“Beauty is your duty?” The issue of appearance in Ukrainian media discourse about servicewomen

IF 1.9 3区社会学 Q2 WOMENS STUDIES

Womens Studies International Forum Pub Date : 2025-05-31 DOI:10.1016/j.wsif.2025.103128

Nataliia Zalietok

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article examines the portrayal of beauty and appearance of female military personnel in Ukrainian military, civilian, and feminist media materials published between 2016 and 2023, focusing on how these representations have reflected broader gender dynamics within the military. Although media discourse noticeably shifted after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, coverage of women in the military remained largely fragmented and disconnected from a feminist perspective. While the emphasis on beauty somewhat decreased, the deeply ingrained tendency to view female personnel through a patriarchal lens persisted throughout the period under review.

The article highlights the alternative role of feminist media, which has critiqued the sociocultural roots of these portrayals and advocated for reforms to better integrate women into the military. Nevertheless, feminist outlets have exercised limited influence compared to mainstream media. Ultimately, Ukrainian media discourse has often continued to perpetuate gender inequality within the military, despite some progress in acknowledging women's roles and challenges.

Promoting a more balanced portrayal of female military personnel in Ukrainian media requires stronger cooperation between civilian, military, and feminist media platforms. These efforts must align with a broader cultural and governmental agenda aimed at redefining gender roles in national defense and addressing the evolving dynamics of gender within the military.

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“美丽是你的职责？”乌克兰媒体关于女兵的言论中的外表问题

本文研究了2016年至2023年期间乌克兰军事、文职和女权主义媒体材料中对女性军事人员美貌和外表的描绘，重点关注这些表现如何反映了军队中更广泛的性别动态。尽管在2022年俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰后，媒体话语发生了明显的变化，但对军队中女性的报道在很大程度上仍然是支离破碎的，与女权主义的观点脱节。虽然对美貌的重视有所减少，但在本报告所述期间，通过父权镜头看待女性人员的根深蒂固的倾向仍然存在。这篇文章强调了女权主义媒体的另一种作用，它批评了这些描述的社会文化根源，并主张进行改革，以更好地使女性融入军队。然而，与主流媒体相比，女权主义媒体的影响力有限。最终，尽管在承认女性的角色和挑战方面取得了一些进展，但乌克兰媒体的话语往往继续使军队中的性别不平等永久化。促进乌克兰媒体对女性军事人员更平衡的描述，需要民间、军事和女权主义媒体平台之间加强合作。这些努力必须与更广泛的文化和政府议程保持一致，旨在重新定义国防中的性别角色，并解决军队中不断变化的性别动态。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Womens Studies International Forum WOMENS STUDIES-

CiteScore

2.50

自引率

7.10%

发文量

审稿时长

79 days

期刊介绍： Women"s Studies International Forum (formerly Women"s Studies International Quarterly, established in 1978) is a bimonthly journal to aid the distribution and exchange of feminist research in the multidisciplinary, international area of women"s studies and in feminist research in other disciplines. The policy of the journal is to establish a feminist forum for discussion and debate. The journal seeks to critique and reconceptualize existing knowledge, to examine and re-evaluate the manner in which knowledge is produced and distributed, and to assess the implications this has for women"s lives.