What is a protest?

After studying various protests over the course of a semester I have found that most of my initial beliefs about protests have been supported. I said in my first post that protests could be made in many different ways with different groups of people, intentions, and techniques. If anything I have found protests to be more varied than I at first realized. As a class we have examined protests in the forms of speeches, marches, sit-ins, documentaries, art, fashion, music, and countless other forms. In all of these forms, what remains significant is the protesters decision to make a statement against something that they disagree with or wish to change.
One thing that I have learned about protests is that that is rarely all they are. Although some groups like Peta may make protests for a singular goal, many do not. Critical Mass is a protest for some but for others it is a way to have fun and be part of a community. Others see it as a safe way to exercise, while others embrace all of these as reasons to participate. A song may be a protest, but it also could be just a good song, and a piece of fashion or art may be intended to demonstrate ones individuality and look cool. Protests are deeply intertwined throughout all forms of human interaction- what is significant is the intentions and beliefs of the person making the protest and the audiences receiving it. And most surprisingly, the success of a protest is not necessarily only dependent on the number of people who participate or how televised the protest is. Sometimes all a successful protest needs is originality and a lot of peanuts.