In the month of March, 2013, an unprecedented protest created an enormous stir all across the world. A nineteen year old Tunisian girl, Amina, had posted two pictures of her own on a page of the social networking website, Facebook, where she posed topless. She had written “My body is my own” in Arabic over her naked body. This bizarre form of protest was in consolidation with the Femen movement that had hit the world society with its immense impetus. She later gave an interview to the Ettounisia television channel where she conveyed her support for the Femen movement and voiced her verbose protest.
This evoked immediate reaction from innumerable people, especially the women folk, who could relate to the protest. The teenager has used the internet, the sole way to reach beyond geographical and communal boundaries across the world, as the media of her protest against the omen of patriarchy which threatens to pacify women and spread its baleful clutches on gender equality. Her initiative prompted thousands of Tunisian people to post nude pictures of them on the website to show the paramount solidarity which left the detractors in sheer awe of the chronology of incidents. The words written on her body have become a quintessential incident of the ‘triangle of thought’ and the concept of female emancipation has ignited the feminist blaze in the hearts of thousands. Conservatives plunged to criticize the occurrence and Amina has also been threatened of being killed. What is alarming is that Amina has now been admitted in a mental asylum by her family, probably to avert a fundamental backlash that may cost her life. The Tunisian government has not viewed this act as pardonable and Alami Adel, who is the head of Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice, has declared that she should be stoned to death.
Nevertheless, this incident is a perfect example of the metamorphosis that the world has gone through with the emergence of communication technology. The immense power of nonverbal communication through the subversive gesticulation and the exaction of one’s true identity against the norms of a patriarchal, fundamental society have been testified by Amina. Never before was this universality or unity seen in any protest which defied the cultural norms of communication within such a small amount of time. The internet links the world population and eliminates the impediment of time consumption arising from geographical distance. The protest has also changed the outlook of people across lands toward communication technology.
Now, it is the blazing media which can be utilized as the most efficient arsenal to fight against social injustices and prejudices. Communication technology is the key to betterment of the world society and would serve mankind immensely in the onerous pursuit of a better world. This incident correlates with Walden University’s vision of positive social change as a deliberate process of creating and applying ideas, strategies, and actions to promote the worth, dignity, and development of individuals, communities, organizations, institutions, cultures, and societies. It has resulted in the change of social conditions and has emancipated thousands. This constructive social change provides inspiration to the students of the university to become civic and professional role models by advancing the betterment of society.
References
Blagdon, Jeff. (2013, March 25). Tunisian feminist threatened with stoning after
nude Facebook protest, now committed to mental hospital. Retrieved from
http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/25/4144244/tunisian-feminist-amina-
committed-threatened-with-stoning-for-nude-photos
Dobkin, B.A., & Pace, R.C. (2006). Communication in a Changing World. New
Jersey: McGraw-Hill.
Fordham, Alice. (2013, April 7). Nude Facebook photo protest exposes rift over women's rights
in Tunisia. The National. Retrieved from http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-
east/nude-facebook-photo-protest-exposes-rift-over-womens-rights-in-tunisia
Klabin, Roy. (2013, March). Amina FEMEN: 19-Year-Old Tunisian Girl Faces Death Threats
Over Topless Pictures. Retrieved from http://www.policymic.com/articles/30936/amina-
femen-19-year-old-tunisian-girl-faces-death-threats-over-topless-pictures
