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cracy is allying itself with the democratic forces in the non-Russian republics to pursue constructive policies of reform. Women, silent in all-Union politics, are dis gusted with the decades of political repression, corrup tion, and hypocrisy. It is difficult to get them to see the need for direct involvement, to use the opportunity for change. At times, one hears that men messed up the system, let the men put it right. On the All-Union level, Galina Semyonova, elected to the Soviet Communist Party Politburo for what Gorbachev described as “the women-family-children- portfolio,” cannot even conceive of addressing any women’s issues before solving “very tough, very real problems.” The woman chosen by Gor bachev to act as the spokesperson for women’s con cerns is not yet ready to conceptualize them in her country.25 Most women identify the woman question within the context of the whole society, and not in terms of women’s rights. Nevertheless, in that “borderlands” country, Ukraine, a women’s movement is emerging. Ukraine, as the Bal tic states, is rediscovering a multi-party democratic tra dition, and encouraging the establishment of cultural organizations of the minorities. Since Ukrainians had not had an independent government or a strong dias pora, they have historically relied upon community orga nizations to structure their lives, provide support and educational opportunities. This tradition has resurfaced recently even to the point of reliance upon community rather than government for social welfare. Independent women’s voices are also being heard. In the spring and summer of 1990. Ukrainian women began forming independent organizations and in March, 1991, established an independent Council of Women of Ukraine to coordinate their work.26 Yet, precisely be cause the state has been unable to breathe life into offi cial women’s organizations, the demands of women, once voiced, seem to reflect the demands of society. The catastrophe at Chernobyl shook the population of Ukraine from the terrorized torpor into which it had been molded through the successive waves of Stalinist terror and famine, wartime German occupation, and the corruption of the Brezhnev period. In Ukraine consider ations of peace are linked with concern for ecology, in particular the dangers of radiation and toxic waste brought on by irresponsible exploitation of land and resources by the Moscow controlled military-industrial complex. Ecological concerns, combined with pervasive Russification of the population, were the major stimuli in the formation of the democratic movement (Rukh) to help along the program of restructuring of the country. Another impetus has been the increased awareness of the brutalities to which draftees into the Soviet army are subjected by the officers and by the men. Seventeen and eighteen year old men are subject to the draft and often sent to serve in areas far removed from the repub lic in which they live. There they are subjected to what “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ГРУДЕНЬ 1991 can be charitably called hazing, but which many of the mothers maintain is brutality.27 Annually in peacetime, on the average 5000 young men die in the Soviet army — some in the courses of duty, some through negli gence, and others after beatings or suicides. The situa tion became particularly acute during the wind-down of the Afghan war. As a result, a large grass roots organi zation emerged, spearheaded by mothers whose sons were either already in the army or of the mandatory draft age. Called the Organization of Soldiers’ Mothers, it is very East European in its stress on the role of the mother in taking care of her sons. There is no mention of daughters; women are not drafted into the Soviet Army. The Mothers’ Committees now dot all the repub lics and may become a potential force in bringing women together for the cause of peace. It is especially strong in Ukraine which bore a heavy burden of the unpopular war in Afghanistan and which used recruits to clean up the nuclear waste at Chernobyl. 25. Michael Parks, "Galina Semyonova: No Mere Token in the Soviet Politburo,” Los Angeles Times, January 15, 1991, H:5. He further quotes Semyonova: “We can talk in the high- flown terms of the international feminist movement, but we have very tough, very real problems that must be solved before we can speak of women’s liberation in a philosophic ora politi cal way. 26. Organizing women is difficult, because many women have written off any possibility of working with the central government. State operated women’s organizations, introduced first in the 1920s, abolished in 1930 with the argument that equality has been achieved, and reestablished in 1946 to foster international women’s cooperation have proven to be hollow shells. Despite ostensible social programs, despite alleged open admissions and equality in employment, women remain singu larly unempowered in the USSR. Gorbachev’s attempts to establish women’s councils as some kind of support group for his position have not been taken seriously. These councils, funded by the state, still exist, but are purely ceremonial. In the last two years, however, Moscow women have been meeting with an informal group of American women. The Women’s Dia logue USA/USSR. The Americans published a Russian lan guage newsletter “You and We” in the fall of 1990. 27. See for instance "I bude syn, і budy maty,’’ by Olek- sandr Kryvoshey and Liudmyla Chechel’, in Radianska Zhinka No. 11, 1990, p. 35. Interestingly enough this magazine, pub lished monthly in a run of more than two and a half million and previously known for its bland toeing of the party line, invited its readers to express their views on the demands of the moth ers’ committee. 21
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