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19делового общения или язык жестов. Но нельзя не согласиться, что юмор играет далеко не последнюю роль в формировании национальной культуры. Фразу «Учите русский, чтобы понимать юмор» можно продолжить примерно так: «Понимая русский юмор, гораздо проще разобраться в особенностях национальной культуры». И это можно сказать не только о России, о любой другой стране, в том числе и о США. Без знания культуры страны невозможно наладить нормальные партнерские отношения, культура составляет основу для эффективного и успешного международного сотрудничества. И первыми шагами на пути к такому сотрудничеству являются совместные семинары студентов из России и США.
K. Brackett A SERIOUS PROVINCIAL GENDER GAP
To the untrained eye, women and men across Russia seem to have equal opportunities in schools and the work place. New schools, businesses, and homes are springing up everywhere you look, leaving the impression of a progressive, growing community. Moscow is becoming a more popular place for travel and tourism with each year and a strong member of international business, full of opportunities for college graduates. The troubling part of this picture is that this is not exactly the case in smaller towns outside of Moscow. In smaller towns like Tambov, the development is slower and most definitely less open to all. In this essay, I argue that the few opportunities available in a small, provincial town like Tambov are not easily accessed by women because of a serious gender gap. Women are not treated as equals and instead are treated as inferior to the males with whom they live side by side in Tambov.
Women's position in society in Tambov is anything but where it should be in a country that has been a democracy for over a decade. The first example I saw of this was what I experienced as a female staying in Tambov for a month myself. When I was out in public,
whether it was just walking along the sidewalk, exercising, or simply getting a few groceries, you could feel the difference. Men were very aggressive in their behavior toward you or even just rudely obvious about their stares. In one incident, a man dressed in a Ministry of State Emergency uniform seemed to make no apologies for his actions when he grabbed at me while walking in the midst of a busy sidewalk during lunch time. I found this to be strange so I asked a few female colleagues who were native to Tambov. The female students advised me never to respond negatively to physical contact or taunting from males on the street because they could react violently. This basic example is apparently one of many instances that happen to Tambov women on an average day. Culture difference or no, I find it unacceptable.
This chauvinist behavior is surprising to anyone coming from a country where your body is protected by the law and it is common knowledge that men can be punished and fired from places of work for such actions. This legal status however can only exist in a state where women truly feel equal and where they fell they have the power and right to react. Some other responses I received when asking about my 'MChS' situation were that I should take it as a compliment or to just laugh at the situation because it is nothing surprising to have physical approaches by strange men when you are an attractive woman. This is a problematic situation for women growing up in Russia and wishing to pursue a career where they need to be taken seriously and professionally. This mindset should not exist in a democratized country where everyone is supposedly equal and has so-called equal access to all opportunities.
Russian female students questioned me on my opinion about sexual interactions with professors at Clemson University, or at American universities in general. When explaining exactly how inappropriate it was and that it was punishable by the university, the girls were shocked. They found it strange that no girls openly pursued a professor. There seemed to be no regard for the difference between a place of education and a separate social scene. There were no second thoughts given to how problematic this is in a learning environment, never mind the disadvantage it would put on male stu-
dents who did not have the same chance to use sex appeal to draw attention to themselves in the academic world. Again, the mindset of these young girls did not allow them to use just their minds to advance and gain access to positions of power. They seemed to openly seek the use of their sex-appeal and almost seemed resigned to the fact that this was a more powerful tool for them than their own talent and intellectual ability. This disturbs me greatly.
As long as young girls living in Tambov accept degrading actions and comments every day across simple situations, they will likely be grossly unprepared for the work place. Knowing that you can stand up for your individual rights with out fear of repercussions is a basic part of economic freedom in democratic societies. I am not sure if women in Russia have this freedom.
For women who go to school and work in Tambov, dressing in a certain way seems to be as important as what they will do that day. Despite the natural cultural difference between Russia and other Western nations, the dress for women in Tambov made women seem like something more to look at and admire than to work and learn with as an equal member of society. It did not matter what situation I was in or what time of day it was: I noticed the dress of women in Tambov as being much less casual than normal business attire in the United States. The girls were always in heels and skirts or had their hair and make-up done to perfection. Considering the long days of walking and public transport that Tambov locals endure everyday, it cannot be considered functional or convenient to wear high heels and short skirts each day.
It is arguable that this is merely a cultural difference and can be countered by the stereotype that Americans tend to dress sloppier than Russians and do not value style over comfort. What was most interesting to me was that when asking a few female students why they thought they always needed to be so extravagantly dressed up to simply go to one class or to just walk down the road, they replied that they never wanted to look unattractive. The students were very concerned with how they looked in public, especially when people like their professors or businessmen were present. This to me is another sign that women do not feel equal. It is true that it is very
normal for women all over Western countries to want to look attractive, but the experience did not feel the same for me in Tambov, or even in Moscow. When modes of dress are met with stares, comments, and even physical actions, women start to realize it might be their only effective tool to get the necessary professional attention from men. This creates a mindset that looking perfect at all times will generate responses that can help you in life and open doors of opportunity, if you happen to turn the right head at the right time. In a fully democratic state, this should not be so prevalent. There should be levels of appropriate dress in places of education versus your own personal night life. Your professional respect should not be tied so intimately to your sex-appeal or the beauty of your physical appearance. This is fine in Atlantida, but should not be the case at Tambov State University.
Perhaps these smaller examples can be as easily excused away, it is difficult, however, to completely dismiss public officials who use language that openly degrades women while in official meetings. In two specific examples, simple jokes managed to drop the jaws of an entire room of American students. First, a representative from Tambov's investigative unit for violent crimes such as rape and murder spoke with us openly about crime in Tambov. When asked if he thought Tambov shared the problem of rapes largely going unre-ported, as is often the case in the United States because women fear violent reactions from the accused, he answered with a joke. The joke unofficially implied that women would cry rape for any reason and darkly hinted that a major aspect of female commercial activity is limited to prostitution. This came from a high official charged with investigating sex crimes. If his attitude is so cavalier, what can society's be but worse?
A comment again was made by a politician and university official that the beautiful women of a provincial town like Tambov were a great example of good relations with outside regions because they were so desired. Even though meant as a compliment it was in the content of an official, televised meeting. When comments and jokes like these are found to be appropriate in a business and educational environment, it sets the precedent for women to be overly-concerned
with their beauty and makes men in society regard women only as objects of sexual attraction. The joke about rape only further degrades rape victims and suggests that women cannot be trusted. These comments set unprofessional and uncomfortable environments for women to speak without fear. I considered it no coincidence that in the meeting with the university official very few women would ask questions in comparison to the number of men, who frequently asked bold questions.
The differences in how women in Tambov think and act cannot be ignored any longer. The environment in which women currently live, work, and learn is not healthy in general but is especially disturbing for a supposedly growing democratic region. Women need to feel safe while walking alone, free to express what they think without fearing males' reaction, and they need to feel smart and powerful without using sex appeal to get the ear or eye of a powerful person. This mindset will not change without society changing the environment that allows it to persevere. There needs to be an understanding that women are to be respected as equals and are not comfortable being yelled and stared at constantly. When the young girls of this region think it is ok to be touched by strangers or that it is appropriate to have sexual relations with professors there is a serious breach of ethics and equality. Smaller regions like Tambov need to better prepare the minds of their female students for the work place in the larger world where sexual harassment and discrimination are punishable and unacceptable. Tambov women deserve better and I can only hope for their futures.
У. В. Середа
РЕЛИГИЯ И СУЕВЕРИЯ В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ МОЛОДЕЖНОЙ КУЛЬТУРЕ РОССИИ И США: ОПЫТ СРАВНЕНИЯ
При всех очевидных цивилизационных различиях современные российская и американская молодежные культуры име-
