Remember the part of the Christmas story where, after the shepherds and the Wise Men come, the topless woman runs in and steals baby Jesus?
It may not be canon, but that’s exactly what happened on Christmas Day in Vatican City, where a living nativity had been put on for the edification of the crowds. Tourists held their cell phones aloft to snap pictures and record the hymns being sung when Ukrainian activist Iana Zhdanova ran through a protective gate and toward the manger, yelling “God is woman!” as she held the Christ child aloft and was chased by a cape-wearing Vatican security officer.
The cape came in handy to cover her exposed breasts, above and below which she had emblazoned the message “God is Woman.” (She was nothing if not consistent.) Zhdanova is part of a group called FEMEN, a radical feminist organization founded in Ukraine who regularly use shocking (read: topless) tactics to protest policies like the Catholic Church’s stance on reproduction, which FEMEN deems anti-woman.
Most of the women pictured on their website are very good-looking and fit, which is convenient when your movement involves so much toplessness! Zhdanova was lauded on Femen.org, which said she was going to be extradited shortly and ended on an interesting note: “A sacred duty of every woman is to take away the child from Vatican!”