Description

Women’s participation in EuroMaidan and its social and media evaluations largely reflect the social position of women in the Ukrainian society. In the current economic and social situation, entrenched stereotypes of men as family breadwinners and leaders in the public sphere (particularly, in politics) and stereotypes of women as mostly wives and mothers inhibit progress in gender equality in Ukrainian society. In my research I will try to discuss three major ideas: (1) (International) media discourse about EuroMaidan was “narrow”; event (practices) is much more diverse; (2) Women were not “helpers”, but “participants” of EuroMaidan; (3) women had possibility to fulfill not only “traditional” (“female”) roles; new niches for egalitarian (emancipatory) participation were possible. The empirical base for research is the examples of speeches on Maidan, journal articles, pictures and video materials, blogs and social networks; participants observation and interviews with activists. The theoretical background of my research is feminist theories, especially intersection of feminism and nationalism (Yuval-Davis 1997; Bohachevsky-Chomiak 1994; Kis 2005; Rubchak 1996; Zhurzhenko 2012 and others).