tenshi_a
October 22nd, 2007, 07:21 AM
I wasn't going to post this, but it seems to be a quiet day. Best peace protest ever.
Activists exasperated at the failure of diplomacy to apply pressure on Burma's military regime are resorting to a new means of protest against the regime's recent crackdown: sending female underwear to Burmese embassies.
Embassies in the UK, Thailand, Australia and Singapore have all been targeted by the "Panties for Peace" campaign, co-ordinated by an activist group based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The manoeuvre is a calculated insult to the junta and its leader, General Than Shwe. Superstitious junta members believe that any contact with female undergarments - clean or dirty - will sap them of their power, said Jackie Pollack, a member of the Lanna Action for Burma Committee.
"Not only are they brutal, but they are also very superstitious. They believe that touching a woman's pants or sarong will make them lose their strength," Ms Pollack told Guardian Unlimited.
So far, hundreds of pairs of pants have been posted, according to another campaigner, Liz Hilton. "One group sent 140 pairs to the Burmese embassy in Geneva," she said.
The campaign was a serious attempt to allow ordinary women to express their outrage at the regime's response to democracy demonstrations led by Buddhist monks, Ms Pollack said.
"Condemnation by the United Nations and governments around the world have had no impact on the Burmese regime. This is a way of trying to reach them where they will feel it," she said.
"The junta is famous for its abuse of women: it is well documented that they use rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minorities. This is a way for women around the world to express their outrage."
The Burmese government has claimed that 10 people were killed and nearly 2,100 arrested, but dissident groups estimate that dozens or even hundreds died during the recent crackdown and its aftermath.
A message on the activists' website reads: "This is your chance to use your Panty Power to take away the power from the SPDC. You can post, deliver or fling your panties at the closest Burmese Embassy any day from today. Send early, send often."
An official at the Burmese Embassy in London was unable to confirm if any garments had yet been delivered.
See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2195188,00.html
and also: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/19/peace_protest/
At first I thought it was a bit silly, that it wouldn't work, and the whole "serves them right for being misogynistic bastards", but then I realised... if enough women sent me their underwear, oh I'd never fight again. Anything. Ever. I mean, I don't have any particular affinity towards underwear but still... I don't think I'd feel the need for violence of any kind ever again...
Then I figured.. it's the other way round from what they are claiming. It's not that power is sapped, the reason there is fighting in the world is because people resort to violence in response to suffering a deficiency of women's underwear. Even the army folks wearing women's underwear... just don't have enough! That's why they're there.
It's only the true master of a discipline that can both embrace large amounts of women's underwear and maintain high fighting levels. Like Happosai in Ranma 1/2 or Onsokumaru in 2x2=Shinobuden... others may claim to be more powerful but they are weak to the power of women's underwear or try to avoid it altogether...
There should at least be an episode of Full Metal Panic on this subject... :)
Activists exasperated at the failure of diplomacy to apply pressure on Burma's military regime are resorting to a new means of protest against the regime's recent crackdown: sending female underwear to Burmese embassies.
Embassies in the UK, Thailand, Australia and Singapore have all been targeted by the "Panties for Peace" campaign, co-ordinated by an activist group based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The manoeuvre is a calculated insult to the junta and its leader, General Than Shwe. Superstitious junta members believe that any contact with female undergarments - clean or dirty - will sap them of their power, said Jackie Pollack, a member of the Lanna Action for Burma Committee.
"Not only are they brutal, but they are also very superstitious. They believe that touching a woman's pants or sarong will make them lose their strength," Ms Pollack told Guardian Unlimited.
So far, hundreds of pairs of pants have been posted, according to another campaigner, Liz Hilton. "One group sent 140 pairs to the Burmese embassy in Geneva," she said.
The campaign was a serious attempt to allow ordinary women to express their outrage at the regime's response to democracy demonstrations led by Buddhist monks, Ms Pollack said.
"Condemnation by the United Nations and governments around the world have had no impact on the Burmese regime. This is a way of trying to reach them where they will feel it," she said.
"The junta is famous for its abuse of women: it is well documented that they use rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minorities. This is a way for women around the world to express their outrage."
The Burmese government has claimed that 10 people were killed and nearly 2,100 arrested, but dissident groups estimate that dozens or even hundreds died during the recent crackdown and its aftermath.
A message on the activists' website reads: "This is your chance to use your Panty Power to take away the power from the SPDC. You can post, deliver or fling your panties at the closest Burmese Embassy any day from today. Send early, send often."
An official at the Burmese Embassy in London was unable to confirm if any garments had yet been delivered.
See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2195188,00.html
and also: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/19/peace_protest/
At first I thought it was a bit silly, that it wouldn't work, and the whole "serves them right for being misogynistic bastards", but then I realised... if enough women sent me their underwear, oh I'd never fight again. Anything. Ever. I mean, I don't have any particular affinity towards underwear but still... I don't think I'd feel the need for violence of any kind ever again...
Then I figured.. it's the other way round from what they are claiming. It's not that power is sapped, the reason there is fighting in the world is because people resort to violence in response to suffering a deficiency of women's underwear. Even the army folks wearing women's underwear... just don't have enough! That's why they're there.
It's only the true master of a discipline that can both embrace large amounts of women's underwear and maintain high fighting levels. Like Happosai in Ranma 1/2 or Onsokumaru in 2x2=Shinobuden... others may claim to be more powerful but they are weak to the power of women's underwear or try to avoid it altogether...
There should at least be an episode of Full Metal Panic on this subject... :)