SO THAT WE DON'T SUCCUMB ONE BY ONE

Of the two traditionally hopeless questions of Russian daily life - "Who's to blame?" and "What to do?" - the second tends to be seen as just rhetoric. But something must indeed be done! Otherwise all our wonderful discourse and brilliant analytical texts will remain nothing more than inspired convulsions of hot air, and the first breeze to come by will carry our voices into oblivion. Gender censorship is insidious, and those battling it should be not only smart and talented, but also have perseverance and strategic skills. It is important to call the problem by its name, and even more important to overcome the current stereotypes and traditions on a constant, hourly basis. Naturally, we must start with ourselves. We must never forget the well-known adage - squeeze one drop of slave mentality from yourself every day. For the most evil enemies of women's freedom are often women themselves who are enslaved in the stereotypes and habits that have been forced upon them, and who are habitually voiceless. And we won't go against our conscience; a self-censorship lives within many of us that doesn't allow us to speak of anything that is uncustomary, unaccepted and not approved by others.

This is confirmed by Russian journalism and by the latest research on the mass media's women agenda and the priorities of journalists of both sexes. Alas, many journalists do not fully recognize the gender contradictions in the modern world, even though the majority of professionals are women.

In this section, we talk about the experience already accumulated in Russia of overcoming the stereotypes and slavery within ourselves. We also bring to your attention the Russian and international documents developed by our women journalist associations on this subject. * * *

The Association of Women Journalists, one of the oldest associations in the independent Russian press, began ten years ago as a discussion club in Moscow and the surrounding area. The pretext was the increase in degrading notices and ads in print media and the reluctance of editors to publish materials about the real problems encountered by our contemporaries during perestroika and the beginning of the wild economic market. Scholars, cultural figures, political candidates and leaders of social organizations took part in the discussions. Around this time, the issue of women's position on editorial boards came up - at this time many women were running into difficulties and open discrimination which, according to official opinion, were done away with here long ago. The main idea of the association's creators was that journalism in Russia should face women squarely, by presenting realistic portraits of them and their opinions on all vital topics.

By now, the ideas of the association are shared by several hundred people in the north and south of Russia, in Siberia, the areas along the Volga and other regions, and in the countries of the CIS [Confederation of Independent States, formerly the Soviet Union] and the Baltics. Regional offices sprang up and several regions have active clubs and groups for women in the media - "Aksinya" in Novocherkassk, "Femina" in Naberezhnye Chelny, "Afina" in Rostov-on-Don the, associations of journalists in Murmansk, Irkutsk and Tver. Each group or division is concerned primarily with solving the problems of their respective communities - from helping to find employment and legal defense in court to organizing presentations and festivals, and creating their own media. Some people are drawn to research (since 1995, there has been regular monitoring of national and regional media), some to teaching (a number of universities have started special courses in women's journalism and women's themes in media), some to collaboration with women's and human rights organizations. Some have focused on new TV programs while in another place, a women's radio station was begun that has become a focal point for colleagues. Without exception, all of them say that it is very important to just get together from time to time to discuss sore topics -- to not succumb one by one.

This network of associations is free of any formalism and open to all who wish to participate in creative discussions or joint projects, competitions and seminars. It is for those who are in need of support and advice or, want a tribune for speaking out.

For many years, the Association's mouthpiece consisted of the "Women" columns in "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" [the Independent Newspaper], the radio series "Resonance" and "Nadezhda" [Hope], "Mayak" [Beacon], the program "Reporter's Solo," the international women's journal "We/Myi" and dozens of publications and programs in the regions. It would not be an exaggeration to say that a good number of the thematic publications, new newspapers and magazines, the publication of a series of articles and the release of programs about women were in some way a result of our joint discussions, plans and collaboration. Among these are the Mirninsky radio "Natali," the TV show "Zhensky interes"[Women's Interest] in Omsk, the new magazine "Tarusskiye stranitsy" [Pages from Tarusa], special editions of the magazine "Maria" in Ekaterinaburg, special editions of "Irkutyanka" [Irkutsk Woman], "Tverskoi kurier" {Tver Courier], the newspaper "Novy Sever" [The New North], and many others.

The past few years have seen, among other things, more than 50 seminars in 20 regions, from Kamchatka to the Kolsk Peninsula, yearly meetings at the journalism department of Moscow State University, a dozen international conferences in Russia, the CIS and abroad, journalist exchange programs with Sweden and Canada, collections of publications and research and open discussions about the country's pressing political and social problems. However, it is much more interesting to talk about the future than the past. The first national mass media competition, "Business Woman 2001," has just ended. More than 400 authors, publications, TV and radio companies participated in this competition. The winners were Tatyana Solina, commentator for "Nizhegorodskaya Pravda" [Nizhegorod Truth], Tatyana Ivanova (Shokhina), commentator for "Krestyanka" [Peasant Woman] and Natalya Avakumova, correspondent for the newspaper "Znamya" [Banner] (from the city of Urai in the Tyumen region). Nina Blokhina (GTRK "Yaroslavia") and Inna Dmitrieva (GTRK "Kuzbas") received special prizes, along with a student group of young TV journalists. The editor in chief of the newspaper "Tverskoi Kurier" [Tver Courier], Svetlana Ruzleva, received a prize from the "Toronto Star" newspaper and a training session in Toronto. It has been decided to hold women's competitions every year from now on. One of the association's plans is to hold a competition for women-managers and directors in the media. As far as immediate plans are concerned, the summer will see seminars in Nizhny Novgorod and the Tver region and at Lake Baikal. In the Sverdlov and Moscow regions, creative competitions are starting up. Women's press festivals are being prepared along with sports competitions and an inter-regional TV project that has just gotten underway. At this time, the association is launching a national campaign against the degradation of women in mass media. More detailed information about this will be posted on the Internet.

We won't report now about specific cases in which journalists and publications have been protected, as that is a whole separate subject. The most important thing is that the female voice is becoming increasingly active in the profession, which is only natural, as we are after all the majority here.

The e-mail address of the Association of Women Journalists is azh@gdf.ru, the phone number is 201-22-57 and the postal address is 119021, Moscow, Zubovsky bulvar 4, Soyuz zhurnalistov Rossii, Asosiatsiya zhurnalistok (Association of Women Journalists).

Association's Co-Chairmen: Nadezhda Azhgikhina Irina Yurna