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OUR LIFE Monthly, published by Ukrainian National Women's League of America VOL. XLIV MAY 1987 Editor: Marta Baczynsky DOES EQUAL MEAN IDENTICAL? The pursuit of women to achieve equality, or the bet ter known women’s liberation movement, manifested itself in various formats and adhered to different agen das in different countries, depending upon the laws which governed it. Customs and the traditional position of women in a particular nation influenced the women’s movement. In comparison to other groups, within the Ukrainian society women were respected, they exerted more influence and thereby had more responsibility. These women were not only the few noted individuals such as Princess Olha, who played such an important role in the history of our nation. Today, there are nations where the lawful and real position of women is far from equal with men, although individual distinguished wo men influenced the course of history of these countries, i.e. Cleopatra in Egypt, Joan of Arc in France — coun tries where women did not have the privilege to vote until very recently. The comparison between Ukrainian noblewoman and her counterpart in Russian society was unusually well depicted by poet/writer Lesia Ukrainka in her dramatic work Boyarynja. The Ukrainian woman is her husband’s mate and friend, she lives and works with him; the Rus sian woman is enslaved who functions in the shadow of her husband. In the History of Ukraine/Rus (vol. 111, pg. 376, Ukra- ianian text) historian Mychajlo Hrushevskyj said that the major difference between the ancient Rus laws and the roman or germanic laws, was that it placed no limita tions on the position of women and their legal rights. Roman laws prescribed the care of women, considering them as non-responsible and the germanic laws held women and children as entities of no legal status. The ancient Rus laws placed no restrictions on the property rights of a woman during her husband’s lifetime. The laws of Russia and Austro-Hungary which gov erned our land did not give equal rights to men and women. Hence, independent of the traditional position of women in Ukrainian society there arose a necessity to fight for equal rights. 1884 is marked as the date which saw the beginning of the women’s movement when in Stanyslaviv, Galicia, Natalia Kobrynsky organized the Association of Women. Later, in Lviv other organizations were formed such as the Club of Rus/women, and the Group of Ukrainian Girls (name was later changed), a unique feature of these organizations was that their programs were geared not only to benefit women but various groups such as the peasants, craftsmen, youth and the community in general. In the western world the struggle against inequality exhibited itself in a reaction where men were imitated by women as far as their apparel, behavior and habits were concerned, discarding all external and psycholog ical aspects of femininity. Our forerunners — the eman cipators — in keeping with the ideology of Natalia Kobrynsky and adhering to the principles of equality even then, underlined the value of feminine nature, fem inine atributes — physical and psychological. They demanded the right to education and recognition of their role not only in the family but in the community. Due to this influence, Sofia Okunevska-Morachevska was able to overcome great difficulties, to become the first woman physician in the Austro-Hungarian country. Some of the demands which the present day emanci pators in the United States and the western world are struggling for would have astonished women of the older generations, because their mothers and grand mothers had fought for the same privileges, such as equal pay for equal work. When comparing the status of women at the turn of the century to today it is necessary to consider the enormity of technical achievements which greatly eased the job of the homemaker. A great deal of free time was thereby created, with the opportunities to use it for furthering educational goals, for professional work or social and community involvement. There is a humor ous saynig that technical advances gave people free time and the television set took it all away. Progress in the home, in agriculture, in communica tion made a fundamental change in people’s lives, not only in the practical sense. The home and the care of Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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