‘Negotiating Protest Spaces on the Maidan: A Gender Perspective’

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘Negotiating Protest Spaces on the Maidan: A Gender Perspective’

AU - Khromeychuk, Olesya

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - The paper discusses the gendered use of space during the 2013–14 Maidan protests in Ukraine. While women were certainly present at the Maidan, the space they occupied was often regimented by the male protesters. Many women adopted traditional feminine roles of cooks, cleaners and peaceful messengers and were often perceived by their fellow‐protesters as well as the general public as helpers of the male protesters rather than revolutionaries in their own right. At the same time, many female protesters managed to go beyond the physical and ideological boundaries of the Maidan, both in the process of overtly challenging the patriarchal order and while obeying its rules. The paper assesses the various ways in which women occupied the protest space, how they interacted with the often hostile spaces outside of the Maidan, and how they contributed to the construction of the meaning of the Maidan as a place of revolution. The paper also assesses whether the active participation of women in the protest movements foreshadows their liberation.

AB - The paper discusses the gendered use of space during the 2013–14 Maidan protests in Ukraine. While women were certainly present at the Maidan, the space they occupied was often regimented by the male protesters. Many women adopted traditional feminine roles of cooks, cleaners and peaceful messengers and were often perceived by their fellow‐protesters as well as the general public as helpers of the male protesters rather than revolutionaries in their own right. At the same time, many female protesters managed to go beyond the physical and ideological boundaries of the Maidan, both in the process of overtly challenging the patriarchal order and while obeying its rules. The paper assesses the various ways in which women occupied the protest space, how they interacted with the often hostile spaces outside of the Maidan, and how they contributed to the construction of the meaning of the Maidan as a place of revolution. The paper also assesses whether the active participation of women in the protest movements foreshadows their liberation.

M3 - Article

VL - 2

SP - 9

EP - 47

JO - Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society

JF - Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society

IS - 1

ER -