March 8 in Russia is not accepted to remember that this holiday began in new York in the mid-nineteenth century is not a holiday — “March of empty pots”. This year the women’s rights action turns 160 years old.
The stewardess of “Aeroflot” Eugene Mahurin meets the international women’s day not in a celebratory mood. Six months ago, she never imagined that she would have to protect their women and labour law to the employer.
— To be honest, everything that happens in the company I could not imagine in a nightmare, — says Eugene, — given that this state enterprise. When I arrived, I was 35, now I’m 42. And, of course, I never imagined that at 41 I will say “goodbye”. Until mid-August, I quietly flew, brought gratitude, faithfully doing his job and it turns out that since mid-August, I stopped to meet the needs of the employer.
— How did you get that?
— I just in its geography of flights it felt right. First, the talk crept, crawled, and then I sharply from August 15 to start flying a private geography, and it becomes clear. Then I was transferred to first division, where he collected the same as I custom. Either fat or old or unattractive. Three categories of people who were in the first compartment. We started to fly to Russia a short flight — two hours there, an hour and a half back. But in order for me to gather up their sanitary standard, I have very often to go to work almost every day. And the guide left us night departures or early morning. Accordingly, you do not sleep the night. In January I was already in a state when I came to work and my earth was gone from under his feet from fatigue, from lack of sleep chronic. Ways from we have decided to get rid of. Who will survive, who will survive, who will not stand, he will quit.
— Someone from heads something specific you talked about his claims?
— Yes, I was told, they say, you need to lose weight, these are the new rules of the game to fly abroad. You have big cheeks. Do you have big Breasts, so you should wear a sports bra and stuff like that. Can you imagine what a blow to the self esteem? What a humiliation of human dignity? In any legislative act does not say what size needs to be a stewardess. All this stereotype.
— We often talk about sexism, bodyshaping, ageism. This is the case, do you think?
Yeah, yeah, that’s just present! They also said privately that by 2018 we won’t have any 40-year-old flight attendants. How are they going to do it, I don’t know, but at least, these slogans we on the sidelines are pronounced. The team supports me, but again, in order that this victory was more significant, of course, would claim not only two people, if it were at least 52 people, would be quite another matter. But, basically, all the people scared, zashugannyh, all sitting in their bushes and watch from the bushes, what’s all over.
Soon will begin the trial on the suit that brought Eugene to their employers. Not being a feminist in the classic sense, it nonetheless became her in fact.
Feminist-filosofia, as she calls herself, Olgert Kharitonov will meet March 8 in Germany and, most likely, will take part in women’s protests.
Feminist organizations in Russia, — says Algerta — there is a feminist community. Basically it is located and communicates in social networks. And so, alive… we thought about how to organize a feminist party, but this was too serious swing. If the opposition in Russia could not be organized, feminists especially will be difficult, we have no such resources. But as communities in social networks exist, there is a statement of opinion, and crystallize ideas. For example, I supervise “Vkontakte” community “School of feminism.” First, the community appeared in real life, we met in Moscow, in “Sakharov center”, for example. Somewhere year and a half. Then the community is left with only “Vkontakte” but there 13 thousand participants.
— In your opinion, what is the state of women’s rights in Russia?
— The deplorable, and, even when compared with the former republics of the Soviet Union — that is the most terrible. I mean, we already do not dream to grow to Europe to the Scandinavian countries, but at least to Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan. Because in Russia, for example, adopted a law on gender equality. It lies in the Duma since the end of the 20th century. We have not adopted the law against domestic violence, moreover, there is a law on the decriminalization of domestic violence — again retreat back, it’s all the same infringement of the rights of women in the first place. Labour law — let’s take the easy part. Even in Europe women in the same workplace get 23% less money than men. We have literally legislation violated the labor law. For example, in Russia there is a ban on more than 400 occupations for women. Or is there such a thing as a glass ceiling. You can just look at the number of governing than any of the women, very, very little. If you look at the Duma — there are women about 15 percent. Women are not allowed to make a career.
According to the latest polls showed fewer Russians want to see women in politics. Why?
— I think that, of course, blame TV, and in General, the policy of the state and our ruling elite. If you say all the time that family values should stand at the forefront, and women’s destiny is motherhood, let’s have more, because we have demographic problems. When a woman is all the time reminded of her purpose, about her reproductive function, that’s the only important thing in a woman, of course, society changes their views. She should be a mother and to give himself to the entire family.
— Why the word “feminism” has become almost pejorative?
— I think it has to do with the same policy that was in the Soviet Union. Women were given suffrage in 1917, and, like, what’s the problem? That is, feminism won. In Soviet Russia there is the idea of feminists as bourgeois dames in there in the West, suffer a Soviet woman have an equal, and she is mother-heroine, and a shock worker. It was erected on a pedestal, but a real woman probably suffered even more than the peasant in the Russian Empire. And feminists — bourgeois ladies who are suffering for unknown reasons, and this ideology, like all bourgeois philosophy, was hostile to Soviet Russia, and I think this negative attitude towards feminism went from there. So many women blamed feminists that they gave them the right to work and forced them to work in 2-3 shifts.
— How do you perceive the day on March 8?
Is a day of solidarity with the working women of the world, and I know that preparing for an international strike of women. Organizers urge women not to go to work, it’s called a Day without women. Not to go to work, do not engage in any housework, and go out all in the same pink hats, as it was in the United States, and to conduct some demonstrations if possible. That is, 8 March is a day of solidarity with the women who are protesting against sexist policies, not only in Russia, but in the same America and in some European countries.
— In your opinion, Russian women are ready to assume not only rights but also responsibilities equal to men’s?
— In many masculine groups say that women want rights, but don’t want commitments. Many women perceive men as the stronger sex, who is responsible for everything, and many would not want this submission to be abandoned. I’m aware of this report. But feminists see it the same way. To hide behind the strong arm is a losing and not a winning situation. Because if it’s strong arm suddenly leave, or it will appear that he wants to protect you, and another woman, then you immediately lose control over your own life. Some women do not understand and do not want to understand. The task of feminists is to explain it.
— Does it work?
— I think the TV wins.
Russian sociologist, Professor at the Faculty of political Sciences and sociology, European University at St. Petersburg Temkina, Anna is confident that interest in feminism in Russia started to Wake up.
— Now interest in feminism is very much increased very much increased among young people. The idea of feminism is a process. It’s not the fact that once happened remains forever the same, the situation is changing. Now the society is a new educated generation that is interested in this. Partly because we are more integrated into the global world, for all that. Because of this more and more it becomes open.
Actually, what is feminism? This is a reaction to certain painful points, discrimination, oppression of people by gender or sex, together with the grounds of age, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality and so on. Now all this is discussed, there is a sharp public reaction. If these problems are widespread, so they have some social and cultural reasons. This is some form of power, generally referred to by the term “Patriarchy”. To the extent that, as is increasingly recognized, some form of feminist response. In Russia, they are now more formed in culture and science. In politics, they also have but a few. Why wasn’t it? Because that didn’t happen this awareness, it is quite slow. A traditionalist society, it supports social and cultural hierarchy, and women and men have some benefit from a Patriarchal device. Women can manipulate a weakness, men can learn their interests, therefore, Patriarchal structures are quite stable, they are in the Western world also collapsed immediately, this was preceded by a very long struggle. But now there is the realization that suffering both women and men and other social groups on gender, on sexuality, for example, due to the fact that this system of power, domination, hierarchy persists. Transformation, it responds very slowly, this is a very long process.
On 11 March Moscow will host the first big festival, Fem Fest, devoted to feminism. The organizers promise to tell about the history of feminism, about how to recognize explicit and implicit sexism, the phenomenon of transgender, on how to help victims of violence, about women’s football and feminism in gloss and much more.
