{"id":121392,"date":"2020-07-14T13:40:58","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T10:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=121392"},"modified":"2020-07-14T13:40:59","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T10:40:59","slug":"how-russian-pop-culture-reflects-misogynistic-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/how-russian-pop-culture-reflects-misogynistic-policies","title":{"rendered":"How Russian Pop-Culture Reflects Misogynistic Policies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the dramatic effects of COVID-19 pandemic is the growth of domestic violence, amplified by prolonged contact, less possibilities to receive aid and economic crisis. In Russia, coronavirus-related limitations were first introduced in March,\u00a0and the amount of women who turned to the national hotline\u00a0grew<\/a>\u00a0by 24% compared to February.\u00a0It is a spike in a much more substantial problem \u2013 while actual statistics are difficult to come by, as many women do not turn to the police both because of the societal pressure and the reluctance with which law enforcement treats such cases, – 1 out of 4 families is\u00a0affected<\/a>\u00a0by domestic violence that results in deaths of approximately 38 women\u00a0every day<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation is aggravated by the unsatisfactory state of Russian legislation of the issue \u2013 domestic violence was decriminalized in 2017 and became an administrative offense, which does nothing to distance the victim from their abuser and, as fines are often\u00a0paid<\/a>\u00a0from the family budget, it indirectly puts women under even more financial pressure. Legislation, however, is far from being the only problem: derogatory attitude towards women is\u00a0promoted<\/a>\u00a0by high-ranking Russian politicians \u2013 and is widely present in modern popular culture, which normalizes inequality even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deadly Funny<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Offensive humor is often perceived as an artificial problem and people criticizing such jokes inevitably blamed for \u201cnot having a sense of humor\u201d \u2013 while the danger behind them is very real. Misogynistic, sexist humor downgrades the problem, makes it easily dismissible \u2013 and it is widely present in Russian media space. This is reflected in top-ranking humor programs that have built impressive audience and popularity over the years, which underlines the fact that sexist jokes are not a fringe element of popular culture but a widely supported trend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comedy Club, the top comedy show in Russia (airing at one of the leading channels TNT owned by state-controlled GazProm Media Holding with 38.5 million\u00a0daily views<\/a>), bases a significant amount of its performances on sexist humor \u2013 which is often combined with racism and homophobia. Issue\u00a0460<\/a>\u00a0was partly dedicated to portraying a woman as a stereotypically dim gold-digger \u2013 making fun of her Ukrainian origins at the same time. Another clip with a corresponding name \u201cA Perfect Woman\u201d is an exemplary case of\u00a0objectification<\/a>, where you can use a mobile app to order a woman of your dreams, which is conventionally beautiful, ready to do all the housework, is loyal to a man while handpicking for him girlfriends on the side – and, when the fight between two men erupts, urges to hit her instead of each other, meanwhile instructing how to do it and avoid jail time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another video of CC\u00a0romanticizes<\/a>\u00a0rape, portraying it as a female fantasy. Comedy Club and its subproject Comedy Woman have also mocked the #metoo campaign \u2013 they staged a performance where female comedians asked their male counterparts for sexual harassment \u201cto keep up with the West\u201d. Meanwhile, comedian Alexander Nezlobin\u00a0ridiculed<\/a>\u00a0the campaign, comparing unwanted advances to scenes from cinema (\u201cthen I can say I was harassed by Sharon Stone as a kid\u201d, he claimed) and dismissing the idea that \u201cno means no\u201d \u2013 saying that if he accepted rejections and did not persist, he would not have a relationship at all. The relevant video was removed from YouTube after public outcry.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For CC, jokes about women\u00a0constitute<\/a>\u00a0approximately 22% of all air time; those about relationships \u2013 25%. KVN, a successor of Soviet humor show and one of the most popular comedy programs, often follows the similar suit. A scene\u00a0depicting<\/a>\u00a0competition for male attention between a wife and a mistress, traditionally presents a man as the highest prize and also features a hint of anti-Western sentiment: the main hero brings both women together to decide, with which one to stay \u2013 as <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a crisis in the country, I can\u2019t handle you both. Everyone understands that it is not my responsibility, but that of irresponsible and ill-conceived policy of the former USA administration.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The abovementioned cases are simply the examples of the broader trend, where humor is built on reinforcing stereotypes that objectify and dehumanize women \u2013 mostly through the male gaze, as men have significantly more screen time and women often echo their jokes, legitimizing them. The tendency is wide-spread and may be observed on various occasions: from political satire program \u201cInternational Sawmill\u201d that airs on one of the top Russian TV-channels NTV and\u00a0ridicules<\/a>\u00a0Angela Merkel\u2019s age and appearances, comparing her to a man, to popular (3.61 million subscribers) video-blogs on YouTube targeting younger audience \u2013 with\u00a0jokes<\/a>\u00a0similar to \u201cif you caught a pigeon, the evening is great \u2013 you now have both a woman and a dinner\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real-life effects are quite substantial \u2013 2008 experiment\u00a0proved<\/a>\u00a0that after exposure to sexist comedy, amount of money men are prepared to donate to charity organizations dealing with domestic and sexual violence, significantly diminishes. Nevertheless, humor is far from being the only area of pop-culture where sexism strives.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studio \u201cStereotype Production\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mass-market cinema in Russian Federation does little to counter the gender stereotypes. This tendency has been frequently evidenced during the last 5 years at the very least by popular, commercially successful films often produced with state funding. Film \u201cCrimea Bridge. Made with Love\u201d<\/strong> hit the theaters in 2018 \u2013 and it centers as much around Russian propaganda on annexation of Crimea as around objectified portrayal of women. Main character makes it his goal to have sex with the local \u201calfa chick\u201d after evaluating all the other females available \u2013 while judging them for being too unattractive. Film rated PG-13 despite the numerous obscenities was directed by Tigran Keosayan, a host of the abovementioned \u201cInternational Sawmill\u201d program \u2013 and the script was written by RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, who also happens to be Keosayan\u2019s wife. Putin\u2019s confidante Sergey Trofimov took upon a role of composer, and studio owned by Keosayan\u2019s brother was involved in the filming process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These links result in allegations of corruption, as the film\u00a0received<\/a>\u00a0state financing of at least 100 million rubles outside of competition process. \u201cCrimean Bridge\u201d was called \u201can apolitical film\u201d by director and actors \u2013 although its main message of Crimea being Russian territory and several scenes explicitly contradict this statement. For example, the film features a Crimean Tatar (played by a Russian actor) who whitewashes the Soviet deportation of his own people, and a fight between stereotypically portrayed Ukrainian who attacks a Russian for calling Crimea \u201cannexed\u201d (!).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Best Day\u201d,<\/strong> released in 2015 with a budget of 2 million dollars and box office receipts of more than 10 million, is presented as a comedy while being a story filled with abuse coming from a consistently drunk main character \u2013 who in the end is, of course, forgiven by his fianc\u00e9e. It became the highest-grossing film in Russia in 2015. Another popular comedy, \u201cSuperBobrovs\u201d,<\/strong> hit the cinemas next year to tell a story of a family gifted with superpowers they decide to use for robbing a bank. Classified as a \u201cfamily film\u201d, the piece consistently refers to female fat-shaming and bullying of one of the characters. It also features a questionable storyline of a 12-year old falling in love with her sister\u2019s fianc\u00e9 and attempting to seduce him. The film was endorsed by the Russian Cinema Fund \u2013 a part of Ministry of Culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet another comedy,\u00a0\u201cPoliceman from Rublyovka 2\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>is another installment of popular TV series that uses for comedic purposes a tragic real-life story of a suicide\u00a0committed<\/a>\u00a0by a policewoman in Sochi after she was bullied for being raped by a colleague. The film also starts with a scene of a character waking up next to his wife holding a pepper spray and asking where has she seen a rapist \u2013 he enjoys some \u201cunexpectedness\u201d, so what?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comedies are far from being the only genre where sexism prevails \u2013 from melodramatic TV-series akin to \u201cSugar Babes\u201d exploring lives of financially dependent mistresses to military dramas such as \u201cStalingrad\u201d or \u201cT-34\u201d, Russian cinema rarely gives women agency. It does not often pass the Bechdel test \u2013 and perhaps the most popular trope for female characters is to stoically suffer. Mass-oriented cinema, then, is a contributor to formation of the negative stereotypes that have real-life effects, from the\u00a0formation<\/a>\u00a0of organized misogynistic movements to a 27%\u00a0salary gap<\/a> between men and women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the dramatic effects of COVID-19 pandemic is the growth of domestic violence, amplified by prolonged contact, less possibilities to receive aid and economic crisis. In Russia, coronavirus-related limitations were first introduced in March,\u00a0and the amount of women who turned to the national hotline\u00a0grew\u00a0by 24% compared to February.\u00a0It is a spike in a much […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":121393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[690,699,748],"tags":[6431,6430,6429,6347],"section":[726],"form":[31943],"yoast_head":"\nHow Russian Pop-Culture Reflects Misogynistic Policies | UACRISIS.ORG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the dramatic effects of COVID-19 pandemic is the growth of domestic violence, amplified by prolonged contact, less possibilities to receive aid and | Uacrisis.org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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