{"id":50577,"date":"2021-09-29T21:14:57","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T21:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wagingnonviolence.org\/baker\/?p=50577"},"modified":"2021-11-03T00:16:48","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T00:16:48","slug":"the-complicated-success-of-sex-strikes-lysistra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wagingnonviolence.org\/baker\/2021\/09\/the-complicated-success-of-sex-strikes-lysistra\/","title":{"rendered":"The complicated success of sex strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sex strikes have been used by women as a nonviolent tactic to protest war and other violence for centuries. The idea for this form of resistance came into the collective public psyche through the ancient Greek play \u201cLysistrata,<\/em>\u201d <\/em>written by satirist Aristophanes in 411 B.C. The comedy centers around the main character Lysistrata and her campaign to bring the women of Greece together by withholding sex from their husbands until the men agreed to end the years-long Peloponnesian War. Aristophanes\u2019 raunchy writing, focused on playful, teasing wives and erection jokes, has faced controversy but continues to be popular and relevant. Over time, as classics scholar Helen Morales has noted, \u201cLysistrata has become the go-to trope for any women\u2019s activism involving the withdrawal of sex.\u201d In fact,\u201cLysistratic non-action\u201d is the preferred term for many scholars studying this form of resistance \u2014 with political scientist Gene Sharp helping to codify the term by listing it in his widely-cited \u201c198 Methods of Nonviolent Action<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a darker side to the general idea of Lysistratic non-action and its success, some of which is rooted in the term\u2019s origins.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

According to Morales, the generally accepted definition of a sex strike is \u201cthe temporary withdrawal of sex until certain demands are met.\u201d Sex strikes organized and carried out by women, often simultaneously accompanied by other forms of action, have in fact proven to be effective tools for protesting violence and working toward peace. That said, a growing number of scholars and activists have begun to challenge the tactic\u2019s generally favorable view. In fact, some have argued that women\u2019s political action based on withholding sex may actually perpetuate the very violence it seeks to oppose by emboldening patriarchal power and heteronormative oppression. This view is a far cry from the lighthearted plot of \u201cLysistrata,\u201d which may also be part of the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before criticizing this nonviolent tactic, however, it is important to analyze some historic cases of Lysistratic non-action. By doing so, we can better understand the violence that sparks its use, the variety of ways in which it has been successful, and the cultural structures in which it has been situated. These case studies provide the foundation for analyzing and questioning the underlying motivations for sex strikes and why they have been so effective within our global society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iroquois childbearing boycott<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1600s, men commanded raging, unregulated warfare among the Native tribes of what is now called North America, including the six tribes that make up the Iroquois Nation, also known as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Iroquois women wanted more power over warfare decision-making, so they decided to put a boycott on sex and childbearing<\/a> into place. This boycott was a particularly powerful tactic in the Iroquois Nation because of the cultural belief that women held a deeper knowledge of birth and its secrets than men ever could. The men responded to the boycott by giving the women the power to veto any wars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern-day political system of the United States was modeled after that of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, with the exception of the matrilineal structure and the much more even allocation of power in decision-making that have always been part of Haudenosaunee society. The significant power held by the Nation\u2019s women, both before and after the boycott, eventually influenced<\/a> the non-Native women at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 to assert their autonomy and fight for their rights. The Iroquois women\u2019s nonviolent sex boycott is considered to be the first feminist rebellion on the land that is now called the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crossed legs movement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August of 2011, women in the small town of Barbacoas, Colombia organized the Crossed Legs Movement to demand that the government replace the highly dangerous road connecting the town to the rest of the province. In an interview about the movement, one of the women stated: \u201cWe just decided to stop having sex and stop having children until the state fulfills its previous promises.\u201d The movement gained significant media attention and, ultimately, the support of men as well as an agreement from the state to fund the safer road. Furthermore, there was a reported 26.5 percent decline in the homicide rate<\/a> five years after the strike, and the women involved in the movement reportedly did not anticipate rates of domestic partner violence to rise as a result of the men\u2019s sexual frustrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nude protest <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Stella Nyanzi, a medical anthropologist in Uganda, has \u2014 according to Phil Wilmot and Johncation Muhindo<\/a> \u2014 \u201ctapped into the historical power of taboo in igniting social change\u201d by participating in nude protest. Nyanzi, a critic of misogyny and Ugandan politics, is not the only woman to utilize disrobing as a protest tactic. On top of being a bold practice that attracts plenty of attention to the issue at hand, disrobing has cultural reasons for being effective. As Wilmot and Muhindo explain, \u201cFirst, there is the gravity of a cultural omen\u2026 Then there is the employing of forbidden means, which inevitably results in highly polarized dialogue, which tends to support the victim and ostracize the oppressor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The taboo of nudity and the implications it holds for the onlooker make nude protests a much more effective form of political advocacy than they may be in cultures lacking a strong foundation of such a physical taboo. In addition to capitalizing on the presence of taboo, a nude protestor named Barbara Allimadi characterized her action as \u201ca way to say that we respect our bodies and are in control, as opposed to any cultural beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women of Liberia for Mass Action for Peace<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps one of the most well known examples of Lysistratic non-action occurred in Liberia during the second civil war that broke out in 2000. President Charles Taylor\u2019s military regime fought against male militant rebel groups including Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, which were led by warlords. Christian social worker Leymah Gbowee decided in 2003 to mobilize the women of her community to pray for peace and an end to the war. Joined by Muslim women led by Asatu Bah Kenneth, the women staged a week-long peace protest at the fish market in Liberia\u2019s capital of Monrovia, effectively beginning a movement that would later be called Women of Liberia for Mass Action for Peace, or WLMAP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comedic teasing of men by women in \u201cLysistrata\u201d <\/em>is not comparable to the rampant sexual abuse women in Liberia endured that ultimately helped motivate them to take action against the civil war.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Although the fish market protest successfully gathered 2,500 participants, the women decided to go even further in their fight against the war by initiating a sex strike. Since men were the perpetrators of the violence the women were protesting against, the women \u2014 according to Kylin Navarro<\/a> \u2014 \u201cfelt that if they were to withhold sex, their partners would also pray for peace and support an end to the war.\u201d The sex strike alone did not end the war, but it did lead to further protests by the women and calls for peace talks that were successful with President Taylor. The talks took place in Accra, Ghana, and many protesting women were there to ensure that the men actually negotiated peace. WLMAP women staged a sit-in outside the negotiation meeting, and when guards attempted to arrest them, according to Navarro, \u201cGbowee threatened to remove her clothing, an act that would shame the men. Her threat prevented security from removing the women.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The threat of taboo nudity, as seen in the Uganda case study, is another related tactic that was very successful in this case. The negotiations eventually led to the resignation and exile of the president and the formation of a peace agreement. Although there was a lot of violence in between the events that led to peace, the sex strike and other protests by WLMAP were clearly catalysts for social change in Liberia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the Western media continually assert that the WLMAP movement was directly influenced by \u201cLysistrata,\u201d <\/em>Leymah Gbowee insists it was not informed by the play or by any other sex strikes in history. Gbowee once stated: \u201cThe message was that while the fighting continued, no one was innocent \u2014 not doing anything to stop it made you guilty.\u201d The movement was about more than just the sex strike; it was a way to unite the women of Liberia together and utilize, according to Gbowee, \u201cmoral clarity, persistence and patience\u201d to affect lasting change in their country. Regarding the community awareness and unification of Christian and Muslim women in the fight against violence, Gbowee said, \u201cA single straw of a broom can be broken easily, but the straws together are not easily broken.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leymah Gbowee received the Nobel Peace Prize<\/a> in 2011 for her work in ending the second civil war in Liberia. And today, through various projects, she teaches girls in West Africa how to be leaders for a peaceful future and helps build networks of women in cross-national peace-building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n