Symposium at the French National Assembly

Organization of the symposium “Nudity, a Political Weapon?” at the National Assembly, June 18, 2015

On December 17, 2014, feminist activist Éloïse Bouton was found guilty of sexual exhibition by the Paris Court of First Instance. This former Femen member, who had carried out an individual action at La Madeleine church in December 2013 to denounce the positions of Catholic leaders in debates over abortion rights in Spain, was sentenced to one month suspended imprisonment and ordered to pay the Church 2,000 euros in damages and 1,500 euros in legal fees, a decision she appealed.

This is the first time in forty-nine years that a woman has been charged with sexual exhibition in France. The last case dates back to December 1965 and concerns a young woman found guilty of public indecency for playing topless ping-pong on the Croisette in Cannes.

Yet politicians and artists do not hesitate to use nudity to convey different messages. In April, elected officials from Touillon-et-Loutelet in Doubs posed in their birthday suits as part of a road safety campaign. In November 2012, environmental activists undressed to protest the construction of Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport, and in June 2014, Minister of Culture and Communication Aurélie Filippetti, on a visit to the Familistère de Guise in Aisne, was greeted by a group of naked intermittent workers. At the last Molières ceremony, actor and author Sébastien Thierry, completely undressed, confronted Fleur Pellerin about the status of intermittent workers.

Feminists have also used this mode of action to claim their rights. Lactivists organize topless rallies to defend the right to breastfeed in public. In 2007, the group Les Tumultueuses went topless to public swimming pools to demand the right to swim like men and were stopped for sexual exhibition. However, in Sweden, a similar movement called Bara Bröst succeeded in winning their case.

Finally, some contemporary artists place nudity at the center of their performances. In 2013, South African performer Steven Cohen burst onto the Trocadéro plaza, his genitals naked, ribboned, and leashed to a rooster. Young Swiss artist Milo Moiré regularly walks undressed through the streets of Basel with her body covered in writings.

So how does nudity constitute a political weapon? Why is the non-sexual intention of these actors considered exhibitionism? Can we speak of political nudity?

With:

• Geneviève Fraisse, philosopher, research director at CNRS, former interministerial delegate for women’s rights and former member of European Parliament.
• Tewfik Bouzenoune, lawyer at the Court.
• Déborah De Robertis, artist and performer

Organized by Éloïse Bouton with the support of Sergio Coronado, EELV deputy for the 2nd constituency of French citizens abroad, Latin America and Caribbean.