Center for Peace Studies. Faculty of Humanities, Social Science and Education Broken Dreams in “Land of Gold and Honey”? The case of cross-cultural marriages of Ukrainian women in Norway Yuliya Vasylyeva Master’s thesis in Peace and Conflict Transformation-SVF-3901, November 2015 ii Abstract The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate “What are the crucial factors for self- realization for Ukrainian women in Norway?” This is a qualitative, case-study research, based on the method of Narrative Inquiry. The fairy tale of Cinderella who waits for her charming prince is still the most popular story among the majority of women in Ukraine. Contemporary Ukrainian reality cannot satisfy their dreams. On the other hand, the Western World since the Soviet times and the “iron curtain” was perceived as a land of Eldorado. Many Ukrainian women left their country in search of “Eldorado”, where they hoped to find not gold but their prince charming. One of those destinations has been Norway. Some came as workers, some as students, and many came here as wives. The dream for a beautiful life and a charming prince was a major motivation to seek husband abroad. The easiest way to achieve their dream was to utilize on-line matchmaking agencies. This thesis presents the stories of eight women in cross-cultural families, where the husbands are Norwegians and the wives are coming from Ukraine. I will discuss conditions which prevent or stimulate their personal development; the differences in their experiences; specific challenges during their integration and challenges in cross-cultural communication and how the family relations influences women’s self-esteem. There are three main findings in this thesis. First, there are two crucial factors make an impact on their self-realization. Second, there are three types of adaptation to Norwegian family life and society, and each type corresponds to how they met their husband and Norwegian society. Third, women who met their future husbands through the internet would experience different scenarios in their relationships, compared to those who met them in person. Keywords: Ukrainian women, gender, integration, identity, conflicts iii iv Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Associate Prof. Vidar Nils Vambheim for his support, guidance, patience and immense knowledge. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my master thesis research. Without doubt, I also deem necessary to thank Associate Prof. Percy Oware for the continuous encouragement. I am also grateful to the staff of CPS for bearing with me during my extended period of study here, who always found the time for me to answer questions, grant extensions and provide me with the facilities. Last but not the least, I feel obliged to acknowledge my mother’s indirect contributions to my thesis by looking after my children by coming here from another city; without her I could not possibly find the time to finish my work. And special thanks to my little girls, though without realizing, they had the understanding and patience to live without my attention for the last four months. I would also like to thank all of my friends who supported me in writing, and incented me to strive towards my goal. v vi Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Structure of the Thesis ...................................................................................................................... 2 3. Methodological Approach ................................................................................................................ 3 3.1. Problem of the thesis ....................................................................................................... 3 3.2. Background and my interest for chosen subject .............................................................. 4 3.3. Relevance to Peace studies .............................................................................................. 5 3.4. Study area ........................................................................................................................ 6 3.5. Selection of informants ................................................................................................... 6 3.6. Data collection techniques .............................................................................................. 7 3.7. Field experiences ............................................................................................................. 9 3.8. Ethics in research .......................................................................................................... 13 3.9. The subject of interviews .............................................................................................. 13 4. Theoretical outline ........................................................................................................................... 15 4.1. Identity. How the Modern Ukrainian society influenced the gender identity of Ukrainian women ................................................................................................................. 15 4.2. Is Western feminism model compatible for Ukraine?................................................... 17 4.3. Marriage in social exchange discourse .......................................................................... 21 4.4. Migration ....................................................................................................................... 24 4.5. Integration process ........................................................................................................ 25 5. Discussion ......................................................................................................................................... 28 5.1. About informants ........................................................................................................... 28 5.2. Ukrainian woman - Identity in transition ...................................................................... 30 5.3. The story of Lidia, Janna, Marina, Natalia, Raisa and Angela ..................................... 32 5.3.1. Internet matchmaking .......................................................................................................... 32 5.3.2. Setting Priorities for a family start ...................................................................................... 35 5.3.3. Initial attraction .................................................................................................................. 37 5.3.4. Expectations, hopes and outcomes in Norway .................................................................... 38 5.3.5. Integration Challenges ........................................................................................................ 39 5.3.6. Sociocultural adaptation and domestic violence ................................................................. 45 5.3.7. Is it worth the costs to marry a foreigner? .......................................................................... 50 5.3.8. New social role and coping strategies ................................................................................. 53 5.4. The enquire of Alina and Diana .................................................................................... 60 5.4.1. Life in Norway: expectations and outcomes ........................................................................ 60 5.4.2. Integration process and adaptation to a new culture .......................................................... 62 vii 5.4.3.To marry a Norwegian - a challenge or an opportunity? .................................................... 64 5.4.4. Cultural conflicts and their resolutions ............................................................................... 66 5.5. Influence of family life on self-realization .................................................................... 68 5.6. Summary of the chapter ................................................................................................ 69 6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 74 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 79 Appendix 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 89 Appendix 2 ........................................................................................................................................... 90 viii ix 1. Introduction “Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. It knows no geographical or cultural limits, or economic position. As long as it continues, we cannot say that we have actually made progress towards equality, development and peace.” Kofi Annan1 Gender equality became an outstanding issue of the 20th-century and is continuing to be a controversial discussion topic into the 21st century. During the last decades, governments and various agencies prioritised gender issues in development, planning and policies. Gender policies promote the empowerment of women in all spheres, including family and community life and encourage them to contribute to society. Population movements and intercultural