When Madonna wrote “Pussy Riot” on her bare back and strutted across a Moscow stage declaring her support for the world-famous Russian punk group, she got called a “slut.” Dmitry Rogozin, who is a senior Russian official, took to Twitter to spit on the pop star’s support for Pussy Riot and call her the Russian name for “slut” or “whore.” His immature, sexist statement was very telling and marched in line with the entire message behind the Pussy Riot trial. Shut up and make sure no one questions the church or authority. Obey. Obey. Obey, bitch!

In February, Maria Alyokhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of the radical feminist Russian band Pussy Riot lip-synced to their pre-recorded “Punk Prayer” in a church for a mere 40 seconds before being captured by authorities. Their “performance” was seen as a highly offensive and illegal act. Wearing brightly coloured ski masks, dresses and booties, the women danced in protest against the Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime. The video of their performance soon went viral.

Three of the five masked women were captured and held in custody for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.” Alyokhina, Samutsevich and Tolokonnikova sat in a small, white cage (literally) while the media frenzied around them as they awaited their sentencing. Thanks to the Internet’s ability to spread news like wildfire, the western world became privy to Pussy Riot. Most of us were outraged. Protest groups were formed and held rallies, celebrities like Madonna, Yoko Ono and Danny DeVito rallied to “Free Pussy Riot” and it felt like every feminist blogger, political opinion writer or teenager on Twitter had something to say about Pussy Riot. The United States government even expressed concern, calling the girls “prisoners of conscience.” It seemed as though we were compassionately pissed. We had learned that in Russia, you do not fuck with the church because if you fuck with the church you fuck with the state. You fuck with the little freedom you have.

“From my sheltered American perspective, I thought, ‘They will get three days.’ Because the charge of hooliganism sounds like a Tom and Jerry cartoon if you are from America,” said Kathleen Hanna, feminist icon and founder of the riot grrrl movement, in an interview with Pitchfork. “Like, ‘hooliganism’? Did they put a whoopie cushion on someone’s chair?”

Unfortunately, Pussy Riot did not get three days in prison. Instead, they were sentenced to two years.

Michael Idov of The New York Times wrote that, “When you’re a woman in Russia, nothing but tears will do.” He said that if Pussy Riot had fallen to their knees and asked for forgiveness, they might have been “freed.” But they didn’t. They remained cool, calm and wildly intelligent even throughout their closing statements — words so powerful that most of us were taken aback.

Pussy Riot lit a fire that hadn’t been burning for a long, long while. They did what a protest is supposed to do: draw attention to your cause and make people see your injustice. Make people want to aid the change. Pussy Riot is not over (it should be noted that Russian authorities are now searching for the remaining members of the group, who have been in hiding since the arrest). They’re just beginning.

In an early interview with some members of Pussy Riot, one girl who went by the alias Squirrel said, “When I put on my mask, I feel like I can do anything.” She equated her courage to that of a superhero. The bright pink ski mask made her anonymous and she could scream about the sexist regime in which she lived separated from her family and her real life, like “Cat Woman” she joked.

We often want to remain anonymous when we are making statements we know can get us in trouble. It can be something as small and cowardly as a YouTube comment or it can be as grand, politically charged and courageous as Pussy Riot.

Even incarcerated, Pussy Riot will remain the most important Russian punk band. Only time will tell what happens when the women are released back to their families and their children. But I imagine a lot of rage can simmer from behind bars and, when you are radical, intelligent and have the support of millions, it will manifest into something great.