Violence and over-sexualization in the media; pro-prostitution feminists, pt. 3 w/ Youri Smouter

“On the Barricades” s06e36

In this week’s release of “On the Barricades,” we welcome back our monthly guest Youri Smouter of 1+1, with us to discuss with host, Romanian feminist and media critic, Maria Cernat. Youri and Maria are delving into the problem of the current state of the feminist movement– divorced from socialism as it is– in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. How did we get here and what is the way forward for feminism, in Eastern Europe and globally?

In Romania, the country with the highest rates of trafficking of women and girls for sexual in the EU, we see a case study of how feminists have become lobbyists for the prostitution industry and therefore have become part of the oppressive system. How has the social liberalism movement failed to see dangers in its dealing with the questions of prostitution, pornography, and the sexualization of women and culture? Youri shares his thoughts on the mainstream music industry which glorifies violence against women and machismo masculinity, and “feminist” artists in this scene. Can such media lead to the election of Trump? And how the contradiction, that there is no social protection whatsoever against this cultural influence on youth and adults, whilst liberals are hysterical about “dangerous” political views shared from foreign media sources like Russia Today.