A Russian woman as a case of victorious feminism debunking the Western feminist myth

While you people in India were, yesterday, under threat of being doused with water mixed with paint, Russia had a day off, since 8 March is a big event over here, namely International Woman’s Day. International or not quite, every workplace or family in my country is somewhat affected, be it the tradition to present flowers to all the ladies around you or a need to congratulate briefly even a shop assistant in case you strolled in to buy something. Naturally, there are publications everywhere, with statistics and ideas. One such publication belongs to a vicious lady, trying to tell us that Russian women are getting too masculine, while men are getting too feminine. That author, a movie director Julie Melamed, is supposed to be a bit feminist, but a Russian feminist (and, generally, a Russian woman) is somebody standing far apart from her Western, and even Eastern, sisters. So, the fierce Julia is lamenting the disappearance of the very idea of “women’s professions” from public perception. There were laws in the USSR forbidding hiring women for a long official list of physically hard occupations, like construction. Today, these laws have either been repelled, or nobody remembers or follows them. So in the year 2022, we see a 40 per cent raise in women’s applications for positions if not in construction as such, then for interior painting and finishing. There is no such concept anywhere else in the world as a women’s profession, says Julie. But it is something traditional to Russia, and that tradition has produced a deep conflict. Teaching has always been supposed to be monopolized by the female gender, and these lady teachers have been producing, year after year, obedient and gentle boys, together with girls eternally waiting for “real strong men”, only to discover that modern men prefer to work in IT and to avoid physical effort. Well, that was cruel to say all these things to us. And surely that lady is not exactly a feminist, at least by today’s Western standards. But then, the very word “feminist” is worse than a curse in today’s Russia. Vicky Nikiforova… I think I have already quoted that lady twice in my columns, but then she is well worth it… chose 8 March for putting clearly the reasons why you do not want to be a feminist in my country. Radical Western feminism, she says, is being infected by a pathological hatred of men. But then, these feminists hate women even more. That kind of feminism is a fake, an imitation, being used for fomenting divisions in societies. Russia became a victim of such fake in the late 19th century, debating all kinds of idiocy, while the real problem was to ensure the chance for ladies to get equal jobs with men, getting also equal pay for it. And that substitution, as in fake, is exactly what we see today, she adds. Real problems of women are being stubbornly washed out of discussions, substituted by idiocy about men as born rapists, and the rest. What we need today is ensuring that the laws about fully paid maternity leave (currently 140 days or more) will work properly in the private sector, too. While if there is a third baby in the family, the lady and her husband have to get really big money and raise their social status. Yes, that increases men’s status, too. That’s what real feminism is, concludes she. Well, she talks about a lot of money, but then who am I to argue with her? I’m only Russia’s top sexist, and that title, awarded to me for my opinion columns in 2018 by an obscure feminist grouping, has grown stale. Other sexists have probably taken my well-earned place. There were congratulations and champagne when the title came along, but you cannot have fun all the time. It’d be only proper to quote a man in that almost obligatory annual parade of boys’ and girls’ ideas. The man’s name is Dmitry Grunushkin, and he is simply discussing statistics. He says: our women had been emancipated about 50 years before their Western sisters, that’s why that murderous feminism of today is just getting no traction here. Auditors and tax advisers from Grant Thornton International are saying that Russia is leading the world in the number of ladies in managerial positions. They occupied 45% of top such positions in private and State sectors combined, and that was in 2016, things look more impressive today simply at the sight of it. While the same figure for Japan is 8 per cent or 14 per cent in Germany. One more thing, Dmitry says: While American or European women try to be stronger than men, humiliating them in the process, our “strong woman” tends to demand similar strength of her man. A real Russian girl bears no wilted flower at her side. Naturally, it’s always useful to remember what kind of country you are living in, and that hectic annual ritual every eighth day of March helps you along. In the meantime, it’s 9th of March already, but the din of discussions is not dying down. The TV is showing a fresh documentary about the Russian “women’s battalion”, fighting in Ukraine. And these are the ones who really fight (sometimes with very heavy weapons), the medical ladies in the field hospitals at the front are being filmed separately. The shopping malls are full of women hunting for sales promotions on that day, while the restaurants are not far behind in luring them in. One of my female friends keeps on lamenting that “everyone around” is trying to treat her, on that day, with sweet wines and candies, the things girls are supposed to prefer, while she likes red meat and dry red wine. Incidentally, her looks are very feminine, she is really like a kitten. That has to be yet another manifestation of the “masculinization”, mentioned above. Or, maybe, she’s just that kind of a lady, typical or not very typical of her half of the Russian population. The author is a columnist for the Russian State agency website ria.ru, as well as for other publications. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.