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drive, and passengers who cannot drive try to grab the wheel, there will definitely be an accident). Looking at the role of a woman in such circumstances, the cer tainty of Kameniar becomes comprehensible that only educated, wise mothers can bring up an enlightened people who will have a goal, will be disciplined and united. Although the end of the XIX and the beginning of the XX century brought a new view of women as lower beings, Ukrainian women took a most active role in the struggle for liberation in 1918. Unfortunately, the strength of the women was not put to full use. In analyz ing the retreat of the Sichovi Striltsi from Lviv, one jour nalist said later that the leadership could have made better use of women than deploying them as nurses and cooks. Among the Polish army which took Lviv, there were whole squadrons of women. 1920s and 1930s were the between war years and in Halychyna it was a period of the greatest uplifting of women in the formation of national self realization when the social, economic and political role of women became very noticeable in the life of the country. It was these years — the starting ground — not only of women tak ing an active part in the fight for independence during the last war, but also the qualities safeguarded by Haly chyna till today, gave cause to M. Hrushevsky to call this small part of the country the Ukrainian Piemont around which the democratic ideals from around all Ukrainian lands were sanctioned. In these years in Western Ukraine the social life of Ukrainians fared well: there was the society “Ridna Shkola,” “Vidrodszczenia,” “Prosvita,” “Ukrainian Natio nal Women’s League,” “Sitch,” “Plast” (I respect A. Mychajlenko as an editor, but was it necessary to go to Australia to learn what is Plast? Lviv is so much closer. I hope that when someone wants to find out about UNWL, he or she will not go to Canada or the United States). The legacy of Ukrainian National Women’s League which was active until 1939 is still felt today not only in the rich and varied culinary skills, not only in the exper tise of managing a family budget (and that is of utmost importance today) but in the ability of women to work in the community, to take an active part in political life. In the 1920s U. Miklowsky published a book “Ukrainski Rurch Kobiecy” in which she warns the Polish popu lace: “We must awaken the Polish community to realize that the impetus of Ukrainian women to consolidate, to become self sufficient and culturally enlightened, was directed mainly toward us.” Therefore even then UNWL did not identify with the feminist movement in Europe. Particularly, this cannot be done now. In Ukraine, the problem of equal rights with men was practically none-existent. If the laws of countries in which Ukraine was a part, restricted wo men’s rights, then the common law in principle was democratic. It was forbidden to mock women and men were not invited to participate in women’s concerns. When we speak about the Soviet woman, then we have not only equal rights, but we have a twisted variant on that — we have equality. Equality in industry, in road repair, in carrying heavy objects in stores, in the build ing industry. All this developed the phenomenon of the Soviet family, the Soviet upbringing and morality. There fore, we are not concerned with the problems of femi nism, but rather want to shed communism, to clean up after the communist ideology of equality which went hand in hand in nurturing disrespect to women. It is truly a satanic invention: on one hand is a constitution which guarantees equal rights, then there are all sorts of pompous applause of women’s accomplishments in the revolution and on job (it was true, but carried to the absurd), and on the other hand in films, on TV, in var ious anectodes there is a brutal humiliation and ridicul ing of the most revered individual at one time, the mother. It seems that hardly anyone was unaware of the national politics of the “world’s foremost ideologly”, but somehow many men failed to see the actual esssence of it. The goal was not only to destroy nations, but the fam ily unit. Therefore it was understood that as long as there will be a mother (a woman of feminine dignity and national pride), there will be nation. A free woman brings up free children. A beaten down, ridiculed, frightened woman will bear and raise slaves, who will be placid, indifferent, unable to raise from their knees. No one will pick up our cause but ourselves (I don’t differentiate between women’s causes and out national ones). No one will explain the role of women in a family situation, in social and community settings and on the national forum (if it should come to that). We have to enlighten our youth and our men about the fact that the image of a woman is also the image of a nation. Prin cess Olha is an image of a proud and dignified Ukraine. A down trodden contemporary woman represents a down trodden nation. We are ashamed in front of other nations that during such a serious forum as the II All Ukrainian Conference of RUKH, President Dmytro Pav- lychenko, a man respected by us all, allowed himself to make a disparaging remark to the effect that women delegates have something worthy to say. I must say, though, that the issues addressed by women rather infrequently at the forum were most interesting, but more important they were actual and timely. We are not complaining about the fate of women. We are concerned not only about our position (and that is very important to us), but about the fate of our nation. But, the contemporary Ukrainian woman is not capable neither physically nor spiritually to handle her role to bring up and educate a nation. The current situation has also demoralized the man who lost his natural stature as the master of the home, the protector, the warrior, and therefore he lost his authority within the family. He is not at fault here, but
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