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In the November 1992 issue OUR LIFE published the first part of an address by the Presi dent of the Ukrainian National Women’s League, Milena Rudnycky, delivered on the open ing of the Ukrainian Women’s Congress in Stanyslaviv, on June 23, 1934. In this issue we feature the second part of the address. THE TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF UKRAINIAN WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS Henceforth is our Ukrainian reality: our people are embattled, shattered, against the background of global disorder, in the face of oncoming cataclysms which seal our fate for future decades. In the midst of this Ukrain ian chaos stands the Ukrainian woman. She is a young new citizen, who for the first time 50 years ago asked for her human rights and for more than 10 years now has been taking her first forays into community life. She is as yet not aware of her dormant creative capabilities. However, she deeply feels the tragedy of her nation and realizes that the responsibility for this tragedy falls not only on the men of her nation, who caused it, but also on the women, who because of their weakness and pas sivity were not able to counteract it. Therefore, armed with this feeling of responsibility for the fate of her nation, the Ukrainian woman, citizen and mother of the new generation, is seeking a new direction. What to do? Which way to proceed? What is our credo? Where is the banner under which all Ukrainian women can stand? What tasks, what responsibilities are put upon us by these difficult times and what directions are indicated for the Ukrainian women’s movement? These are questions which need answers. But before we can attempt to answer them we must rid ourselves of all accusations which were levied against us, we must dispense doubts which envelop us. The first of these doubts sounds like this: Can we talk about independent women’s publications, women’s conferences and congresses? Are there any matters, any ideas which unite Ukrainian women as women and as members of the Ukrainian nation? Is there a Ukrain ian women’s movement? Is its existence still justified? The second doubt can be presented so: Can there be a dialogue about any common goals for all of the Ukrainian women considering the fact that we have ceased to be an amorphic mass without convictions, without our own common credo, that we divided our selves among political parties, and on the whole, the dif ference between any of us is not less than that among men. Or, in other words: If there is a Ukrainian women’s movement, are we talking about only one or perhaps several of them, each with its own understanding of tasks and the role of women? The women’s movement.... How unpopular these words have become recently. Not any less so than they were 50 years ago when they were introduced to the community in Halychyna by Natalia Kobrynsky. How many tragic or rather tragi-comic misunderstandings and conflicts are invoked by the misunderstanding of the meaning of these words. In conjunction with the Ukrainian Women’s Congress we were subjected in the last few months to ridiculous conclusions and state ments about the women’s movement, proclaimed in an authoritative, self serving tone by experts. Their unbe lievable ignorance, irrelevance and triviality was dishear tening. The Ukrainian women’s movement was the recipient of countless unmotivated accusations grasped from thin air, of insinuations, of numerous Unsubstan tiated suspicions, of nonexistent incentives. It seemed at times that we are at the point where 50 years ago stood Kobrynsky, and that it would be necessary to repeat everything over again that was said and written half a century ago. Indeed, the best answer to all those who deny the Ukrainian women’s movement the right and need to exist is our Congress. The Congress itself carries more conviction than the strongest arguments and the most logical considerations, that there is a commonality among us. Nevertheless there will be people for whom even our Congress will not be proof enough that there are living ideas which bond us. In the midst of our commun ity, actually in the midst of noted community activists there are those who consider the Congress a very posi tive occurrence, yet they display a belligerent attitude toward all women’s organizations. Ask them, how could we convene a Congress which is a meeting of the repre sentatives of Ukrainian women’s organizations if there were no such organizations. Then, there are those who agree that women’s organizations are important and useful, but at the same time they hurl stones at the women’s movement. And yet every women’s organiza tion, no matter what its goals and activities is the reflec tion of that social current permeating throughout the whole world and known as the women’s movement. There are those in our community who consider the women’s movement synonymous with feminism, ther eby showing that they don’t understand either. The most widely held viewpoint in our society is that the women’s movement is a struggle for equality of rights. Propagators of this point of view state that equal ity has alreay occurred, and according to them the role of the women’s movement has come to an end. 18 ’’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ", ЛЮТИЙ 1993 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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