Equals or Opposites? Women’s Attitudes to Gender

Abstract

The gender climate has been defined earlier in this book as the sum of acceptable notions of gender identity, roles and relations and resultant discourse and practice. As such it must be reflected in widely held public opinion as well as existing on the level of political rhetoric and media discourse. Since women form more than half of society, it would be impossible for such a climate of public opinion to exist if women themselves did not, to some extent at least, subscribe to and support it. Moreover, the role ascribed to women as the primary carers and educators of future generations makes their collusion with or rejection of such a discourse a key factor in the success or failure of its establishment as a part of the socially accepted reality. Previous chapters have sought to intertwine an analysis of the dominant discourses relating to specific aspects of the post-Soviet gender climate with the opinions and attitudes expressed by women from the research sample in response to those particular discourses and their practical implications. These chapters have shown the complexities of women’s position whereby much of the rhetoric of essentialist and traditional discourses are upheld whilst their practical implications are described as problematic or are even flatly refused. This chapter will examine women’s responses to the more generalized aspects of the gender climate which relate to gender identity, gender relations, and concepts of equality and emancipation.