Identities in Post-Communist Europe from a Gender Perspective:
The Case of Slovakia

Alexandra Wootliff - Bitusikova

Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Matej Bel University, Tajovskeho 40, 974 00 Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, bitusikova@mail.com

Abstract: Post-communist East Central European countries face a complex crisis of identities where old certainties do not exist any more and the process of political, economic and social transformation causes the unknown insecurity and anxiety. Identities in these countries come from different sources - nationality, ethnicity, religion, social strata, community, gender, personal and family roles, which may often be in conflict and contradiction. The identity conflict is even more visible in the new states that were established after the split of the federal states, like Czechoslovakia. Forming national identity on the one hand, and trying to join the European Union on the other hand, causes ambivalent feelings among the inhabitants. What's the role and position of women in local, national and European processes? Are post-communist societies in transition sensitive to gender issues? The paper discusses the changes of male and female identities in the transformation process with a special attention to women's representation in public life. It examines the reason of higher women's participation in local community life and non-government organizations, and lower interest and understanding of national or European politics. It shows the power of gender stereotypes that exclude women from public and political life and put them into the role of wives and mothers. The paper also pays attention to the lack of a gender perspective in post-communist transformation.

Key words: identity - gender - Central and Eastern Europe

The November 1989 velvet revolution ended more than forty years of isolation of the communist countries. The Iron Curtain gave rise to various stereotypes on both sides.
From a number of discussions with my 'Western' friends and colleagues I found out that East European females used to have an image of fat women with hairy legs and chests. From the "Eastern" point of view, Western feminists were the ones who had nothing else to do but fighting for women's rights instead of 'fulfilling their primary role' - looking after the family and children. The fall of communism enabled to start the East-West dialogue that can help breaking stereotypes, prejudices, ignorance and misunderstanding and open the gate to the successful process of the European enlargement.

As a woman who was born in a communist country - Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, I was most of my life confronted with the formal state- and party-directed emancipation of women leading to a false sense of equality of men and women. Identity forming in communist countries was influenced by the official Marxist-Leninist ideology that emphasized solidarity with all members of the communist world and the identity of a proletarian. Officially, all other kinds of identities were an ideological taboo. In private life people did not share proletarian identity - the private and official public spheres were completely separated. Communism did not recognize and admit any ethnic or religious tensions, and the same held for 'equality' of men and women. 93% of women were full-time working (1985) - the pictures of women as factory workers, women-doctors, women as tractor-drivers or women in the army were often presented in media to show and prove the 'equality' of men and women. The socialist pseudo-emancipation led to women's new fate: on the opposite side of this 'equality' there were tired and exhausted women who had to struggle with full-time working and with taking care of the family and household. Women in the communist countries were given work and education without fighting for it, but the society indirectly supported male domination in public life and traditional patriarchy in private life - it nourished all gender-role stereotypes that protected men from doing anything in the household.

After the collapse of communism and the following 'velvet divorce' of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Slovaks became citizens of the sovereign Slovak Republic (for the first time in their history - with the exception of the fascist Slovak State in 1939-45). At the same time the competition in joining the European and Trans-Atlantic structures started. The discussions on identity were on a daily programme. Passionate debates on who was a good or bad Slovak and who was pro- or anti-European dominated all media coverage. And not to have enough dilemmas, new identities coming from ethnicity, religion, social stratification, local community and gender
suddenly have appeared. These identities have often been in contradiction and most people have found the struggle between conflicting identities difficult.

The fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe demonstrated the desire of the peoples for national self-determination. The demands of these countries for democracy have been closely connected with remaking national identities based mainly on language, cultural traditions, historical memories and continuity. The development of national identities has been seriously complicated by the countries' objective of integration into the European Union and NATO. 'Return to Europe' has often been interpreted and perceived as a threat to national identity, national interests and sovereignty, fear of losing common roots, homogenization of culture,
disintegration of home and family. In Slovakia, nationalistic political parties emphasize the importance of Slovak ethnicity and identity based on the defense from the 'others' - from external and internal enemies rather than on searching and preserving democratic political values.

Nationalistic leaders in Slovakia define the nation and national identity strictly in ethnic and cultural terms and do not associate it with democratic standards as human rights, freedom and the rule of law. The concept of European multiculturalism as an acknowledgement of the diversity of Europe's cultural origins and openness towards other cultures (Luthzeler 1998) is alien to nationalists. Pro- and anti- European orientation or pro- and anti-westernism are the main value orientations that distinguish and polarize the Slovak society. According to sociological surveys, anti-European or anti-western attitudes are mostly widespread among the old people; less educated; and unskilled workers (Krivy 1998: 48). In foreign orientations gender also plays a significant role: the number of women supporting the European integration is lower than the number of men (59% women - 66% men, 1999). Women often show lower understanding and interest in foreign affairs than men and declare ambiguous or indefinite opinions. Gender gap does not appear in domestic political orientations where not gender, but education and age make a difference
(Butorova-Filadelfiova-Guran-Gyarfasova-Farkasova 1999).

Forming national identity by emphasizing 'national' values like culture, language, history, continuity and belonging often meets the Slovak conservativism and traditionalism. Deep subcultural divisions in Slovakia - urban-rural; religious; regional and ethnic divisions have also a big impact on the process of democratization and transformation. Traditional ideal model of home and family still remains significant for most people - both men and women (more than 90 %). The emphasis on family is considered one of the Slovak 'national' values - although the high number of divorces does not support it. Strong family orientation results not only from women's personal decision. In socialism the family provided a safe escape from the state controlled public sphere and a small degree of self-realization, self-satisfaction and autonomy. The situation was similar in all post-communist countries. The only freedom one had was behind the door of the home. Women's interest in the family and children was strongly influenced by these particular social and political conditions. The private sphere became a substitute for the lack of public sphere.

As a result of women's ties with the home, in public debates family is often considered equal to a woman. Family = woman. Political debates on women's issues usually solve the problems of youth crimes, drugs or divorces. The question of women's involvement in decision-making at all levels appears on the agenda of political parties only before the elections. By strong gender stereotypes women are automatically added to the private sector and excluded from the public sector. This situation results in the lack of positive models of women's behavior in public and political life. A few women who are active in politics are often a target of men's jokes or rude comments: "Miss Malikova cannot lead the party because she has never been in military service."
"Miss Malikova and Mrs. Slavkovska are in politics only because they were not able to get married and to give a birth to a good Slovak boy" (J. Slota, leader of the Right Slovak National Party).
The stress on women's role in the family and childrearing has been supported also by women's public figures. In 1994 the First Lady - the wife of the Slovak President, Emilia Kovacova, wrote: "In our society the woman plays two roles: she is a mother and at the same time she is a working person - breadwinner. If the couple had better income and sufficient family allowances, I believe that it would not be necessary for the women to work and they could devote their time to their primary
vocation - to childrearing. Only this can guarantee the happy future for our country and for the following generations" (Smena 21. 7. 1994, p. 3, translated by Ivan Chorvat 1994).

The importance of the family, and the public opinion that the woman should care only for the family, children and kitchen, has an indirect influence on forming national identity of women. Integration of home and family connected with feelings of continuity, safety and security, sense of belonging, common roots and solidarity - these are values declared not only by nationalistic political parties, but also by the church which has a strong position especially in rural areas. Interest of nationalistic groups and the church in women's problems does not follow the real needs and rights of women, but rises from a 'higher principle' that should stop birthrate decrease of the Slovaks and bring the 'moral and cultural restoration of the Slovak nation'.

Collective identities do not include only national and transnational identities, but also local and regional identities. Integration processes as well as globalization bring a boom of various localisms. Olaf Löfgren argues that 'today-identities' are described in terms of de-territorization, de-localization and de-stabilization and are linked with a loss of grounding, loss of belonging (Löfgren 1996: 164 - 165). In their defense against European integration and globalization, many people become more
national, regional or home loving, and more inward looking and xenophobic. These feelings and emotions are often closer to women who are considered guardians of home and family hearth - an archetype alive to the present day. Women are supposed to carry on the family traditions and sense of historical continuity, to lead the children to patriotism and national feelings. A number of anthropological studies in Slovakia show a woman as a bearer of tradition, religion and spiritual family life. All these values support traditional conservative view of the world, which is inward looking, and not open to changes.

The territory of Slovakia was a crossroads of different ethnic groups and cultures in the past, which had a significant impact on diversified picture of the Slovak culture. Geographical, political and socio-economic factors contributed to forming many different cultural regions and resulted in a number of strong local and regional identities. Numerous anthropological studies have brought out a strong sense of attachment to locality or region. It is partly a result of the fact that the Slovaks did not have their own state for a thousand years and there was limited space for forming national identity. The research results also show stronger local identities in
agrarian societies, which Slovakia used to be in the past. Following the recent sociological and anthropological European studies, people generally identify most strongly with their local community - their home, then with the country and nation, and finally with transnational regions - Europe orthe world.

In the research I carried out among young people, mostly university students, in 1999-2000, I presumed that most students would be pro-European oriented. I found out that the highest number of students declared their attachment to the locality - the town or the village where they came from (about 35%). These students were at the same time supporting the country's objective to join European structures and NATO. The second group of students who claimed strong national identity (30%) more often expressed their negative concerns about the European integration - they spoke of their fear of losing national features, national uniqueness, independence and sovereignty, they described Europe as an ill and demoralized continent with a lot of cultural barriers. In their opinions 'European' and 'Slovak' are performing as opposing concepts that support self-determination of the Slovaks as different and second-rate people. The group of students who considered themselves Europeans or cosmopolitans (25%), on the contrary, expressed their pride of European cultures, European cultural diversity and multiculturalism or - in terms of "we-they" dichotomy - they defined Europe (United Europe) as a counter value to the USA. About 10% of students could not answer the questions. When I looked at the results with gender lens, I discovered that all answers that were negative about European politics or without any opinions were written by women. It is a significant factor, which should be taken into account also in the information campaigns about the EU and NATO. Gender perspective is completely ignored in these campaigns.

The lack of a gender perspective in post-communist countries is evident in  all aspects of private and public life. Most of people, including leading academics, argue that there are more urgent and important things to solve than gender, that feminism and gender issues are irrelevant luxury which we can't afford now, or that only women who are not happy with their private lives or who are not 'feminine' enough are interested in gender issues. This is an argument widespread not only among men of all ages or social strata, but also among most of women. Women still look at the world with men 's optics and accept gender stereotypes about men's and women's social roles in the family and society. Rude sexist jokes and comments about women presented by some politicians rarely meet any women's protests and never lead to resigning of a male politician. The men's opinion that women do not understand politics is generally accepted part of historical memory and a lot of women identify with it without discussing it. The processes of transition in post-communist Europe and the process of European integration have opened new opportunities for women - especially in their representation and participation in public life and decision-making. The question is whether women themselves want it.

The surveys show that the number of women active in decision-making processes dropped in all post-communist countries after the communist system of quotas was abolished. Women are under-represented in the decision-making bodies at all levels - from the local to the national ones. In Slovakia, after the 2002 parliamentary elections there are almost 15% of women in the Slovak parliament (17,5 % in the EU) compared with 14% in the last parliament, which shows a positive trend. The number of women in communal politics has also increased (17,5% of mayors are women), but it is still very low. It is evident that women more often participate in local - communal politics and in non-governmental organizations. Strong ties with the family and community limit women's participation in politics on regional
or national level, which explains why they are more active in local communal decision-making. Another reason for under-representation of women in politics is mechanism of selection in political parties' hierarchy, and the last, but not the least, stereotypes in men's and women's thinking. These stereotypes can be broken only in a long-term process of public debate under the pressure from national, subnational and transnational actors, especially NGOs (for instance women's rights groups). European pressure should help in changing public opinion. Particular attention should be paid to the full integration of women in post-communist countries into transition processes in economic, social, civic and political areas of life. Information and awareness-raising campaigns, organized by the EU, have to address the
message to different groups of inhabitants including women as a large target group.

Gender blindness is a disease that can be healed only in a long-term process of public discourse. If in the country where the prime minister wants to win the elections by inviting Claudia Schiffer to open the new motorway and lifting her in his arms - as a 'real macho' (Vladimir Meciar in 1998); and where he publicly calls his colleague - the woman-minister of foreign affairs a "sturdy little pear"; and where a male-member of parliament suggests that women should drive only in the side right lane of the motorway not to slow down the traffic - if in such a country no women raise their voices to protest against sexist comments, there is much work to do. We know
that the post-communist countries cannot simply - mechanically import and accept all new ideas and identities from the Western feminist movements because they have completely different experience with emancipation or equality. Therefore, their first objective should be to change public gender awareness and gradually implement recommendations of the EU on the balanced participation of women and men in the decision-making processes. That is one of the keys to the successful process of European enlargement and the future equal partnership of European and all other countries.

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