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Poland, Czech Republic, The twentieth anniversary of the 1989 breakthrough is an occasion for summaries. In spite of the twenty years of democratic transformation, Slovakia, women did not manage to reduce their distance from men enough for East Germany their voice to be clearly heard in public debate. Furthermore, the account of the past two decades, as seen from the women's perspective, is not 1989-2009 and Ukraine exactly in tune with the celebratory anniversary atmosphere. It is a para- dox that for women in the former Eastern Bloc the freedom regained in 1989 was often combined with significant limitations of economic, social and reproductive rights. In the face of the lack of public debate on the role of women in the time of transformation, the publication of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Warsaw attempts to present a multidimensional dialogue about the transformation experiences, giving voice to women. The Authors of the publication judge Women in Times the past twenty years of reforms from the point of view of women from the former countries of the Eastern Bloc: the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, of Change, 1989-2009 Ukraine and former East Germany, and in this context, from the perspec- tive of personal experiences. At the same time, the publication constitutes a platform for inter-generational dialogue. In the publication, personal texts meet more theoretical reflections, and literary accounts often complement more objective attempts to describe the past twenty years. Women in Times of Change, Heinrich Böll Foundation Regional Office Warsaw ul. Żurawia 45, 00-680 Warsaw, Poland phone: + 48 22 59 42 333, e-mail: [email protected] Heinrich Böll Foundation Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, East Germany and Ukraine Women in Times of Change, 1989-2009 The publication was elaborated within the framework of the Regional Program “Gender Democracy/ Women’s Politics”. Editor: Agnieszka Grzybek English editing: Justyna Włodarczyk Graphic design: Studio 27 Published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Regional Office Warsaw. Printed in Warsaw, September 2009. This project has been supported by the European Union: Financing of organizations that are active on the European level for an active European society. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. ISBN: 978-83-61340-40-9 Copyright by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Regional Office Warsaw. All rights reserved. This publication can be ordered at: Heinrich Böll Foundation Regional Office Warsaw, ul. Żurawia 45, 00-680 Warsaw, Poland phone: + 48 22 59 42 333 e-mail: [email protected] www.boell.pl Contents Agnieszka Rochon, Agnieszka Grzybek Introduction . .6 1. Poland Bożena Umińska-Keff Reclaiming the Tractors . 14 Agnieszka Graff Where did the Woman on a Tractor and the Cynical Tough Guy Go? Gender Innocence Irretrievably Lost . 28 Sylwia Chutnik Transformers, or the Changes in Poland after 1989, as Seen by a 30-Year-Old . 39 2. Czech Republic Petra Hůlová Happiness short of Sean Connery . 56 Jiřina Šiklová Women and Transformation: Example of the Czech Republic . .69 Kateřina Jacques Women’s Velvet Revolution is Yet to Come . 79 www.boell.pl 3 3. Slovakia Jana Juráňová How Our Past Is Still in Our Present . 100 Anna Grusková Tell Sophie and the Others... 111 Ľubica Kobová Feminism as a Practice of Freedom . 124 4. East Germany Rita Pawlowski No State Can Exist Without Women! German “Turning Point” Experiences 1989/90 and Afterwards . 140 Jana Simon My Failure at Becoming Italian . .147 Mirjam Hirsch Transformation – an Unquestioned Western Category? The Example of Post-Communist Germany . 157 5. Ukraine Natalka Śniadanko Being or Considering Yourself – or on the Unpopularity of Ukrainian Feminism . .170 Tanya Malyarchuk Eating and Drinking . 182 About the Authors . 193 4 Women in Times of Change, 1989-2009: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, East Germany and Ukraine Introduction The twentieth anniversary of the 1989 breakthrough is an occasion for sum- maries. The year 2009, now coming to an end, was full of intense debates about achievements and failures, successes and lost opportunities of the past two decades. In the countries of the former Eastern Bloc those debates were a sort of closure on history. In the context of broadly publicised disputes about hierarchy of events and symbols (the Polish Round Table vs. the fall of the Berlin Wall) and the lists of those deserving most honours (whether and why Wałęsa or Gorbachev ought to be included), both the role and significance of women 6 INTRODUCTION in the events of 1989, and their experiences during the twenty years of transfor- mation constituted a marginal topic in the anniversary discourse. In spite of the twenty years of democratic transformation, women did not manage to reduce their distance from men enough for their voice to be clearly heard in public debate. Furthermore, the account of the past two dec- ades, as seen from the women’s perspective, is not exactly in tune with the ce- lebratory anniversary atmosphere. It is a paradox that for women in the former Eastern Bloc the freedom regained in 1989 was often combined with significant limitations of economic, social and reproductive rights. Women were those most hit by the cutting of social expenses, and the resulting removal of maternity entitlements of the times of real socialism, or the restructuring of large industrial plants. Particularly in the initial stages of the transformation, women – seen by employers as “a worse category of employees” responsible for looking after children and housework – experienced mass unemployment and feminisation of poverty. In spite of their involvement in the democratic opposition and the dissident movement, after 1989 women were also excluded from participation in power and relegated to the private sphere. There was a renaissance of right- wing discourse, in which women were seen only in the context of community, as guardians of family values. In all post-socialist countries – though to a different degree and with differing outcomes – a debate took place, concerning the right to abortion. In Poland, it concluded with the passing of a restrictive anti-abortion law, which provides for termination only in extreme cases, nevertheless even those strict provisions are not observed by public healthcare units. One may easily formulate a thesis that in spite of the aroused expectations, in practice civil activity of women faced limitations.1 Obviously, the last twenty years saw the creation of several women‘s organisations, which draw public attention to dis- 1 An excellent analysis of the first years of transformation in Poland, former Czechoslovakia and Hungary can be found in the publication of British sociologist Barbara Einhorn, Cin- derella Goes to Market. Citizenship, Gender and Women's Movement in East Central Europe, London – New York 1993. www.boell.pl 7 WOMEN IN TIMES OF CHANGE 1989-2009: POLAND, CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA, EAST GERMANY AND UKRAINE crimination of women, try to publicise striking violations of women‘s rights and run public awareness campaigns. Nevertheless, a mass women‘s movement has not been born, and there has been no sense of shared interests. The Polish Women‘s Congress, which took place in Warsaw twenty years after the first almost free parliamentary election, was – at least in the Polish context – a noticeable exception from that rule. A grassroot initiative, which regardless of differences united women‘s organisations and gathered more than three thousand participants ready to establish a shared platform for exchanging experiences and creating a positive action programme, deserves particular re- cognition, and at the same time it emphasises the need to notice and appreciate the women‘s experience and their role in the transformation. Today, it would be hard to find a holistic analysis of the situation of wo­ men during the past twenty years, which attempts to answer the question about the women‘s influence upon the transformation, and the way the transforma- tion influenced the position of women. Some reports devoted to social and economic changes and including the perspective of gender equality were crea- ted in the past, nevertheless those analyses are fragmentary and dispersed.2 Furthermore, few works present individual experiences of women from various areas within the region, expressed in their own voice. In the face of the lack of public debate on the role of women in the time of transformation, the publication of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Regional Office in Warsaw attempts to present a multidimensional dialogue about the trans- formation experiences, giving voice to women. The Authors of the publication judge the past twenty years of reforms from the point of view of women from the former countries of the Eastern Bloc: the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and former East Germany, and in this context, from the perspective of personal experiences. At the same time, the publication constitutes a platform 2 See e.g. Gender and economic opportunities in Poland: has transition left women behind? The World Bank, Warsaw 2004. 8 INTRODUCTION for inter-generational dialogue, as the Authors come from different generations: there are women whose adult life began long before 1989, women who en- tered into adulthood around the time of the breakthrough, and women, who never personally experienced the earlier period. The Authors include writers (such as Jana Juráňová, Bożena Umińska­Keff, Petra Hůlová, Natalka Śniadanko, Sylwia Chutnik), researchers of feminism (e.g. Agnieszka Graff, Ľubica Kobová or Mirjam Hirsch) and journalists (Rita Pawlowski, Jana Simon), who combine their work with involvement in the women‘s movement. In the publication, personal texts meet more theoretical reflections, and literary accounts often complement more objective attempts to describe the past twenty years. According to the Authors, the freedom regained after the breakthrough of 1989 often tastes bitter of disappointment, although the awareness of lost chances came with time: “20 years ago, I was not particularly naïve.

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