The picture of a topless Tunisian young woman, with a logo supporting the feminist cause painted on her bare body, has raised great controversy across Tunisia. Some have severely criticized the publication of such pictures, considering it a violation of public morality, while others have expressed their admiration for the woman’s courage and rebellion.

The picture of a topless Tunisian young woman, with a logo supporting the feminist cause painted on her bare body, has raised great controversy across Tunisia. Some have severely criticized the publication of such pictures, considering it a violation of public morality, while others have expressed their admiration for the woman’s courage and rebellion.

‘Amy Femen’ – a code-name used by the topless woman on the Facebook – has challenged the former Minister of Women, Sihem Badi, saying : “Dear Minister Sihem Badi , I hate to tell you that ‘Femen’ already exists in Tunisia, and you may commit suicide now since no one needs your consent.”  Femen is a Ukranian-based international feminist group.

Protest and rebellion

Her real name is Amina, and she is a 19-year-old student in Ariana governorate, not far from the capital, Tunis. “I personally contacted Sasha Shevchenko, Femen’s Ukrainian activist and founder. She encouraged me to make those bold pictures, as a practical activity of ‘Femen’ in Tunisia,” Amina explained.

“I tried to persuade other girls to go for this adventure and rebel against a society that treats us as taboos and an object of voluptuousness and sex appeal, but I could not,” she added.

She presently receives a lot of support from classmates and Facebook friends. But, she also receives many threats through social networking sites, where extremists have launched campaigns against her, branding her a prostitute. There is even a fatwa for her to be stoned to death.  Her parents confirmed to Correspondents that Amina is currently at home and not leaving the house for fear of her safety.

Amina, however, considered herself an advocate of women’s liberty against what she termed “extremist religious movements that only view women as a mere sex object,” reminding of the struggle fought by women against violence, injustice, and racial discrimination.

She said what she did was a revolution against “a male-controlled society which only treats women as a sex objects and a reproduction tool.”

A photograph of a topless Amina with a cigarette in her hand while she is about to read a book and with “My body is my own, and is no one’s honor” written on her body were published on social network websites last week.

Femen’s page published the photo attached to a comment that included the link of the organization’s Tunisian page, and considered the Tunisian girl’s picture as part of a campaign in support of Femen, which would start its activity in Tunisia soon.

On her profile page, Amina later published a complete album, including photos of herself in different postures, which reflect boldness and emancipation, announcing that the ‘Power for Femen’ campaign, which was ‘the beginning of a feminist revolution that will unshackle women of being a weak object exposed to all types of inequality, molestation and various other forms of racial discrimination,’ started.

In response to the often unfavorable reactions, Amina said: “I can understand the reaction of the generally conservative Tunisian society, but I bear full responsibility for publishing these pictures.”

Response

On a Tunisian TV channel, Minister of Women’s Affairs Sihem Badi said she would face this organization and legally ban its activities in Tunisia because it disregarded Islamic values and Tunisia’s conservative customs and traditions.

This rejection came in the wake of a statement made by French Julia Javel, a Femen activist, on channel France 24, in which she said Femen planned to open a branch in Tunisia and protect Tunisian women against any repression that might likely restrict their freedom.

The published picture is not the only controversial event in Tunisia. A few days ago, film director Nadia Fani announced on her Facebook page and on other world media outlets the releasing of her documentary film entitled: ‘Our Bare Bodies, Our Weapon.’

Having been aired on French 2 Channel a few days ago, the film, according to Fani, tells the story of topless rebellious women who occupy main squares and scare dictators and corrupt patriarchs. Their rebellion ushers in a revolution that empowers women to have the right to control their bodies.

The film also narrates women’s struggle against prostitution, fundamentalism, and all kinds of repression and dictatorship and about feminist activists ready to risk their lives against gender-based discrimination.

Other Arab activists

From the Ukrainian Sasha Shevchenko to the Egyptian blogger Aliaa Elmahdy, who stirred up a large uproar across the Arab world following the publication of her nude photos on her blog entitled ‘Memoirs of a Revolutionary’, rebelling against what she termed a ‘society of violence, racism and hypocrisy.’  Fani’s documentary highlights a number of agitated and angry women who have turned their bodies into banners to push for their demands.

Fani is a Tunisian director residing in Paris since 2002. Her documentary “Neither God, Nor Master” stirred up much ado in Tunisia after it had been screened during a film festival in Tunis in June 2011.