Imagine a child shouting in their attempt to share their emotions, express their feelings, explain ideas, and share a vision of the world. The child wants to say something important to us, but the adults watch and laugh, saying, what a pretty child, how smart, but paying no attention to the words coming out of their mouth.
This is the situation of feminism in Russia. Progressive minds know that it is important to fight for their rights, but the majority of us stick to their view that there is nothing to talk about, that we have equal rights and that feminists are just crazy about following ghosts.
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| Vladivostok, Russia – Out the window – Lina Yatsen |
If we take a step back for a moment, we can definitely see another situation. It is hard for modern people to imagine that we had so-called feminism in the Soviet period. Women had the same rights as men. I mean the same salary, the same right to a job – no gender indulgence. It is really hard to imagine that women in the past had more rights than today. At some point in history, women became more of a family person. Nowadays, there is a quite popular phrase to describe the situation: “Father works, mother is beautiful.” The most interesting thing is that lots of women accept this slogan without even noticing that they are in a trap. It means that men are allowed to evolve, explore the world outside, communicate with anyone they need to, but women should care for children, always be cute for her husband to stay with her. If the man does not have a job, it is also common for a woman to work just to help her husband and care for their home while the man is searching for what he wants to do, find himself, spending all the time he needs to figure out the business of his life. His wife takes care of the rest.
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| Moscow, Russia – Behind the scenes – Aurelien Romain |
There is also a sharp difference in the attitude we have about buying a home. For women, it is considered important to find a man and start a family, but not to acquire property. It does not occur to us that a woman can buy an apartment or house. That is for a man. He should buy it, and you should stay there. Women face two polar opposite approaches to life – the first revolves around the man and family, while the second is to be independent and care for yourself and only then start a family if you find the right person for you.
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| Novosibirsk, Russia – In the student village – Alla Biriuchkova |
The first group represents the vast majority of Russia. Mostly they live far from Moscow, St. Petersburg and other big cities. Starting a family at about 20 is the normal way of life for them. Feminism is more popular in large cities. It is really hard for feminist to live in a traditional family when everyone is only waiting for you to get married and have a child instead of pushing you to think of your dreams and wishes. For boys, of course, it is easier; they are told not to marry early and to enjoy the fruits of life.
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| Moscow, Russia – Entrance to Gorky bridge – Sasha Yudaev |
So feminism is trying to explain to all women that a family, husband and children are not the only goal to achieve in life. Even the statistics say that for every two marriages there is one divorce. Feminists in Russia are treated very poorly, along the lines of “what do you want, you have everything.” Men think that the place of women is only with the family. According to the official paper “Men and Women of Russia” in 2016, women’s salaries are about 30% less than men’s.12
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| Moscow, Russia – After rain – Nikolay Vorobyev |
There is also a high level of family harassment in Russia. Reports that a husband hurt his wife are common and at the same time terrible. There was a popular report about a man who drove his wife into the forest and broke her arms.3 And despite these stories, women are waiting for marriage because they think that this will not happen to them. But that is not true, the statistics say that every 40 minutes one woman dies from harassment.4 What can be more shocking than this figure?
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| Moscow, Russia – Underpass – Sergey Pesterev |
Feminists are trying to make women, children and men aware of these numbers – to open everyone’s eyes. But they are still treated poorly. If you say you are a feminist, you will receive the “oh-my-god” reaction. People won’t ask questions, will not want to learn more. For them, it seems that feminists are people who don’t have any way to spend their time. And it is especially sad that women do not realize the current situation even after hearing the official figures.
The most important thing is for our government to inform people so they know the reality. Instead, unfortunately, they produce family propaganda, starting in school. And this only encourages girls to get married, without making boys less cruel.
Footnotes
1. “Women and Men in Russia.” Russian Federal Statistical Service. Retrieved on August 15, 2019.
2. “Labor and Activity in Russia. 2017.” Russian Federal Statistical Service. Retrieved on August 15, 2019.
3. Фомичева, Алина. “Вернусь и закончу.” a news. Retrieved on August 15, 2019.
4. “Russian Federation: Nowhere to Run. Domestic Violence and Women.” Amnesty International. December 14, 2005. Retrieved on August 15, 2019.
Credits
Snapshot 1: Moscow, Russia – Trams at night – Fedor Shlypnikov (Unsplash)
Snapshot 2: Vladivostok, Russia – Out the window – Lina Yatsen (Unsplash)
Snapshot 3: Moscow, Russia – Behind the scenes – Aurelien Romain (Unsplash)
Snapshot 4: Novosibirsk, Russia – In the student village – Alla Biriuchkova (Unsplash)
Snapshot 5: Moscow, Russia – Entrance to Gorky bridge – Sasha Yudaev (Unsplash)
Snapshot 6: Moscow, Russia – After rain – Nikolay Vorobyev (Unsplash)
Snapshot 7: Moscow, Russia – Underpass – Sergey Pesterev (Unsplash)
Cinemblem voiceover: Marina Atanasova
Locations
Home: www.perypatetik.net
Social: www.facebook.com/Perypatetik
Cinemblem: Perypatetik youtube channel
The Syncretion of Polarization and Extremes
Ahmed, Amina. Growing up with Abuse: A Life of Extremes – Lebanon. April 2019.
Alencar, Joana. Lack of Social Trust – Brazil. January 2019.
Awdejuk, Pawel. Pole-arization – Poland. June 2019.
Baccino, Alejandra. Polarization within Ourselves – South America. January 2019.
Bondarenko, Evgeny. What You Sow Does Not Come To Life Unless It Dies – Ukraine. May 2019.
Cannarella, Daniela. A Past-Present Dicotomia – Italy. June 2019.
Casas, Marilin Guerrero Casas. Balance – Cuba. May 2019.
Cordido, Veronica. Hanging by Extremes – Venezuela. January 2019.
Dastan, S.A. Polarization and the Epidemic of Extremity – Turkey. August 2019.
Escandell, Andrea da Silva. The Illogic of Extremes – Uruguay. May 2019.
Gomez, Javier. The Canyon Inside Us – Argentina. July 2019.
Hernandez, Jonay Quintero. Extremism Is Now the New Hype? – Spain. February 2019
Israyelyan, Mania. Polarized Within Ourselves – Armenia. June 2019.
Julber, Lillian. Difficult to Understand – Uruguay. July 2019.
Kanunova, Nigina. Role of Polarization in the Life of an Individual and Society – Tajikistan. July 2019.
Montano, Osvaldo. Progress in the Face of Polarization – Bolivia. February 2019.
Protić, Aleksandar. Linguistic Balkanization as a Means of Polarization – The Balkans. June 2019.
Ranaldo, Mary. Social Polarization – Italy. April 2019.
Ray, Sanjay Kumar. At the Crossroads – India. August 2019.
Romano, Mavi. Censorship and Cultural Survival in a World without Gods – Spain. January 2019.
Sariñana, Alejandra Gonzalez. Student Movements – Mexico. March 2019.
Sekulić, Jelena. The Polarizacija of Serbian Culture – Serbia. June 2019.
Sem, Sebastião. Brandos Costumes – Portugal. July 2019.
Sepi, Andreea. A World of Victims and Perpetrators? – Germany and Romania. February 2019.
Sevunts, Nane. The Era To Close – Armenia. March 2019.
Skobic, Alexandar. The Loss of Identity – The Balkans. April 2019.
Sitorus, Rina. Polarization in Politics: All a Cebong or Kampret – Indonesia. March 2019.
Spirito, Julieta. A Thought about Polarized Insecurity – Argentina. April 2019.
Valenzuela, Monica. Adults and Children – Peru. April 2019.
Vuka. Extreme Immunity to Functional Tax and Judicial System – Serbia. March 2019
Wallis, Toni. Walls and Resettlement – South Africa and Angola. February 2019.
Williams, Jazz Carl. Unfinished Episodes – Spain. May 2019.
Forthcoming
CW 34 – Canada – Maha Husseini
CW 35 – Spain – Virginia Sanmartin Lopez
CW 36 – Turkey – Peren Cakir
CW 37 – Armenia – Hayk Antonyan
CW 38 – Italy – Sara Deiana
CW 39 – Montenegro – Nikolina Pavicevic
CW 40 – Columbia – Christian Escobar
CW 41 – Kenya – Kenn Mwangi
CW 42 – Pakistan – Muhammad Kashif Shahid
CW 43 – Tunisia – Sarah Turki
CW 44 – Estonia – Margot Arula
CW 45 – Ghana/Nigeria – Ekua Ortsin
CW 46 – Dominican Republic – Aura De Los Santos
CW 47 – Montenegro – Nikolina Pavicevic
CW 48 – America – ???
CW 49 – Philippines – Kristian Uusitalo
CW 50 – Hungary – Zoltan Monar
CW 51 – Syria/UAE/Egypt – Ahmed Ibrahim
CW 52 – Nigeria – Ethelbert Umeh
Source: The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed