections were marked by severe irregularities, but with no babes showing off for the cameras, speaking to the international community in the universal language of babealiciousness, the media attention of the protests in those two countries was scant, at best.
It’s shallow. But it’s reality.
An alternate view of the Babe Theory holds that attractive women are drawn more to successful political movements than to fringe movements. In other words, if the ideas behind a political movement has value, if the fight has a noble purpose, if it has worth, it will attract lovely young ladies, who then become the face of the movement. Women (babes), then, are discerning consumers of political movements, and when there is a worthwhile one, they buy into it whole-heartedly. […]
Another view of the Babe Theory holds that a society will not be ready for democratic reforms if it does not have babes. Babes, you see, are a sign of a certain minimal level of affluence. In international relations circles, there is a belief that a society must have a certain level of wealth before it can truly become free and democratic. […]
So, if there are babes, it means the country is ready for democracy, because babes are a sign of wealth and progress.
True enough, one foreign correspondent at yesterday’s march by a few thousand female supporters of former president Levon Ter-Petrossian remarked that the move was a smart one. It was perfect for foreign news, he said. Another Western journalist agreed, specifically pointing out that riot police are less prone to violent suppression of such rallies when there are young women present.
Actually, the percentage of such women was less than at Orinats Yerkir and ARF-D rallies, but it didn’t matter. Even as a tiny minority of the women that marched, young women were well distributed enough to make for the sort of images political movements need. Obviously, every male photographer, including myself, were enticed enough to spend most of our time photographing the prettiest ones.
Ostensibly, the march was to protest the lack of coverage of Ter-Petrossian’s protest rallies by Armenian Public Radio and Television, but to be honest, the reason wasn’t important. What was is that Ter-Petrossian’s team managed to score a publicity coup by giving both local and foreign media exactly what they needed. It was also a way to highlight to society that his movement, regardless of its real size, has diverse support.
Place what few young and attractive women you have at the front of your demonstration and it’s publicity heaven. It’s also straight out of the textbook from every successful democratic movement to date.
Meanwhile, in another stroke of genius, a rally was held by supporters under the age of 45, again in an attempt to break the stereotype of political movements in countries such as Armenia. With that, and in order to prevent any accusations of sexism, Anush at The Armenian Patchwork also posts photographs from yesterday’s mainly-female rally. Even for a woman photographer, the march achieved its purpose.
Photos: © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008
- Published:
- 02.24.08 / 8pm by Onnik
- Category:
- Armenia, Armenia Presidential Election 2008, Candidates, Democracy, Demonstrations, Gender, Photojournalism, Rallies, Revolution, Youth
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