Happier Abroad Forum Community

Russian Deputy Calls to Prosecute Feminists After Viral ‘Manspreading’ Video

An ultraconservative Russian lawmaker has called for women who “propagate feminism” to be criminally penalized following the publication of a viral video in which an activist douses 'manspreading' passengers in public transport.

Anna Dovgalyuk, 20, uploaded a video of herself splashing diluted bleach on the pants of seemingly unsuspecting men sitting with their legs spread wide on the St. Petersburg metro. Dovgalyuk defended her campaign against what she called the “disgusting” act of manspreading after facing accusations that her “manifesto” was staged and the manspreading passengers were paid actors.

“Feminism is insanity from the standpoint of a normal person,” said Vitaly Milonov, a State Duma deputy known for his anti-gay stance, in an interview with the Moskva news agency.

“I believe that feminism should be classified as an absolutely radical point of view and the propaganda of feminism should amount to a violation of Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code,” he said.

Article 282 carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison for individuals who incite racial, religious or other forms of hate. The chairman of Russia’s Supreme Court recently estimated that more than 500 people have been charged with the offense last year, up from 100 in 2016.

One of those who is currently being prosecuted for her feminist views is blogger Lyubov Kalugina. She was charged with extremism on Sept. 4 after an unidentified man complained that her social media posts offended him as a male.

Dovgalyuk responded to Milonov’s charges on Instagram, asking the lawmaker “are you sure you’re qualified in this issue?”

Dovgalyuk has previously staged a protest against upskirting, or secretly taking photos up women's skirts, in the St. Petersburg metro.

A Russian feminist blogger has been charged with inciting hatred toward men on social media, less than two weeks after she told rights organizations she was being investigated for extremism.

A self-described radical feminist, Lyubov Kalugina warned the SOVA Center anti-extremist group in late August that she was subject of a pre-investigation check into her social media posts after an anonymous man had complained that her posts insulted him as a male.

Her case is part of a growing trend of tough anti-extremism laws applied to social media posts. Until recently, prosecutions were rarely applied to gender-related posts, the MBKh news website cited rights groups as saying.

“Criminal charges have been brought against Kalugina under Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code,” the Omsk branch of the Investigative Committee told the local news website Gorod55.ru on Wednesday.

Kalugina faces up to 5 years behind bars under Article 282, which bans the “incitement of national, racial or religious enmity.”

Russian activists, social networks companies and even legislators have criticized anti-extremism charges which they say sweep up ordinary users who posted insensitive texts or images on their social media pages.

Yohan wrote: ↑

September 28th, 2018, 11:06 am

“Feminism is insanity from the standpoint of a normal person,” said Vitaly Milonov, a State Duma deputy known for his anti-gay stance, in an interview with the Moskva news agency.

GuyAbroad8293 wrote: ↑

September 28th, 2018, 7:15 am

And not a single one of those men stood up and punched that dumb bitch?

Men ALLOW these whores to act like animals.

jamesbond wrote: ↑

September 30th, 2018, 4:49 pm

GuyAbroad8293 wrote: ↑

September 28th, 2018, 7:15 am

And not a single one of those men stood up and punched that dumb bitch?

Men ALLOW these whores to act like animals.

I was thinking the same thing, those men did not retaliate at all against that woman throwing bleach on them. That woman is lucky one of those guys did not smash her in the face.

MrMan wrote: ↑

September 30th, 2018, 8:46 pm

This website claims the video was staged, and she was just pouring water on the men. http://www.dailyedge.ie/manspreading-4258823-Sep2018/

I hope the backlash against the video pushes back against 'manspreading' legislation. Us guys have 'junk' down there that needs to be fall in a comfortable position. Maybe the male legislatures who go along with this just don't have a lot of 'junk' to worry about. How would women like it if there were laws limiting how much space a woman could take up with her breasts on a train?

walrusface wrote: ↑

October 2nd, 2018, 8:08 am

MrMan wrote: ↑

September 30th, 2018, 8:46 pm

This website claims the video was staged, and she was just pouring water on the men. http://www.dailyedge.ie/manspreading-4258823-Sep2018/

I hope the backlash against the video pushes back against 'manspreading' legislation. Us guys have 'junk' down there that needs to be fall in a comfortable position. Maybe the male legislatures who go along with this just don't have a lot of 'junk' to worry about. How would women like it if there were laws limiting how much space a woman could take up with her breasts on a train?

I was wondering about the legitimacy of it. A lot of money can be made from viral videos. She previously did a stunt lifting up her skirt in public. This was apparently something to do with 'upskirting' laws. A pretty woman, revealing herself / doing something shocking, particularly for some kind of 'cause' is going to make headlines and get views.

GuyAbroad8293 wrote: ↑

October 3rd, 2018, 7:29 am

Hi, i noticed you have a Minds.com profile. How is that network? Good or worse than GAB? GAB is pretty shitty, almost all the cool users have left and it's become an echo-chamber for around 300 to 400 baby boomers. I noticed there are a lot of asian girl's profiles on Minds.com but i think they are bots, fake accounts, right?