As a white, American woman, I realize that I am inherently privileged among other women. I had always liked to think I fully realized that. I have always known that women in many parts of the world are horribly oppressed. I assumed that simply having knowledge of this was good enough. My recent study abroad to Russia showed me just how wrong I was. Living in Saint Petersburg for five weeks, followed by a week spent in Moscow, left me changed, shocked, and disillusioned.
Women in Russia do not have the social and economic privileges and respect that most men do. There is very little respect for women in the workplace. They are often expected to lie, cheat, and give sexual favors to climb in the business world. My teacher at the university in Saint Petersburg explained that there are “women’s” jobs and “men’s” jobs. Women are expected to become teachers, secretaries, designers, etc., while men are expected to run businesses, take government positions, or join the military.
The gym in Saint Petersburg was a world apart from my usual gym in Kentucky. The sweaty old men and dude-bros were not very different from their American brethren, but their behavior was worse. Men openly stared down women while they worked out, causing some to have to drop what they were doing and move. Men approached me as I was working out, hitting me up for my contact information and my plans for the rest of the day. One guy even grabbed my phone so he could look himself up on Facebook. The worst part was the locker room situation. My boyfriend told me that there were pictures of naked women posed suggestively on exercise equipment in the men’s locker room. The women’s locker room was devoid of any kind of décor, let alone the highly sexualized sort.
The most heartbreaking difference between Russian and American women’s worlds is the prevalence of, and attitude toward domestic violence. There is currently a movement in Russia to legalize domestic violence, and it is gaining support. I saw the evidence of this in the streets and on my university’s campus. Women with black eyes, bruises, and knuckle-marks on their bodies were a common sight. The Russian women I befriended and spoke to told me that women largely “know their place” in their homes and work environments. Women are taught from an early age that it is a man's world, and they must mold themselves to fit into it. This attitude, they told me, often subjects women to violence and disrespect. As an American woman, I was floored by this. I would compare the status of women in Russia to that of American women during the 1950s. I have grown accustomed to seeing women in positions of power and influence. I regularly see female role models speak out about feminism and the power of individuality. I have seen companies, for the most part, stop the hypersexualization of women in their advertisements. I have grown used to being told that I can be whatever I want to be. I have been inundated with these things, and blinded privilege, for this is usually not the case in Russia. Although there are certainly many powerful women and positive role models for girls in Russia, the overarching problem is rooted deep within its culture. Like our own women's equality movement here in America, I believe that those fighting for equality in Russia have a long, hard road ahead of them.
