 Pussy Riot 's mass appeal ( particularly ) in the Western media has seen various famous figures and activists including Madonna , Paul McCartney , Lady Gaga , Björk and many others publicly show support for the group . This appeal from popular culture has been mostly due to the group 's feminist notions . Pussy Riot see themselves as feminist artists , who have various musical , literary , and political influences , such as Riot Grrl , Bikini Kill , Oi ! , Cockney Rejects , and by writers , activists and artists such as Alexandra Kollontai , Judith Butler , Karen Finley , Simone de Beauvoir , Vladimir Bukovsky and many more . The media tends to overlook the meaning behind Pussy Riot 's feminism ; the cultural context of it is vastly different to that of Western feminism . Pussy Riot 's feminism focuses on the repression created by authoritarian regimes that create idealised ideas of sexism , sex and family life . Pussy Riot make it clear that feminism in Russia is still an issue and that post @-@ feminism has not been achieved as many people would like to believe . Pussy Riot 's Russian cultural context must be acknowledged and their feminist notions must be seen differently from those of Western feminism because in places such as the United States , feminism has evolved to general " women 's issues " , whereas in Russia this is not the case . In Russia feminism is seen as something " that could destroy Russia " as said by Kirill , the head of the Russian Orthodox Church . 
