SATISFACTION
Dance, dance, dance!
As reported by The Washington Post,“An underwear dance video filmed in a college dormitory nearly got some Russian cadet pilots expelled and sparked a discussion among Russia’s political elite.
“IMMORAL INCIDENT”
The mock striptease recorded by cadets at the Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation Institute went viral earlier this week. Some Russian politicians called on the public training school located in Lenin’s birthplace to expel the students. The Federal Agency for Air Transportation decried the video as an “immoral incident” and an “insult to civil aviation professionals.”
Freshmen — 16 or 17 — did not make any statements. They did not speak.
The dean compared the cadets to Pussy Riot. It is a dangerous comparison: the punk group was sentenced to 2 years in prison for 40 seconds performance, for “insulting the feeling of the believers.” Multiple TV shows on the major state channels run public discussions.
Experts quote a federal law prohibiting the dissemination to minors of propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations, and talk about the insults to “moral values,” “romanticism” and “masculinity.”
ROLLING STONES
When I was 16, back in Leningrad, we were not allowed to dance to the Rolling Stones.
My friend and I made a title page for the school wall newspaper inspired by the Rolling Stone. We knew that the tongue would never work so we did just a smile — wide, white-toothed smile, red lips — on a black background. The principal took it down in an hour. She didn’t need to explain it to us. We knew. She knew. The moral values.
Individual freedom, including creativity, freedom of expression, sexual freedom, and, yes, satisfaction, endanger the society that values the collective over a human being. Homosexuality and reproductive choices hinder the conveyer of cannon fodder.
DOUBLESPEAK
Meanwhile, the Russian media is blossoming with the photos of the topless president and half-clad presidential candidates, including a “Russian Orthodox porn star.” Priests hold icons behind them. Moral values.
HOPE
The old empire is on its way out, though. It is an agony.
Dance videos in support of the cadets give me hope. The students dance anonymously, in balaclavas, in sunglasses. All over Russia.
Firemen:
And more firemen:
Construction students:
Agricultural students:
Female doctors:
Female students of an unnamed vocational school:
Sailors:
Journalists (in freezing weather, in the snow):
Dance!
*All facts and photos are in public domain and available through Google. Links to the original sources are included.
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