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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 2012 WWW. UNWLA.ORG 9 We have to analyze how and why a culture transforms sexual difference into social inequality. “ return ” in the form of financial success? It is a b- solutely clear to me that such views contribute to the spread of prostitution, trafficking in wom en, and family violence against women, who are fr e- quently abused by their wealthy husbands who treat them like property. Gender education and the raising of gender awareness are necessary in all spheres and for all ages, but I am convinced that we should begin with teaching gender studies to stu dents of social sciences and the humanities, many of whom will eventually become sc hool teachers. The impact of this can be quick and n o- ticeable because the influence of teac h- ers on their students ’ worldview and individuality is enor m ous! A teacher can encourage talented girls to d e ve l- op their intellectual, creative, and le a- dership abili ties, to fully realize their potential, and to learn how to value their individuality. Respectful, egalit a- rian relationships between the sexes and true cooperation of men and women in different spheres for the good of the entire society are i m poss i- ble if t his society is divided into the “ stron g er sex ” and the “ beautiful ” one, when it views the woman only as a sexual toy or a housekeeper and the man as a “ mammoth hunter. ” To get rid of these stereotypes, we have to understand how gender hierarchies are formed and analyze how and why a culture transforms sexual diffe r- ence into social inequality. Gender studies afford us precisely such a critical perspective on our cu l- tures and societies. You have taught women ’ s/gender studies in Ukraine, and this semester you are o f- fering the students of Columbia University a course about Eastern European women in the era of post - socialist transform a- tions. Which gender aspects are most i n- teresting to Ukrainian and American st u- dents? A re there difference s in how they understand the concept of gender itself? There are certainly differences between the st u- dents , but it is only natural , considering the co n- trast in the status of gender studies in the academic sphere of the two countries. As I said before, it is a relatively new discipline for Ukraine, so to Ukra i- nian students, it is a somewhat exotic subject that gets taught on a regular basis only in a few unive r- sities across the countr y. Most recently , there has been some progress in introducing gender studies into the Ukrainian academia: at the end of 2011, several universities in Kharkiv simultaneously a n- nounced their plans to add this subject to their curricula, and in September of 2 010, with the su p- port of the United Nations Development Program, five gender studies departments were created in various cities of Ukraine. On the one hand, this is encouraging news which demonstrates that the process of this discipline ’ s institutionalizat ion has begun. On the other hand, there is a possibility that a dearth of experts in this field and our lack of ac a- demic resources (first and foremost, extremely l i- mited library holdings) might result in a kind of vulgarization of gender studies in Ukraine . Unfo r tunately, I frequently e n counter a somewhat simplistic and careless understanding of gender issues among my peers . To come back to the differences between Ukrainian and American st u- dents: in the spring of 2010, I had a chance to teach a course “ Ukrain ian Women in Post - Socialist Transform a- tions ” in the Semester Abroad Program at the Ukrainian Catholic University. My students included both women from North America and from Ukraine. The foreign students had less difficulty grasping the theoretical and method o- logical problems (since they already had a base of knowledge on the subject), but they frequently lacked cultural experience as well as the knowledge of history and everyday life in Ukraine. This is why in my current course at C o- lumbia Universit y I strive to familiarize my st u- dents, as much as possible, with the local context: they not only read scholarly work but also analyze statistical data and the results of sociological su r- veys, excerpts from legislation , mass media and pop culture texts, th e activity of non - governmental organizations, documentaries, etc. I often have to give them a crash course on various historical phenomena — things that are well - known to Ukrainians (for instance, who are the Cossacks, what is the Holodomor or the per e- stroik a period). My main objective is to show st u- dents how complex, multifaceted, and sometimes contradictory the post - socialist transformations were and to let them see women's varied partic i- pation in these processes. It is important to me that they realize tha t women were not only the objects and victims of the economic crisis and p o- litical upheavals but also the agents of change, and that they managed to develop effective su r- vival strategies and frequently found success d e- spite all the difficulties.
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