'Wrinkled' Women

In May 2015, a new Instagram hashtag paired with pictures of scrunched face women was trending in Russia. The hashtag:  #сморщеннаяженщина translates to "wrinkled women" or "withered women" and was started by Bella Rapoport as a statement of protest that started with a marriage. Earlier that month Nazhud Guchigov, a 47 year old police chief in Chechnya had married a 17 year old girl, the marriage caused an uproar over her age and that she had become his second wife, when polygamy is illegal in Russia. Amidst the protests, children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov, in defense of the marriage, said  "Let's not be prudish. Emancipation and sexual maturity happen earlier in the Caucasus. There are places where women have wrinkles at age 27 and they look 50 by our standards" (Nettikkara).

Women were outraged by his comment and took to the internet in protest of the objectification of women. An online petition to remove Astakhov reached over 35,000 signatures and the "wrinkled women" hashtag had nearly 500 posts in the first week and has 1057 posts today.  Bella Rapoport created the hashtag to be about the oppression of women and violation of women's rights, she captioned the image, I'm not yet 27, but already very close. By Astakhov's criteria, could be considered to be 49... And by the way I'm becoming wrinkled from the thought of Astakhov and people like him."

The Kremlin refused to comment besides, "we do not do weddings".

This media trend highlights the continued gender inequality in Russia, as well as the Kremlin’s disconcern with the issue. However, it does show the power of media, although nothing was changed, the combined media force was strong enough that Astakhov did post an apology on his Instagram. It’s a very small victory but Instagram was critical in creating visibility for a wedding that highlighted the bigger issue of women’s rights.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-32822662
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