We must abolish the entitlement that deludes us into believing that we have the right to make assumptions about people’s identities and project those assumptions onto their genders and bodies. (Janet Mock)
WOMEN IN POLITICS: NEW APPROACHES TO THE POLITICAL
The Educational Feminist Journal, ISSN 1805-4935 (Print), 1805-4943 (Online)
This publication contains mature subject matter. Reader discretion is advised.
Gender of Politics, vol 1 (2012)
The first volume of “WOMEN IN POLITICS: NEW APPROACHES TO THE POLITICAL” journal is entitled “Pol politiki”. This Russian phrase plays with the double meaning of the Russian word "pol": translated as “gender” and “half”. In our case, this polysemy is symbolic because the androcentric vision of political issues in post-Soviet countries consistently excludes women. That is, it excludes half of the population. Therefore, we decided to start a dialogue with our readers by questioning the “gender” of politics which is questioning the “half” of politics and the Belarusian population. The volume offers the analysis of complications with “gender” terminology and research in post-Soviet countries by Segruei A. Oushakine and Alexander Pershái. Another section of the journal investigates the cultural consumption of gender in present-day Belarus. The classic essay on women and consumerism by Ellen Willis opens this discussion. Anna Zhyn and Natalia Koulinka look at the issues of sexual harassment in the work place and the parallels between the parliamentary elections and beauty contests in Belarus. There are two interviews with politically active Belarusian women: civic rights specialist Svetlana Naumova, who recently passed away, and Ol’ga Karach, a leader of the human rights advocacy organization “Adliga”. Two essays about prominent historical female figures conclude this volume. Svetlana Aivazova reflects on Simone de Beauvoir’s life and legacy. Elena Gapova looks at Poluta Bodunova, a woman who was actively involved in the Belarusian revolutionary movement of the early 1900s. The volume includes art work by Belarusian artist and political artist Marina Naprushkina.
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Editors’ Foreword | Read or Download
“Gender” problems and their interpretations in the post-Soviet countries
- Serguei A. Oushakine. “Gender” – a category for rent (Podkovanniy “gender”) | Read or Download
- Alexander Pershái. Is the struggle for women’s rights a struggle for gender equality?, or on the inclusion of other unconventional gender groups in the struggle for gender equality | Read or Download
Society/Women/Consumption
- Ellen Willis. Women and the myth of consumerism (1969) | Read or Download
- Natalya Koulinka. Beauty contest versus the Parliamentary election in Belarus: The exclusion of women from political discourse | Read or Download
- “The beauty contest.” A comic by Marina Naprushkina | Read or Download
Opinion
- Anna Zhyn. “A firm seeks a secretary with big eyes”, or on sexism at the work place | Read or Download
Voices
Dialogues
- Evgenia Ivanova interviews Olga Karatch | Read or Download
- “Gender and politics.” A comic by Marina Naprushkina | Read or Download