Today (April 4th , 2013) is Topless Jihad Day. “Topless” and “Jihad” are two words you should be familiar with, but what could it possibly mean putting them together for its own day?

Allow me to explain…19 year-old Tunisian lady, Amina Tyler founded Tunisia’s first chapter of the Ukranian feminist/women’s rights organization Femen to help fight against the misogyny and dismissal of women’s views that’s found in Islamic countries such as Tunisia. She posted nude photos of herself online with slogans like “Fuck Your Morals” and “My body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honor” written on her body in Arabic.

While we all think that’s pretty fucking cool, the leader of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Almi Adel wasn’t too keen on it. He told a Tunisian newspaper, “The young lady should be punished according to Sharia [Islamic law], with 80 to 100 lashes, but [because of] the severity of the act she has committed, she deserves to be stoned to death.”

“This young woman, for her actions, could bring misfortune and provoke epidemics and catastrophes…It could be contagious and give ideas to other women. Therefore, she must be isolated,” though he added, “I wish her to be healed.”

Yikes.

At least he wishes for her to be healed after lashes, stoning, and isolation. (Seriously though, fuck this guy)

Thankfully, Amina Tyler was not put to death or institutionalized. She’s reportedly been in living at home safely with her parents. People have rallied around Tyler including an online petition, which you can sign here, and Femen encourages all women to do something to assert that their bodies are their own. Does that mean going topless for Topless Jihad Day? If you feel it’s necessary then by all means do it. Just do something to show your support for Amina and women like her all over the world.

“This day [April 4] will mark the beginning of a new, genuine Arab Spring, after which true freedom, freedom without mullahs and caliphs, will come to Tunisia,” a spokesperson for FEMEN said. “Long live the topless jihad against infidels! Our tits are deadlier than your stones!”

So there you have it. Topless Jihad Day. My new favorite day for breast-related activism.

via The Sex.com Blog