Polish HerStory: Recent Episodes
Richard
This Podcast will feature various guests and will cover current events and important issues in Polish Feminism.
In this Episode, I am Joined by Lapise Taylor(she/they) and Sullivan Carter (they/them) and we discuss a lot of the Feminist themes in Polish Folkore and connect these to the 21st Century. Lapise is a Public Health major with a minor in Neuroscience. Sullivan is an English Major with a minor in WGS. These questions are pulled from the readings known as "Zevila" and "The Doll". Also it is pulled from Women’s Voices and Feminism in Polish Cultural Memory, edited by Urszula Chowaniec, and Ursula Phillips. Other questions are pulled from online news articles or forum postings which I thought would be very interesting to include. This episode really covers a lot of the double standards that are very prevalent in society which is outlined very clearly in the readings.
In Zevila, it is a Polish Folklore which basically the woman is put to death for “premarital promiscuity” how does this connect with society today with the Patriarchal Terms such as “body count”.
In “The Doll” , Izabela is a beautiful woman who finds a sort of power in rejecting men that she isn’t attracted to. Here, she has a choice in the man that she wants to marry. Why is it nowadays sometimes the excuse “I have a boyfriend” is the only one that Men believe.
Why do male authors like to portray women as super helpless and almost like they live in a fairytale world with unrealistic expectations? This is very clear in the doll, when the author writes “ …[she would reply] the world is an enchanted garden full of magical castles, and that she herself was a goddess or nymph imprisoned in a body.
An 1826 Poem writes about the ideal Polish woman, Maria Janion writes about it saying “As Janion observes, the cornerstone of “liberation” here is patriotic self-sacrifice, this is how a woman gains her “liberation,” by fighting alongside men in the male world (1996, 96)
Why do Male Authors always associate women with being Hysterical. Could this be seen as “gaslighting” but from the post modern era.
Professor Debicki writes about this,
Only when she performs her role as a mother, or even aims for this goal, will a woman be equal to man and even superior to us (2:310-311).
Zofia Nalkowska wants an end to the double standards as she talked about at the National Polish Women’s Congress of 1907. What are some of those double standards that she is talking about. Slut vs player
Womens Sports and Income Inequality is also covered here as well.
In this episode we touch on some of the key details of feminism beginning with discussion about the differentiated feminism in the West vs the East. I am joined by Julia Rossi(she/her). Julia is an English and Psychology double major who is very avid when it comes to Feminism. A lot of these questions are pulled from a lot of Polish Feminists from the book Women’s Voices and Feminism in Polish Cultural Memory, edited by Urszula Chowaniec, and Ursula Phillips. Other questions are pulled from online news articles or forum postings which I thought would be very interesting to include. Furthermore, we discuss very mainstream feminist ideas such as imposter syndrome among the STEM Community with the WIS(Women in STEM), and we also touch upon the recent victory for women which happened in Spain. What happened was Spain’s congress passed a law which was long overdue which helps protect women from rape in the bedroom due to the fact that it requires explicitly consent. Lastly, we touch upon the presence of Feminism in American Politics specifically in regards to the Presidency, and how we may possibly see a big victory for women in the upcoming elections if not in 2022/2024.
Questions asked: What do you think about the difference between Feminism in the West versus the East. Mainly talking about the difference between the Middle East versus Western Europe/USA. Religious differences etc.
What do you think about Hungary Banning WGS(Women’s and Gender Studies) ? Could this possibly be a slippery slope which may cause other very conservative countries to do the same?
Looking at this quote from Ewa Contarczyk-Wesola, she says “There are still many obstacles to the development of feminist scholarship” What do you think she really means here in regards to our current society?
Pulling this from an online forum..” There are patriarchal undertones in women’s clothing mainly noted in the small pocket sizes that they have “ What are your thoughts on that?
Spain passed a new law which is a victory for women requiring there to be affirmative Consent. There must be a “yes” said. How do you think this will affect women? And why didn’t this happen sooner?
Do you really think we will possibly see a woman president in 2024? Or is this something that you think we will probably need to wait at least 20 or so years for.
In this episode we touch on some of the key details of feminism in addition to Polish feminism in Post-Soviet Poland. I am joined by Chasten Lance(they/he). Chasten is a good friend of mine who is a feminist and is eager to discuss these issues. A lot of the questions we talk about deal with the connotation of the word "feminism" in addition to a lot of the key historical events in which women weren't really have never ever been equal to men. These have stemmed from thousands of years ago and there is very clear documentation of it. Furthermore, we discuss traditional gender roles and how those can be very harmful for women because it can shackle them to very harmful relationships with abusive men. Also, there is a lot of discussion of how the men in power try to be very insidious about feminism and try and dismantle it by creating strawman arguments. These questions I bring up come from a lot of Polish Feminists from the book Women’s Voices and Feminism in Polish Cultural Memory, edited by Urszula Chowaniec, and Ursula Phillips. The women who I talk about are eager to discuss the current Patriarchal Limitations on society and how there aren't many current solutions in place to stop it. Furthermore, there is also a cameo appearance American Feminism makes on this podcast due to the fact that Roe V. Wade being repealed has caused a lot of uproar in the feminist community.
Attached Down below is questions that are asked throughout the podcast
What do you think of when you hear feminism?
After Poland’s liberation from communists why would you think that the women weren’t truly free?
(Maria Janion) Why is a woman being a “family creature” who takes care of the home bad in your opinion? It is said that Poland liberated has a masculine gender.
(Agata Chalupnik) What are some common feminist stereotypes which just aren’t true and perpetuated by men?
(Simone de Beauvoir) Talks about how the oppression of women has always existed.
(Beauvoir) She claims how society creates the gender known as woman. Please elaborate any other genders you feel like society has created?
Having the right to vote as a woman was monumentally important. Why would people not allow this?
Kryzwicka really feels that there should be abortion laws and women should free themselves from “monogamous patriarchal limitations, family obligations, and sentimental education”