Gender Studies in Ukraine

Peace Corps Ukraine has many working groups, one of which is Gender and Development (GAD) which works to change unhealthy perceptions and stereotypes about gender roles through summer camps, lesson plans, contests, and many other activities.

I passed on the information for the 2008 essay contest to my counterpart and she promptly worked to make the composition an in class control work assignment that would count as a grade but also later be entered into the contest via email. Unfortunately, this did not go completely as planned as there were supposed to be in class discussions and readings about the issue of gender prior to the assignment but I did not conduct these classes, and to be honest I’m not sure if I would have found appropriate materials in time. Also many students simply found articles online and copied and pasted them into Word Documents then used translator programs on their computers to translate into English. In the end, we sent away about eight or nine essays to the contest, though they weren’t really close to the five hundred word stipulation and I’m sure the students had plenty of help from teachers or siblings, but at least they are working and thinking about such issues. My favorite essays were the ones with the most mistakes as I know the students wrote the compositions themselves.

This year’s topic was: World Life Expectancy Fact Sheet

“The life expectancy in Ukraine is lower for men than it is for women. Currently the corresponding decline in life expectancy is 4.5 years for men and .3 years for women (World Health Organization, 2003).
The average life expectancy of men in Ukraine is 62 (World Factbook).
The average life expectancy of women in Ukraine is 73 (World Factbook).

Country yr. 2000 Life Expectancy yr. 1998 Life Expectancy
Canda 79.4 79.2
Iraq 66.5 66.6
Mexico 71.5 71.6
Romania 69.9 70.5
Ukraine 66.0 65.8
U.K. 77.7 77.2
United States 77.1 76.1


The assignment asked the students to explain what they believe the causes of the decrease in life expectancy as well as the discrepancy between male and female life spans and what they would do if they were President to fix the problems. Most of the responses I’ve read have dealt with alcohol which is no mere coincidence, but rather it seems like a cry for help. Sadly, this essay contest came only two weeks after the death of the Physical Education teacher’s son who worked in Kyiv and was barely forty years old died of a heart attack. I also met a man whose brother died during a simple dental procedure and I realize the status of health care here is no laughing matter.

Some Americans may think Ukraine’s cheap price of liquor, no open container policy, and ability to drink not only on the streets but on public transportation to be good things, but these are all things that are having very serious impacts on this country and population.

Here are some of the essays written in English, others were in Ukrainian, I sent to be submitted. Mind you some of the wording is unclear but I felt it important not to change what they wrote.

________________________________________________________________________

Dmytro Hundar
Grade 6
Belovodska Gymnasium

My name is Dmytro Hundar. I live in Ukraine. Ukraine is a big and beautiful country. It is situated in the center of Europe. Its population is forty six million, but some years ago there were much more people on our country. They say people die like flies.
I live in a small town. I know many people in my town and I can say many of them die at an early age, especially men.
When I listen to the news on TV I hear that something happens almost every day. It may be an accident on some enterprise or pit. Very often I hear about traffic accidents. People, especially young men, drink alcohol and spirits and drive their cars. I think it’s the main reason of such kind of accidents. We have very serious ecological problems in our country also.
Medical care in our country is not up to standard. We have a high sickness rate.
If I were a president I would pay much more attention to the environment protection and medical service, I would prohibit drinking of alcohol spirits and improve control on the roads.
I think all these measures will improve the situation in Ukraine.

_________________________________________________________________________

Alex Vladitchak
Age: 17

The demographic problem is one of global problems of all mankind. In Ukraine it has the specificity.
For the last ten years the population in our country was reduced almost by 4 million people. Besides there are low parameters of average life expectancy: for women this parameter is 73 years, for men 62 years. As we see, a difference essential enough.
According to these parameters we see one more problem. Such as, high fatality rate of a men.
On statistics, boys are born more often than girls (the difference makes approximately 5%) in the world. Really, has nature provided such problem?
What causes this problem on the territory of our state?
Without diving into centuries when primitive people lived among the wild nature, they entirely depended on it when often it was necessary to give a life of hunters for the extracted food (and they were men) we shall receive the following.
To begin, the big influence on quantity of the population (especially the male population) was rendered from constant wars Ukrainian people fought against the Mongolian nomads, and later against Turkey, Poland. Two world wars and two civil wars were on the territory of Ukraine only last century. And armies, as it is known, consist basically of men.
Secondly, men choose to themselves extreme trades, such as military men, miners, metallurgists, pilots, seamen and others. Accidents with plural fatal cases have happened in the last two months to Ukrainian men.
Thirdly, men are engaged in extreme kinds of sports more often: mountaineering, a scuba diving, mountain and water slalom and others where they are exposed to risk.
Furthermore, men more often than women get in various criminal situations and participate in criminal groupings. And it often costs lives.
Next, this abusing alcohol, smoking, and drugs considerably undermine health. And it is frequently also the cause of death.
And still men make the majority of drivers, which get in crashes more often. These and still many other reasons, including a usual boyish overindulgence in foolish activities.
Why does it occur? It is difficult to answer this question. Here a profound knowledge in the field of psychology is necessary. It is a separate greater theme for consideration, and we shall not concern it.
I cannot give the examples from private life; I still do not have sufficient experience. I refer to knowledge, from the literature and experience of adults. However, it is enough to understand scales of a considered problem.
What measures are necessary to make for its decision?
People from simple inhabitants up to presidents should solve all global problems. If I were the president I should do my best to prevent wars and to keep peace all over the Earth. I should create all conditions to develop economy and social policy to provide a high material and spiritual standard of living of people, to care about health of each person, to stop all diseases, and to give the people the possibility to get jobs they need.
And the most important - to teach each person to appreciate and protect the life as a gift.


Alina Volvak
8th Grade

I am a Ukrainian and I’m proud that my motherland is Ukraine. I’m nearly fourtneen years old now but I understand that I was born in the years when Ukraine had proclaimed its independence and I had become a small part in the history of my “mother.” When Ukraine proclaimed itself democratic, legal, and social state, it took the duties to keep the demands of international community according to equal rights of citizens, including the problem of carrying gender changes concerning sex signs.

As the United Nations Organizations considers all men and women must have equal reigghts and possibilities, they must realize their aims and dreams into life, they must respect one another as equal among them.

Nowadays the psycho-emotional behavior of women becomes more aggressive, and the behavior of men – softer. It leads to the fact that fatality rate of men at an early age increases. T’s sad but Ukraine takes the first place in the world concerning fatality of men from twenty to forty five years old. We must immediately do something with this problem. The situation in the country shows that the number of population decreases, the state of health of men becomes worse. According to the facts women live ten to twelve years longer than men. It’s connected with the fact that our government, our society pay not enough attention to the men’s healthy. They feel problems keenly, for example in the sphere of economy if their salary is very low.

We have many ecological problems which influence our health greatly, for example the accident at the Chornobyl power Station (the Chornoboyl Tragedy), the epidemic of AIDS, the tuberculosis, and other infections. They lead to the premature deaths, disablements, and other diseases. I think that the usage of alcoholic drinks, drugs, and other harmful things influence negatively on men. Looking for a way out of a complicated situation a man resorts to physical violence, to a risky way of life, to criminal crimes. I have a friend who is brought up only by a mother. He doesn’t feel the care and presence of a father in his life. But it is not correct being. Having left with the child neither mother nor father are bale to make valuable conditions for child’s upbringing. From his childhood a child has such psychological changes which can lead to mental disorder.
If I were a president, I would provide all people with regular jobs, with dwellings – to make sure in tomorrow’s day. In order a green dragon not to ruin our families. I would solve this problem on the state grade because nowadays this one is a tragedy nearly in every family. For this purpose it is necessary to institute control over the production and trade of alcohol.
It’s necessary to keep in mind that when a boy or a girl is born they both possess equal rights as citizens of Ukraine in future any of their rights mustn’t be infringed on. I would like every person to realize himself in any sphere of life and nobody and nothing would become an obstacle for this!
I believe you and trust you, my dear Ukraine!


Yulia Grozdikovoi
8th Grade

Once my classmate said to me: “There are not enogh men in the world. You must take care of us”.
People never think about the statistics of death in Ukraine, but it’s very important. The lives of women are longer than the men’s lives. In Ukraine they live 62 years, and women live 73 years.
Today, the causes of death are very different. They are accident, illnesses, etc. But I think that harmful habits do the greatest hurt for our health. It depends on tobacco and alcohol.
Today, schoolboys and schoolgirls have these habits too. It’s very sad, because our country can’t do anything. Of course, our country tries to do something, but we can’t see this work.
Often we set the questions about our future profession. Probably, I want to be the president, but not for very long, only in order to change this bad situation.
We must introduce a few rules for that. First of all, we must prohibit selling alcohol to children. We have already introduced this rule, but only one shop in a thousand executes it. Then we must supply uncorruptible agents, who will tell us about the bad shops in all cities and villages.
Also we must imitate European countries which don’t allow people to drink alcohol and to smoke in “the streets”. They have special places for such activities.
I think that these rules are simple. And if we will do it, our men will live longer, and Ukraine will not have this problem.