If your vagina puts you in prison, then the whole world is going to listen.” So say Russian Punk band Pussy Riot, who since their release from jail after their notorious anti-Putin ‘Punk-Prayer’ protest have not stayed quiet.
Following on from their ‘Refugees in’ video, shot at Banksy’s Dismaland and ‘I can’t breathe’ – a comment on the death of Eric Garner, ‘Straight Out of Vagina’ produced by Dave Sitek, is four and a half glorious minutes of Nadya Tolokonnikova and her team of trailblazers explicitly and unashamedly celebrating the holy grail of female genitalia.
“Don’t play stupid, don’t play dumb, vagina’s where you’re really from”, chants Nadya, clad in what looks like church robes and her signature blue balaclava. In true Pussy Riot style, the video features everything that could cause the fainthearted to collapse, from men donning stilettos in cubicles, women pissing into urinals from their bright blue vaginas, and a girl who, after taking some sort of magical vagina pill, becomes something of a feminist rap god.
The song, recorded in February, was not explicitly created as a retort to the egotistical maniac taking stage in the US election who thinks it’s acceptable to “grab [women] by the pussy”, but acts like one nonetheless. The ‘vagina gonna win the race’ lyric taking on a whole new weighty meaning as the U.S. moves closer to election day.
Whether this overt, crude and vividly brilliant work of art manages to persuade people not to give their political power away to a bright orange buffoon or not, at least it might manage to remind people of the magical power of the vagina that at one point we all spawned from.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
Bobby Gillespie: “This country is poisoned by class”
Primal Scream’s legendary lead singer writes about the band’s latest album ‘Come Ahead’ and the themes of class, conflict and compassion that run throughout it.
Written by: Bobby Gillespie
Vibrant photos of New York’s Downtown performance scene
‘Balloons and Feathers’ is an eclectic collection of images documenting the scene for over two decades.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Picking through the rubble: Glimpses of hope in the US election results
Clambering through the wreckage of the Harris campaign, delving deeper into the election results and building on the networks that already exist, all hope is not gone writes Ben Smoke.
Written by: Ben Smoke
US Election night 2024 in Texas
Photographer Tom “TBow” Bowden travelled to Republican and Democratic watch parties around Houston, capturing their contrasting energies as results began to flow in.
Written by: Isaac Muk
In photos: “Real life is not black and white” – Polaroid x Magnum Open Call winners
See pictures from the competition organised by two titans of contemporary photography, which called upon artists to reject the digitalisation and over-perfectionism of our modern world, technology and image-making.
Written by: Huck
In photos: Rednecks with Paychecks
‘American Diesel’ is a new photo series that looks at the people, places and culture behind the stereotypes of rural America.
Written by: Ben Smoke