Gender

"Women are the only exploited group in history to have been idealized into powerlessness."  -Erica Jong 

One of the wonderful things about Peace Corps is that volunteers have a great deal of freedom with respect to the kinds of projects we do. There is our primary project—for me, it's my work at the University, but I've also taken on some secondary projects. Projects that pertain not only to the needs of my community, but also to issues that are important to me. And one of which I am going to tell you about now.

Each volunteer is assigned to a "counterpart," who is basically a liaison between the volunteer and his/her community. The idea is to collaborate on projects with Ukrainians to promote sustainability. After Peace Corps leaves Ukraine, these initiatives will continue and flourish. At least that's the goal.

Olena and her daughter Ann, last Christmas

My counterpart, Olena, happens to be one of the most amazing people I've ever met anywhere ever. I wish everyone could know her. She is passionate, brilliant, tenacious, and cares deeply. She's a fighter. Academically, she specializes in Gender Linguistics, which means that her work examines the relationship between languages (English, Ukrainian, Russian) and gender politics and identity. This is awesome because she gets to teach linguistics classes that address feminism and gender issues. And it's also awesome because sometimes she asks me to co-teach or cover her classes.

I should also add that this is significant because the notion of "gender equality" is new here. Yes, it's new in the U.S. too, but believe you me, it is in infant stages here. Ukraine is deeply religious (in a way different from the U.S., but that's another conversation). Gender roles are prescribed, and the culture is saturated by notions of "masculine" and "feminine." The word "gender" (in contrast to "sex") wasn't introduced to the Ukrainian language until 2002.

When you understand this troubled relationship between societal expectation and the complicated reality of human identity, the backlash towards homosexuality and marriage equality in these slavic countries is far less surprising. Only the very brave come out.

Several weeks ago, Olena and I met with one of the professors from my University's Social Pedagogy department. As far as I understand, "social pedagogy" is akin to social work. Students who study in this faculty will go on to work with schools and other organizations to help underprivileged, troubled, or disabled individuals and families. Not easy work in any country. The instructor asked what my educational/teaching background is, and I told him. With gusto, he said "I would like to invite you to give a lecture to my Women in Society class! I would love to have an expert come and speak with them!"

Ughhhhhhhhh. I don't know why Ukraine does this. I think it has to do with my understanding of "expert." When I think of an "expert" I think of a bell hooks giving an expert keynote address. Or Beyoncé expertly shaking it on stage. However, 1.5 courses in grad school relating to gender theory makes me an expert in Ukraine. So I just have to pretend that they're right. This happens all the time.

On Wednesday, I went to speak with his class, with Olena to help translate. Because if I were to try to give a talk in Ukrainian, it would have gone something like this:

"Today, we are going to talk about gender problems. What questions do you have a about gender? What kinds of food do you like to eat? It's almost winter, so I've been buying a lot of beets. No, I am not traveling to Kyiv this weekend, but I do like Kyiv, but it is very expensive. I am glad to meet you. Tell me about your family and hobbies. I have a cat. Gender."

So Olena translated.

And what I found was interesting. I found that these students were much different than my philology students. These students, all young women, had never thought of the possibilities. The possibility of a woman being a headmaster in a school—"because that's a man's job." The possibility of a woman being a surgeon—"because surgeons work long hours, and that might take her away from her family." A woman's ability to become a politician—"Because women are 'more emotional' than men and it would be difficult for her." A woman deciding not getting married at 21 because she needs time to figure out what she wants from life. And of course, at the very end, I was asked how Americans can possibly accept the reality of homosexuals becoming parents. To which I responded that such an explanation would take much longer than we have, but the (general) American mentality about who is equipped be a good parent is different. And extensive research backs this up. (This question routinely bums me out).

My own students' perspectives about who they are and what they can do are much different. And I can only attribute this to the fact that they read Virginia Woolf in their 4th year. So stop defunding the humanities.

But I was happy to hear that these future social workers do envision a future Ukraine that is more open to addressing domestic violence (a very real issue here), addressing sexual violence, addressing alcoholism, addressing oppression. I asked them if they believe they can make a difference, and they said yes. That's a start. A good start.

So these are the issues we're tackling: Issues that pull at my heart and to which I can contribute. Olena and I are putting together a conference in the early summer to address gender issues and gender inequality in Ukraine. We are inviting organizations, teachers, and students in Lutsk to attend and present. The sessions will address gender equality issues relevant to Ukraine, including gender violence, domestic violence, human trafficking, as well as women's empowerment. The goal is to have these individuals and organizations collaborate to develop sustainable projects. To know what's needed, what's available and accessible. I'm writing a grant to fund some serious cookies as well as resources to give to participants, because who doesn't love resources. No one doesn't love resources. And cookies.

I'm thrilled about the work being done and so proud to have a hand in it. The work often feels endless, and requires time, optimism, and brave efforts, but things are changing.

And now here are some pictures of some of my colleagues, people who I am proud to know. This was a birthday party... and Ukrainians know how to party.

The answer is yes, I did eat all the food

Alexandr Belakov giving one of his beautiful toasts/poems

Our birthday Queen