Can Your Panties Help Save Burma?

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  10.23.07 | 12:49 PM ET

imageSome activists think so. We noted yesterday the ominous silence that has settled over Burma in the aftermath of the ruling junta’s violent crackdown. But outside the country, protest groups are still trying to keep up the pressure, and they’re getting creative to hold the world’s attention. Last week, Thailand-based activist group Lanna Action for Burma launched the Panty Power Campaign, encouraging women around the world to send their underwear to the nearest Burmese embassy.

“It’s an extremely strong message in Burmese and in all Southeast Asian culture,” activist Liz Hilton told the AP.

So far, women in Thailand, Australia, Singapore, England and around Europe have heeded the call.

Lanna Action for Burma provides contact information for Burmese embassies worldwide. “You can post, deliver or fling your panties at the closest Burmese Embassy any day from today,” they say on their site. “Send early, send often!”

Related on World Hum:
* U.S. State Department: Postpone Travel to Burma
* First Deaths Reported in Crackdown on Protesters in Burma
* As Defiant Monks Protest in Burma, Travel Debate Rages On

Photo by hans s via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

Tags: Asia, Burma (Myanmar)

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


4 Comments for Can Your Panties Help Save Burma?

Carpetblogger 10.23.07 | 2:26 PM ET

Brilliant. Baffled embassy employees will now sell them to the japanese to put in vending machines.

That is the stupidest, most meaningless act I have ever heard. If I were a democracy activist in Burma I would be horrified.

Eva Holland 10.24.07 | 9:17 AM ET

I don’t know, is it any more meaningless than any other purely symbolic gesture of disapproval? Votes of censure don’t actually “do” anything either. I would think the purpose here is to try to prevent people from forgetting and moving on to the next cause du jour…

I get the impression since the group is based in Thailand that a number of escaped Burmese activists are actually involved in this campaign - and as for the ones that are still in the country, I’d be surprised if they ever have the chance to hear about it.

grizzly mom 10.24.07 | 1:12 PM ET

Different cultures have different means of protest.  Giving someone the pinkie, and flashing the okay circle offend other cultures.  A female African activist said on TV that a woman striping naked and shaking her breasts at a man was the ultime sign of disrespect.  I don’t understand this one myself.  I just know that if you want to support the Lana Action for Burma, fling your panties.

Shock Absorber Bras Gal 03.26.08 | 2:09 AM ET

I actually sell bras and this is a great piece…perhaps the most creative protest after Gandhiji’s Independence struggle in India that I have read about….strong in its own way…go girls!

Whit

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