Self mutilation and the art of protesting…

“Tell me, Mr. Anderson… what good is a phone call… if you’re unable to speak?”

You probably already know where that line is from. If not, i’ll tell you at the end of this post. But there is a point to it’s being here. It is the first thing that popped into my head when I read the article below. There seems to be a trend developing. The practice of sewn-mouth protests.

In a recent post, I talked about a Colombian man who had sewn his mouth shut, and donned an iron mask in protest, asking for the government to help him and his family start a business. It seems that he is not the only one who thought that sewing his mouth shut was an effective protest strategy:

Prostitutes in the Bolivian city of El Alto sewed their lips together Wednesday as part of a hunger strike to demand that the mayor reopen brothels and bars ordered closed after violent protests by residents last week.

Ah. I see. I kinda see their point. But sewing your mouth shut seems counterproductive.

“Tomorrow we will bury ourselves alive if we are not immediately heard. The mayor will have his conscience to answer to if there are any grave consequences, such as the death of my comrades,” she said, surrounded by about 10 prostitutes who had sewn their lips together with thread. – [Yahoo/Reuters]

Ok, now your just bordering on the ridiculous. You cant exactly blame anyone but yourself, if you die after deciding to bury yourself alive in protest. And more importantly, when you are dead, I’d think it would be just a tad difficult to mount any further effective protests. Don’t you think?

Now don’t get me wrong. I think these folks actually have a good reason to be protesting. I don’t see why anyones business should be closed because a group of self righteous moral zealots decided to throw a temper tantrum.

But burying yourself alive? Sewing your mouth shut? Isn’t that like cutting off your nose to spite your face? Especially if you happen to be a prostitute who’s job relies, in part, on your physical appearance? I’m no expert in the field, but it seems to me that it would be just a bit anathema to your work…

At the end of the day however this particular practice just puzzles me. I really don’t see why these folks decided to go with self mutilation as a means of protest. There have to be a gazillion different means of protesting, and they choose to sew their mouths shut…

Prostitutes sew lips together in protest – [Yahoo/Reuters]

P.S. The opening line of this post is from “The Matrix”. If you already knew, give yourself a pat on the back. Have a drink. Smoke a cigar. You deserve it.