Note: Mild nudity warning.
“Out of Portland tear gas, an apparition emerges ….” So began the Los Angeles Times’ piece on the “iconic” photo of a nude woman sitting in the street open-legged across the intersection from police in Portland. We will say the picture was well-shot, but we wouldn’t exactly call it iconic, and we certainly wouldn’t compare it to the video of the man in Tiananmen Square who was actually risking something . Nevertheless, fans dubbed the nude woman “Portland Athena,” and some still can’t get over her.
Writer and director Adam McKay says the image is “horrifying and beautiful.”
I still can’t get over this image. I don’t know if I ever will. It’s horrifying and beautiful and profane and sacred… I really hope we never find out who she is. America loves to wreck things with names and jobs and celebrity. pic.twitter.com/YKovSrooHG
— Adam McKay (@GhostPanther) July 22, 2020
I don’t think it’s possible to cringe enough reading this
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) July 23, 2020
Nothing says ‘sacred’ like one’s ‘hoo hoo’ on spread eagle display. ?
— Simply Irredeemable (@hrhjmm) July 23, 2020
Mmmkay. Her mother must be so proud.
— Katie Scarlet (@Katiescarlet2) July 23, 2020
Maybe her mother is in a yellow shirt and a link in the “wall of moms” defending the peaceful protesters from the police.
You wouldn't think that if she was overweight.
— Lady A (@NOYB2869) July 23, 2020
It's not any of those things. It's some random white person making it all about her and getting a ton of attention on the back of a civil rights movement.
— Cabe Cabe Slider (@CalebTRB) July 23, 2020
Sitting on the filthy street and spreading her legs was way over the top though. That just made it gross and showed that she was there for her own personal kicks. She was walking around seductively earlier, so it wasn’t about showing vulnerability. It’s just weird and icky.
— PonderinStuff (@PonderinStuff) July 23, 2020
This tweet was so pretentious my dog literally vomited when I read it out loud.
— El Cid (@ElCid_Tweets) July 23, 2020
I don't understand modern feminism. Its like they WANT to be objectified. Or, its like they WANT to be a victim.
Not in my world. In my world, I have a job, a family, a home, I am not a victim, and I keep my clothes on for everyone except my husband.
— Meredith (@Meredith_1701) July 23, 2020
I see it & just see an attention seeking millennial.
— Michael Galli (@SoCalBIGmike) July 22, 2020
In essence this is a woman sitting on the asphalt in a public area with her genitals exposed to everybody to see including a bunch of armed policemen. This is plain nonsense. An act of lunacy. I don't get all the hype around it.
— Gabriel Ironside (@groenteboer18) July 23, 2020
The people who are saying this is like Tank Man… I’m a little concerned ?♂️
— The Y Factor 2020 ?? (@TheYFactor2020) July 23, 2020
Something tells me COVID-19 is way down the list of diseases you should be worried about catching from her.
— Show Don't Tell (@ThreadDon) July 23, 2020
This is why the left is going to continue to become a parody of itself. Nobody looking at this picture is going to know anything about the situation, or why she’s doing that. It’s the definition of an empty performance piece. But sure, it’s stunning, brave, bold, never been done.
— Justin Gladhill (@JTNeanderthal) July 23, 2020
I don't understand.. Is she trying to get justice or trying to make history for herself?
— Aaron (@Aaron_Lafond) July 22, 2020
The image is very "Portland", which is to say it's up its own ass.
— Count Trepe, MVPhD (@sailorwashu) July 23, 2020
Save some chicks for the rest of us, bro. https://t.co/XRWXYl3NFA
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) July 23, 2020
They identify as a traffic cone.
— Joe B (@joeb612) July 23, 2020
THIS is why the Dems lose people. I see a mentally unstable person who lacks mature coping skills sitting naked on a nasty street.
— Ginger Kitty (@LM_Ginger_Kitty) July 23, 2020
It’s not just blue-checks who are enraptured with this photo:
“Portland Athena” this image, taken by Dave Killen, is just stunning. Her power – in her nakedness, her femininity, and her resolve – calmly and surely, stopped the world. #athena #portlandathena #beautiful #powerful #feminine #mother pic.twitter.com/0fWk1XMjLm
— I Exist, I Resist (@keithasims) July 20, 2020
All I can think about is the germs she picking up from that street… and also pic.twitter.com/SOCBkFPhCN
— Independent Woman (@hoopsmom) July 23, 2020
Respectfully, I wasn't moved or impressed with a naked white woman trying to make a point about…
What was that point again?
George who?
If she set herself on fire, ala Norman Morrison. maybe I'd take interest.
— VoteVernonSupreme2020 (@NotWoke6) July 22, 2020
Naked white women protesting are a dime a dozen nowadays. ??♀️
Usually they're a lot fatter, though, so maybe that's why he's "stunned"?
— American ?? Purrl, RN (@AmericanPurrl) July 23, 2020
Nothing overly dramatic about this take at all
— Agrippa’s Familiar (@AgrippaFamiliar) July 21, 2020
There is nothing stunning or powerful about this photo. Good grief. Ridiculous at best
— DesertNoir ???? (@DesertNightNoir) July 23, 2020
Hope she sees this bro
— Mike the Box Wine and Mayo Connisuer (@genericancitizn) July 22, 2020
“I respect all comments!”
Continues on to explain why he does not, in fact, respect all comments. ?
— Stacy L. (@AdultingCzar) July 22, 2020
Right?? And we all have "empty, colorless, tasteless, dim, & bitter lives"….
… said the guy who's life is so full and happy that he desperately finding 'world stopping beauty' in obnoxious jackassery.
— angie (@angie_eeee) July 23, 2020
A water cannon would have made this image more powerful.
— Queen of Kingsbury (@1catking) July 23, 2020
There are some already suggesting that this is TIME’s picture of the year, which would make for an interesting cover.
Related:
People are questioning the L.A. Times’ determination that this photo of a Portland protester qualifies for ‘iconic’ status https://t.co/lUhOvSa6tS pic.twitter.com/JimPayhuS6
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 20, 2020