Militant Femininity: Transformations of the Image of a Ukrainian Woman in Public Discourse in the Time of Russia’s War on Ukraine by Oksana Kis

Since the Maidan and the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine in spring 2014, one can observe significant changes in the public discourse on normative femininity in Ukraine – a remarkable trend towards the normalization of the image of the female soldier. Its validity is often legitimized by direct references to the strong and vivid historical legacy of Ukrainian women’s military service in the 20th century, while others seek empowerment in folk traditions (such as witchcraft). As full citizens, Ukrainian women claim their role in defense efforts on an equal footing with men, while emphasizing women’s gendered ways and means of contributing to the national project. In this talk, Dr. Kis will examine verbal and visual materials from conventional and social media to show how the image of a militant woman (referring to both soldiers and civilians) evolves and gains momentum as a hybrid form of femininity that is more inclusive in terms of its diverse and seemingly opposing constituents.

Oksana Kis is a feminist historian and anthropologist, senior scholars and head of the Department of Social Anthropology at the Institute of Ethnology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (in Lviv). Dr. Kis is president of the Ukrainian Association for Research in Women’s History. Her book Ukraïnky v GULAGu: Vyzhyty znachyt´ peremohty (Lviv, 2017; 2nd rev. ed. 2020) was included in the Ukrainian Book Institute’s list of the 30 most significant books of the Ukrainian Independence period in 2021. Its English version, Survival as Victory: Ukrainian Women in the Gulag (Harvard Series in Ukrainian Studies, 2021), received the Translated Book Award from the Peterson Literary Fund (2021). She also edited and coedited several award-winning volumes including on women’s history. Her most recent edited collection, Women’s Dimensions of the Past: Perceptions, Experiences, Representations (in Ukrainian), was published in December 2023. Dr. Kis is a recipient of several academic awards, including two Fulbright Research Fellowships (2003 and 2011). The areas of her expertise include women’s lives in pre-industrial Ukrainian peasant families and rural communities, Ukrainian women’s experiences of the Holodomor 1932/33, women’s participation in the Ukrainian national anti-Soviet resistance in the 1940–1950s, gendered experiences of Ukrainian female political prisoners in the Gulag, and gender transformations in post-socialist countries.

The lecture will be delivered in Ukrainian. Discussion in Ukrainian and English.

Admission to this event is free, registration is required. Suggested donation is $10. Building capacity is limited, please register below to secure your spot.

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