Gender equality in the context of social relations

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Department of Philosophy National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

Gender equality in the context of social relations

Storozhuk Svitlana Volodymyrivna, Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), Professor, Professor of the

Hoyan Igor Mykolayovych Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), Professor, Professor

Abstract

Despite the fact that in most countries of the world a change of the gender order has been observed, modern intellectual discourse cannot be proud of significant developments in this area, at least because of the lack of a single conceptual interpretation of the concept of «gender equality», which in its turn significantly complicates the development of state and international strategies for gender equality, relevant to time and circumstances. In view of this, the purpose of our study is to highlight the main approaches to the interpretation of gender equality and outline the prospects for their practical implementation as a peculiar civilization model. The scientific novelty includes substantiating the proposition that we have all grounds to consider the marginalization of socially deterministic roles in the representatives of the two genders as one of the forms of gender discrimination, since within this approach there is a masculinization of a woman that is combined with the genocide of femininity. Given this fact, there is every reason to believe that the only model of gender equality is that built on the principle of «equal but different». Ensuring gender equality depends on the level of economic development of the state, namely: in the countries whose economic life is the «second wave of civilizational changes» (Elvin Toffler), low gender equality indicators are observed, even despite its legislative consolidation, however, as the US experience shows, this equality is not determined by it. Provision of appropriate time and socio-cultural, economic and political circumstances of the gender perspective requires a clear approach to the interpretation of the content of gender equality, which will be set against the background of the conceptual vision of gender, which will take into account the biological and social deterministic roles of representatives of each sex.

Key words: gender, gender equality, masculinity, femininity, universal good, discrimination.

СТОРОЖУК Світлана Володимирівна, доктор філософських наук, професор, професор кафедри філософії Національного університету біоресурсів і природокористування України

ГОЯН Ігор Миколайович, доктор філософських наук, професор, професор кафедри філософії, соціології та релігієзнавства

Прикарпатського національного університету

Імені Василя Стефаника

ГЕНДЕРНА РІВНІСТЬ У КОНТЕКСТІ СОЦІАЛЬНИХ ВІДНОСИН

Анотація. Попри те, що в більшості країн світу спостерігається зміна гендерного порядку, сучасний інтелектуальний дискурс не може пишатися істотними напрацюваннями в даній сфері, як мінімум через відсутність єдиного концептуального тлумачення поняття «гендернарівність», що в підсумку своєму істотно ускладнює розробку відповідних часу і обставинам державних і міжнародних стратегій забезпечення гендерної рівності. З огляду на це, мета нашого дослідження полягала у висвітленні основних підходів до тлумачення гендерної рівності та визначення перспектив їх практичного впровадження в вигляді своєрідного цивілізаційного стандарту. Наукова новизна полягає в обґрунтуванні положення про те, що маргіналізацію соціально-детермінованих ролей у представників обох статей є всі підстави розглядати як форму гендерної дискримінації, оскільки в рамках даного підходу відбувається маскулінізація жінки, що поєднується з геноцидом фемінності. Встановлено, що загальною моделлю гендерної рівності може стати та, що вибудовується на основі принципу «рівні, але різні». Поряд з іншим показано, що забезпечення гендерної рівності залежить від рівня економічного розвитку держави, оскільки в країнах, економічне життя яких відповідає «другій хвилі цивілізаційних змін» (Е. Тоффлер) спостерігаються низькі показники гендерної рівності, навіть незважаючи на їх законодавче закріплення, проте, як показує досвід США, що не визначається ним. Встановлення відповідного часу і соціокультурним, економічним і політичним обставинам гендерного порядку, вимагає концептуального підходу до тлумачення змісту гендерної рівності, який з'явиться на тлі концептуального бачення гендеру, в рамках якого будуть враховані біологічні та соціально-детерміновані ролі представників кожної статі.

Ключові слова: гендер, гендерна рівність, маскулінність, фемінність, загальне благо, дискримінація.

Formulation of the problem

The problem of gender equality in the last decade of the XX century - at the beginning of the XXI century was on the forefront of socio-political life. Within the framework of various political centers, parties and public organizations, including international ones, strategies are being developed to ensure the equality of men and women, at the same time legislative documents are proposed to overcome gender inequality. It is obvious that the leader in the struggle against the latter is the feminist movement that was born under the influence of the educational concept of the natural equality of people (Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean - Jacques Rousseau, etc.) and the French Revolution of 1789, under the influence of the achievements of which Olympe de Gouges wrote her world-famous «Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens» [1]. In this pamphlet, the French writer, continuing the intellectual tradition of Nicolas de Condorcet, emphasized the universal nature of equality and natural human rights, and thus the contradictions of the revolutionary movement, whose slogans were selective.

Analysis of the recent research and publications

Despite the fact that the «Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens» was a kind of Rubicon in the path of gender equality, during the time of its writing the problem of gender discrimination was not realized even in the women's environment. This is evidenced not only by the text of the «Declaration», in particular the famous appeal of Olympe de Gouges: «Woman, wake up! Alarm of Mind is spread around the universe; lay your rights» [1], but also other works of feminist sense. So, for example, Mary Wollstonecraft, stating the right of women to self-fulfillment, education and civil rights, addresses her works the male audience. «Make them [women] free,» remarked the researcher, «and they will quickly become wise and kind, and men will become even wiser and charitable, improvements must go in parallel» [2, p. 175]. The idea of the natural equality of men and women as an essential prerequisite for the formation of a just and moral society, in the worldview and works of Mary Wollstonecraft, was unusually combined with the recognition of the naturally determined division of labor on the basis of gender, in the context of which she considered the problem of equality. «With a sense of pleasure, she writes, I imagined a woman looking after the children, sharing all her duties, perhaps only with a servant, in order to get rid of the slavish part of home affairs. I see her preparing for her husband's meeting, arranging herself and children, and how tired she returns home in the evening and sees smiling children and her well-groomed house. And my heart is sinking, remaining among them, and with the sound of familiar steps even starts beating from joyous excitement» [2, p. 142-143].

Polemicizing with the leading enlighteners of the time, Mary Wollstonecraft insisted on the need for social transformations carried out on the basis of reason. Despite the fact that this idea is completely consonant with the general intentions of the educational paradigm of thinking, it has a distinctly innovative character, which manifests itself in the researcher's rejection of the patriarchal structure of society. According to M. Wollstonecraft, intelligent society is a society that takes into account the nature and needs of human nature, based on the natural differences between men and women. In view of this, the concept of gender equality developed by Wollstonecraft had ambivalent practical implications. On the one hand, the researcher's teaching became significant, as it promoted the educational cult of reason as a universal gender-based tool for learning the world and building public relations, which women could then be involved in. Undoubtedly, this was of no small importance to the development of the women's movement. Meanwhile, the natural difference between men and women, positioned by Wallstoncraft, for a long time defined the social role of women, the significance of which was actualized only in the private sphere, which confirms the preservation of the patriarchal, repressive nature, in the gender aspect, of American society in the middle of XX century. It was precisely against this type of equality that the works of Simon de Beauvoir [3], Kate Millet [4], Shulamith Firestone [5], B. Fridan [6] et al. In these and many other works, the focus was placed on the socio-cultural and ideological origins of the existing gender inequality, on the one hand, and on the other - on the problems encountered by women in asserting the right to their own personal identity. At the same time, the meaningful filling of the phenomenon, new to the European society, was overgrown with that «mysticism», which at one time was characterized by the female nature.

Despite the preservation of the patriarchal nature of social relations, the intentions aimed at overcoming all types of inequality are clearly visible in the Western civilizational space. Thus, according to the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [7], the international community became aware that «there is a general problem of inequality, which advocates in different forms and is produced by a different combination of common social factors ... one who wants to fight against the first , must fight against the second» [8, p. 250-251]. The above remarks by Pitirim Sorokin formed the basis of the formation of the modern axiological network of European society. Alpha and omega of the latter became a personality free of any social restrictions - legal, civil, economic, ethnic, racial, sexual, etc. Particularly acute, as evidenced by the «Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women» [9], was the issue of gender discrimination. This was due to the fact that, despite all the socio-cultural changes, the practical implementation of gender equality, as Susan Okin rightly emphasized in her paper «Women in Western Political Thought» [10], took place extremely slowly, as they encountered a large number of political, axiological and ideological obstacles [10, p. 286]. Thus, in spite of the long history of the feminist movement, there is no conceptual unity in defining the content of gender equality. This, according to Elizabeth Spelman, is due to the fact that there is no single «woman» prototype that reflects common interests for all, thus laying the conceptual background of the ideological unity of the feminist movement [11], and with it social practice. In view of this, feminist discourse is constantly replenished with works that offer gender-related projects that are relevant to the time, historical and socio-cultural realities. In this context, it is worth mentioning the works of such contemporary researchers as Nancy Frazer [12], Carol McMillan [13], Janis Savitsky [14], Mieke Verloo [15], Anna Van der Vleuten [16], Katherine McKinone [17], Judy Walch, Sara Cantillon [18], Neil Thompson [19], Svitlana Storozhuk, Ihor Hoyan [16] and others.

Purpose. Despite the fact that in most countries of the world there is a change in the gender order, modern intellectual discourse cannot be proud of significant developments in this field, at least because of the lack of a single conceptual interpretation of the concept of «gender equality», which ultimately complicates the development of state and international strategies for gender equality. relevant in time and circumstances. In view of this, the purpose of our study is to highlight the main approaches to the interpretation of gender equality and outline the prospects for their practical implementation as a peculiar civilization model.

Presentation of the main material

Despite the general attention of society to the issue of gender equality, in the modern world, one can hardly find a state that has been able to overcome gender discrimination. This is due not only to the preservation of patriarchal social stereotypes, but also to the peculiarity of political tradition. As an example, one can recall the United States, where from the 60's of XX century there has been observed an intensification of the women's movement, whose activities were aimed at overcoming patriarchal social relations and, accordingly, ensuring equal opportunities for representatives of the two sexes. It is significant that the latter did not involve changes in the socio-political tradition, the core of which has been the principle of equal opportunities for over a century, which organically and traditionally rejected the state intervention in the private sphere. In view of this, in the US public-political thought there was a belief that any «difference» in the treatment of women contributed to the consolidation of their social marginalization, thereby forming a complex inferiority.

The widespread US paradigm of formal legal equality was effective at the stage of «liberating» a woman from power under patriarchal institutions, the main among them, according to Kate Millet, being a family [20]. «The main institution of the patriarchy - writes the researcher - is a family. It is both a mirror of society and a connecting link between a human and society, a patriarchal unit within the patriarchal whole. By acting as an intermediary between the individual and the social structure, the family exercises control and subordination where political and other powers are inadequate. Being a key instrument and part of the foundations of the patriarchal society, the family and the distribution of roles in the family are its prototypes. Being an instrument of society, the family not only prompts its members to adapt and subjugate, but acts as a unit of the government of a patriarchal state that manages its citizens through heads of families. Even in those patriarchal societies where women are given the legal rights of citizens, there is still a tendency for women to be governed solely by the family, and their relationship with the state is either negligible or absent at all» [20, p. 24].

Kate Millet's remarks on the patriarchal nature of the American family of the 50's and 60's are quite coincident to the conclusions suggested in the work of Betty Friedan «The Riddle of Femininity» [6], published in 1963. In this work, the researcher was one of the first to focus on the fact that in today's society, a woman cannot be called a full-fledged human person, since this quality is completely offset by the highly popular idea of «mysterious femininity», within which there is no room for searching by a woman of her own «I», or for realizing her own desires. «The problem of acquiring a personality», notes Betty Friedan, «at that time [it goes about 60's of XX century - our clarification] was new for a woman, completely new one. The feminists were in the forefront of female evolution. They had to prove that women were also human beings. They were supposed to smash, if necessary even using violence, the decorative porcelain figurine that in the last century represented the ideal of a woman. They had to prove that a woman was not a passive unrealistic reflection, not a decorative unnecessary decoration, not a thoughtless animal, not a thing used by others, not a being, devoid of her own voice» [6]. In other words, the main problem faced by American women in the 1960's of XX century was the problem of personal self-identification, which by this time had been the privilege of men.

It should be noted that the problem of «releasing» a woman, at least in the United States, was updated with the activation of the movement against all forms of discrimination, which continued to persist due to the stability of the American legal doctrine introduced in XIX century. As it is known, its core was the principle of equal treatment with persons who are in the same position. In other words, the American legal system based on the principle of «separate, but equal», consolidated gender inequality, laying the foundations for all forms of discrimination [21]. In our opinion, this was precisely the cause of the militancy of the American feminists of the 1960's, which was clearly manifested in public actions, such as «Miss America» contest, which took place in Atlantic City [22]. No less aggressive was «Cell - 16» founded in 1968. Representatives of this radical organization, put at the center of their activity the struggle for «liberating» women from all forms of oppression, including the emancipation, which, in their opinion, manifests itself as the acceptance of the prevailing discriminatory social system by attaching to the rights and freedoms that men had [23]. In other words, contrary to the traditional belief in the feminist movement, representatives of the «Cell-16» considered emancipation as a kind of adaptation, adjustment of the oppressed to the conditions of oppression, and therefore did not consider it an effective mechanism for the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual liberation of women from men. Because of this, the female representatives of the «Cell-16» opposed the working, personal relationships with men, which contributed to the preservation of patriarchal relations [24].

Given the peculiarity of the tasks set by Roxanne Dunbar and Dana Densmore, ideas and practical goals of the «Cell-16» did not receive a significant resonance among the representatives of the women's movement in the United States, whose main goal was to ensure the equal status of women by means of emancipation. The latter was accompanied by a number of obstacles, including not the last place was occupied by patriarchal stereotypes and repressive practices that forced women to maintain an established patriarchal order. Patriarchal subordination, accompanied by civil and economic disenfranchisement and often seemed more promising than the violence women encountered in social self-realization, which could not be left out of feminist discourse, are evidenced by works by Susan Brownmiller [25], Katherine McKinnon [26], Felice Newman [27], Pauline B. Bart and Aylin Gayle Moran [28] et al., in which rape is seen as one of the tools of conquest and oppression of women. It is thanks to them that in the public consciousness there are such concepts as «sexism», «domestic violence», «sexual harassment», etc., and later methods for overcoming their consequences.

Along with the theme of violence, a prominent place in the feminist discourse of the Second Wave was the problem of pornography, which, like rape, for a long time was a tool of oppression of women. This idea was conceptualized in the work of Susan Griffin, «Pornography and Silence,» in which the researcher considered pornography, not only as one of the most effective instruments of humiliation of a woman, but also a way of depriving her subjectivity [29, p. 201-202]. A similar view was expressed by Andrea Dvorkin in «Pornography: Men Own Women» [30]. In this work the American researcher and activist of the women's movement explored pornography as a dehumanization industry based on hatred of a woman. Pornography, observes Andrea Dvorkin, acts as a form of violence against a woman during her creation, but its social consequences are equally devastating - it forces men to eroticize domination, humiliation and ill-treatment of women.

No less productive was the further work of Andrea Dvorkin, who in her public speeches and scientific research focuses on the indisputable role of pornography in the process of permanent violence against a woman and the absence of an appropriate social reaction. «The exhausted Jew», Dvorkin remarks, «is a recognized brutality behind the barbed wire, almost naked, crippled by a Nazi doctor's knife. The Vietnamese in a tiger cage, almost naked, with broken and curved bones, bruised flesh is a recognized cruelty. The black slave on the American plantation, almost naked, in chains, the flesh in scars from the whip is a recognized cruelty. A woman under torture is a sexual entertainment. A woman under torture sexually stimulates. The torture of a woman who is tormented sexually captivates. The humiliation of a woman under torture is sexually charming. The humble position of a woman under torture is sexually pleasing, sexually exciting and gives sexual pleasure» [31]. Exploring violence against a woman as a form of terror, Andrea Dvorkin, quite rightly, raises the problem of female violence to a global level. At the same time, the researcher is well aware that it is extremely difficult to overcome gender discrimination and ensure gender equality, since state legislation is commonly introduced by men, and because when women challenge pornography, they are arrested, tortured while claiming to act as legal defenders of «freedom of speech». In fact, they act as legitimate defenders of male privileges, male property and phallic power [31].

By explicating the tools and means of gender discrimination, the US feminist movement simultaneously promoted a gender neutral policy in the sphere of citizenship. So, in the opinion of many active participants in the women's movement aimed at emancipation, namely: Alice Rossi in her «Feminist Reports: From Adams to Beauvoir» [32], Janet Richards in her book «Skeptical Feminism» [33], Susan Okin in her «Women in Western Political Thought» [10], Natalie Bluestone in her book «Women and the Perfect Society: «The Republic» of Plato and Modern Myths about Gender» [34] - in the legal sense, women and men should be treated as equal, that is, identical. Gender differences are assessed by them as irrelevant, since they were formed as a result of the unjust organization of society, and thus could easily be eliminated through legal reforms (Natalie Bluestone). In view of this belief, in the United States began to establish a similarity policy, and with it «feminism of equal rights», which was accompanied by a sharp attack on the image of a woman dominant in the contemporary society, with her expressive intention for motherhood.

Thus, in contrast to the dominant in intellectual discourse of that time Talcott Parsons's sociological theory of structural and functional roles, who generally acknowledged the equality of the representatives of the two genders, nevertheless advocated a patriarchal social structure with the inherent subordinate position of women, among the representatives of the feminist movement, Sandra Bern's theory of androgyny was gaining ever greater support [35]. It was suggested by a researcher in the early 1970's and questioned the traditional bipolarity of gender roles. In particular, Sandra Bem suggested that the measurement of femininity and masculinity can be divided into two areas: an individual with high masculine and low feminine indicators would be categorized as «masculine», whereas with high feminine and low masculine indicators that one would be categorized as «feminine». People who have high rates in both categories would be defined as «androgynous», and with equally low rates - as «undifferentiated» [35]. On this conceptual background, and based on these questionnaires, Sandra Bem argued that the fusion of masculine and feminine features was extremely important for the full functioning and adaptation of a human being in society. In other words, the theory of androgyny refutes the prevailing at that time sexual polarization of the social world.

Initiated by the women's movement of the USA, the intention to ensure formally legal equality of women was gradually institutionalized in the form of the National Women's Organization (NOW in English), which appeared in 1966 under the direction of Betty Friedan. The main task of this organization was reformation of American legislation and overcoming the concept of differentiated citizenship. «As long as the law divides citizens by gender, women will be discriminated against on the basis of outdated social stereotypes. It's time to put an end to the discussions and arguments about a special nature of women that hinder the achievement of true equality of opportunity and freedom for women» [36].

The reform of the US gender policy was initiated in 1961 by President John Kennedy. He supported the creation of the Commission on the Status of Women to study the situation of women's rights in post-war America. The result of the commission's work was the 1963 Women's State Report, in which, for the first time, the government documented the discrimination of women in the socio-economic sphere. In the same year, the first Federal Law on equal pay was adopted, which prohibited discrimination in terms of remuneration for work on the basis of sex. The law introduced the obligatory principle of equal remuneration for the equal work of men and women. Thus, the efforts of the pre-war social wing of the American women's movement succeeded in advancing the collective rights of women employed in industrial production. Note that at first the law did not apply to the administrative sphere, where gender equality was established almost in ten years [37].

Focusing on reforming the existing system of government, feminists acted through the methods traditional for the US political culture - filing lawsuits and lobbying for bills. The Feminists Commission, Equal Opportunities Commission, was extremely quick on allegations of litigation against employers due to a breach of the Civil Law that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex, which, in turn, forced many companies to pay significant monetary fines with the reimbursement of material and moral damage and to employ by court decision. The same fines were imposed on the publishing houses of the newspapers, publishing announcements on employment with the indication «men are wanted» [37].

NOW's active struggle against women's discrimination, yielded fruitful results very quickly. Already in the 70's of XX century the USA adopted a number of bills aimed at overcoming gender inequality in educational, labor, civil, legal, economic, and other spheres. Instead, the Amendment on the equal rights, adopted by the US Congress in 1972, was ratified only by 32 of the 38 states, which in the end did not become a constitutional norm. Despite this, and in spite of all the obstacles, precisely at that very time the principle of gender equality became an integral part of the US civilian policy. This was also facilitated by President Kennedy, a gender-sensitive policy of «positive actions». For example, in seeking to overcome gender discrimination, the authorities ensured greater access to the labor market and policy, increasing the representation of few previously represented population groups in public committees, political parties and educational institutions [38, p. 15], imposing sanctions at the same time on those companies that refused to carry out the policy outlined [39, c. 17]. In view of this, the contradiction between the prevailing US liberal «equal opportunities policy» and the compensatory policy of «positive actions» became extremely quick. In order to avoid discrimination of some social groups, «positive actions» thus violated the «equal opportunities» of participation in the social production of other groups of the population. In other words, «positive actions» included a given equality of results, which contradicted the principle of «equal opportunity» dominant in the public consciousness, forcing supporters of «positive actions» to get rid of using quotas [38, p. 44]. Thus, the only privilege of American women is the principle of equality [50, p. 7].

Ensuring the equality of men and women in unity with a gender-neutral policy, it seems that there is every reason to consider the undoubted achievement of American feminism. Meanwhile, such a conclusion is too premature, given his insensitivity to the «special rights» of a woman. In view of this, already in the 80's of XX century in the American society they were actualized as a problem of motherhood. After all, conceptualized as a result of political and public debate, a gender neutral policy contributed to the active involvement of women in the public sphere, and thus became the undoubted achievement of American feminism, the development of which has now taken place in unity with traditional socio-political principles, creating new forms of inequality. Thus, as a result of social transformation, in American sociopolitical practice, not only feminicide manifested itself, in the end women encountered the problem of combining professional and family roles. The growth of divorces gradually shaped the inequality of custody of children, who most often were remaining with their mother, who was assigned the same responsibilities for the material provision of children as their father. In other words, the problem of equality has led to the fact that a man was freed from a significant amount of child support, while the woman was forced to combine professional and maternal responsibilities.

Actualization of new forms of discrimination, led to changes in the world-view vector of the feminist movement, in the rhetoric of which there is a problem of «specific rights» of women. One of the first, in the American women's movement, was Betty Friedan. In her work published in 1981, «The Second Stage» [41], the head of the feminist movement focused on the fact that «the femininity of mysticism» no longer oppresses women, women are now suffering from «feminist mysticism», which prevents them from devoting enough time to their children and families. With this in mind, Betty Friedan justified the urgent need for a new, balanced view of the family, love and work. In her view, women, having received the support of men, should focus their efforts on rebuilding social institutions and developing social assistance programs for the education of children, paid leave in case of a child's illness, flexible work schedule, etc.

Despite the fact that the ideas expressed in the «Second Stage» reflected the real problems of the US gender policy, they did not find support, either among the representatives of the feminist movement, or the general public, which led to the gradual establishment of a gender neutral policy, within which the division into men's and women's responsibilities and activities was completely alleviated. The US policy became also insensitive to a family law, which gave rise to new forms of discrimination against women. So, for example, in the United States, only three states - California, New Jersey and Washington provide paid leave due to pregnancy and childbirth. In other cases, American mothers can count on only 12 weeks of unpaid leave during pregnancy and childbirth, provided they work at least a year in a large company (which has more than 50 employees). The only mitigation in this case is compensation for medical insurance of 6-8 weeks of temporary disability. Contrary to the constraints of women's «special rights», a gender neutral policy is fully in line with the principle of «equal opportunity» that prevails in the American social and political consciousness.

Given the close link between gender-neutral policies and socio-political processes that took place in the United States in the mid-20th century, namely the fight against all forms of discrimination, its values and principles were supported primarily in those countries where the fight against gender inequality became more relevant in unity with the fight against other forms of inequality. For example, in the United States, this process was developing in parallel with the struggle for establishing racial equality, whereas in the Republic of Tunisia, the problem of gender equality got intensified in unity with the struggle for liberation from the protectorate of France. Meanwhile, in our opinion, it was the latter that defined the vector of development of the women's movement in that state. Indeed, as it is known, the majority of the population of Tunisia professes Islam, whose doctrine does not provide equal rights for men and women. Instead, the newest French history was determined by its secular character, eventually a clear separation of state and church. It is obvious that this idea could not be accepted by the Tunisian society, which led to the fact that Islam at the constitutional level was enshrined in the state religious doctrine [42]. Nevertheless, the Constitution of Tunisia is based not on the demands and rules of Shariah, but on Western European civilization values, among which one of the leading places being occupied by freedom and equality of personality. Thus, for example, article 21 of the Constitution of Tunis states, «All citizens, men and women, have equal rights and responsibilities, and are equal before the law without any discrimination,» but Article 40 provides equal for men and women right to work. Indicative, in our opinion, is Article 46, which establishes the duty of the state «to protect the foreseen rights of women and work to strengthen and develop these rights». In addition, the state «guarantees equality of opportunities for women and men for access to all levels of responsibility in all territories», and also works «to achieve parity between women and men at the election meetings» [42]. gender civilization marginalization socially

Undoubtedly, the articles mentioned above are a significant achievement of the Islamic state in the way of ensuring gender equality. At the same time, attention is drawn to the fact that the achievement of parity in the rights of men and women, as well as in the United States, takes place without taking into account the «special rights» of women. So, in Tunisia, at birth, a woman can receive from 4 to 8 weeks of maternity leave, paying 67.7% of the salary. In addition, in Tunisia, as a result of the constitutional consolidation of gender equality, as well as the United States, there is no division into men's and women's professions, in this connection, women work at the level of men, even in spite of the differences in physical capabilities, that in our opinion, there is every reason to consider not only a kind of gender discrimination, but also feminicide.

The situation is similar in India. Just like in Tunisia, the struggle for gender equality here is in parallel with the liberation from colonial dependence on England, which can undoubtedly be considered a leader in the fight against gender discrimination. At the same time, the United Kingdom is the third in terms of providing «special rights» for women. Of course, here in the same way as in other countries of the world, the legislation provides for a series of relaxations for pregnant women, which can hardly be considered sufficient for the growth of prestige of motherhood. All of our achievements and limitations, reflected in Indian political practice, aimed at ensuring gender equality. Thus, on the one hand, India adopted a number of legislative acts aimed at ensuring gender equality, but, on the other hand, the deeply conservative nature of Indian society in unity with the eternal traditions and regulations of Hinduism became a significant obstacle to the establishment of genuine gender equality. It became a privilege for women, who came from privileged families and representatives of the urban population of the middle class [43]. Instead, inequality and discrimination of women are clearly manifested in the rural environment, which, however, is not confined to feminicide.

Despite positive developments regarding the legal, social and economic status of women, there are currently no grounds for considering this issue resolved. Of course, in this context, the leading European countries have progressed most in this context, whose social and political thought was determined by the intention to develop a «state of general well-being». In view of this, ensuring gender equality was in unity with the consciousness of the differences (unequal, unequal) between men and women, which could lead to a difference in their socio-economic status. In this context, the European policy of equal rights was constantly supplemented by special programs of the state to improve the status of women and to meet their specific needs. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979, initiated by the United Nations, could be indicative in this context. This international document can be considered a significant event in the history of the feminist movement, since it affirmed the equality of men and women at the international level, while emphasizing the importance of the social role of motherhood. So, for example, Article 11 initiated the development of social programs for maternity support by the States-participants, through the introduction of paid leave or vacation with comparable social assistance in pregnancy and childbirth without losing their previous job, providing additional social services. Social platforms provided the opportunity to combine family responsibilities with work and participation in public life, primarily through the creation and expansion of a network of childcare facilities [9].

The most prominent in this context is the Beijing Platform for Action [44], which proposes to the international community to take a number of measures to ensure the principle of «equality of rights and responsibilities of women and men in the family, at work and in broader national and international contexts», since «equality of women and men is one of the issues of human rights and one of the conditions ensuring social justice as well as the necessary and basic prerequisite for achieving equality, development and peace», and «transforming partnerships on the basis of equality of women and men is one of the conditions for sustainable development, which places the interests of man in the first place» [Art.1, 44]. In other words, the Beijing Platform for Action, recognizing the presence of socially determined differences between women and men, has focused its efforts on ensuring the equality of men and women without the intention of feminicide, as evidenced by paragraph 29 of the Platform, which focuses on the remarkable role of women in the family and the process of childbirth, which, however, should not be a barrier to her on her way to civic and economic activity, and therefore men as well as the whole society are obliged to assume a significant part of their duties in the process of raising children. At the same time, with the requirements for ensuring gender equality, the Platform clearly maintained the requirement for respect for the woman's choice of life [44].

Despite the significant achievements of the international community in overcoming gender discrimination, there is currently no reason to consider this problem fully resolved. Thus, the high number of countries where these and other international instruments were ratified and the principle of gender equality was constitutionally enshrined, a high level of gender discrimination remains. An example in this context may be Ukraine, the Constitution of which states unequivocally that «there can be no privileges or restrictions on the grounds of race, color, political, religious and other beliefs, sex, ethnic and social origin, property status, place of residence, by language or other features. Equality of rights for women and men is ensured by: providing women with equal opportunities with men in socio-political and cultural activities, in education and training, in work and remuneration for it; special measures on labor protection and health of women, establishment of pension privileges; creating conditions that enable women to combine work with motherhood; legal protection, material and moral support for motherhood and childhood, including the provision of paid holidays and other benefits to pregnant women and mothers» [45]. Nevertheless, according to experts from the Rozumkov Center, practically in all areas women are faced with real barriers in the labor market, and their roots are contained within the system of employment organization and in the problems faced by women, seeking to combine professional activities with family responsibilities [46, p. 8]. It is significant that this situation continued to persist even though the proportion of women working in higher education is significantly higher than the corresponding indicator for men. Without attention to this, women in most sectors occupy positions that do not require a high level of qualification and do not provide for professional growth opportunities. As a result, the average wage of Ukrainian women is 34% lower than that of men. At the same time, Ukraine has absolute gender equality in such areas as health and education [47]. Thus, in recent years the situation in the legislative sphere and the representation of women in public authorities has improved, and the number of women-deputies has also slightly increased.

Contrary to the positive trends observed in certain spheres of public life, the high level of gender inequality remains in Ukraine. This is largely due to the domination of Soviet stereotypes and social practices, in which legislation acts as a kind of programmatic slogan that opens the door for international dialogue without imposing any restrictions on civil policy. This political practice was clearly manifested in the Soviet state, which, despite the legislative consolidation of the principle of gender equality, promoted the values of the patriarchal family. As a result, legally established equality has become discriminatory, since only women were assigned double responsibilities - family and professional ones [48]. Significant changes in the Ukrainian society regarding the solution of the issue of gender equality are also not observed after the proclamation of state independence. Declaring the European vector of civilizational development, the socio-political thought and family policy continue to determine patriarchal stereotypes, which ultimately promote the preservation of gender discrimination [46, c. 9].

Along with the above, one should not forget that a significant number of Ukrainians live in rural areas, and therefore, on the one hand, their outlook is characterized by a high level of conservatism, and on the other hand - by the rooting of a gender division of labor, which promotes the preservation of gender stereotypes. In other words, the preservation of patriarchal relations in the rural regions of Ukraine is fully and appropriately described by Elvin Toffler, the second wave of civilizational changes [5], and their change implies a radical transformation of ideological, economic, technological and other transformations.

Conclusions

The article proposes and substantiates the position that in the contemporary socio-political discourse of the world there are two conceptual approaches to the interpretation of gender equality. Within the framework of the first approach, differences between men and women are regarded as insignificant, and as a result gender equality is considered in the context of identity (or similarity), which leads to the introduction of a gender-neutral equal opportunities policy, within which the «special rights» of women are totally levelled down, which in our opinion promotes the development of new forms of inequality and discrimination, and that it is important not only for women, but for men, especially in ensuring their right to motherhood or parenthood. A striking example in this context is the US experience, where women, as well as men, should constantly choose between their own right to motherhood/parenthood and social realization. It was emphasized that gender neutral policies were most often implemented in the countries in which the fight against gender discrimination got intensified either in the context of combating other forms of discrimination or the general movement for liberation, or started manifesting itself as a natural result of economic, and civilizational transformations.

In European countries, whose socio-political thought is characterized by the continued development of the liberal tradition, the practice of emancipation has spread, which has ensured the gradual involvement of women in all spheres of social life on the basis of the principle of «equal, but different». This was facilitated not only by the development of the feminist movement, but by liberalism itself, within which the concept of the state of the common good gradually emerged. In other words, in European socio-political discourse, gender equality was viewed through the prism of socially deterministic roles of every gender.

We have all grounds to consider marginalization of socially deterministic roles of the representatives of the two genders as one of the forms of gender discrimination, since within this approach there is a masculinization of a woman that is combined with the femininity genocide. In view of this, there is every reason to believe that a promising model of gender equality is based on a gender-based «equal, but different» gender principle. According to it, women and men have equal legal rights, but also take into account the special rights of women to motherhood, which to a certain extent reflects the anthropological and biological difference between the sexes.

The disclosure of the main intentions of the gender policy of different countries provides every reason to speak of the existence of three types of gender policy. The first type is a gender neutral policy, which maximizes the «equal opportunities» of men and women in all spheres of social life through a complete leveling of socially deterministic roles of representatives of two articles. That is, the main methodological concept on the basis of which the relations between the sexes are based is the principle of full social equality and the principle of anthropological identity, which does not take into account and alleviates the special anthropological, needs of women and their special rights, in particular the right to motherhood. The second type is a gender sensitive policy, which, taking into account the socially determined roles of representatives of the two sexes ensures equal opportunities for men and women due to the large number of different social programs that take into account the special needs of women, in particular during pregnancy and childbirth. That is, this type of gender relations is based on liberalism and takes into account the socially deterministic roles of each of the sexes, in particular maternity. A third type is the discriminatory policy of women, which is widespread in low-income countries and has a large number of people employed in agriculture, which affects the preservation of patriarchal relations that underpin the preservation of gender inequality; as well as in countries whose legislation is built up in accordance with the requirements of Shariah, according to which the equality of men and women is not traceable in the context of religious tradition.

Besides it has been shown that the provision of gender equality depends on the level of economic development of the state, namely: in countries whose economic life corresponds to the «second wave of civilizational changes» (Elvin Toffler), low gender equality indicators are observed, even despite its legislative consolidation. Instead, in economically developed countries, we have high levels of gender equality, even though there are differences in approaches to its interpretation. Hence, the economic factor is one of the objective factors influencing the formation of the principles of gender inequality. In other words, the degree of gender equality in one or another country affects not only philosophical or cultural factors that unfold in philosophical or political discourse, but anthropological-biological (in particular, the status of motherhood) and economic factors that correlate worldview paradigms of gender equality.

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