"Mommy Washes Windows in Rome": Gender Aspects of Transnational Parenthood in Ukraine

Abstract

Ukrainian society has typically been seen as a bastion of traditional gender stereotypes regarding roles in the family, with patriarchal forms surviving even the drastic changes of the Soviet period. Yet, despite the strong embedded consciousness of such traditional forms, even in the minds of Ukrainian sociologists, new pressures are being brought to bear on these ideas. The Ukrainian family has been subject to great change through the forces of transnational migration as more and more families find themselves living apart. What has been lacking is a serious effort to conceptualise these changes on Ukrainian society. The aim of this article is to study the features of transnational families and transnational parenthood in Ukraine. This takes migration as a social process bringing with it a complex transformation. This includes the phenomenon of  ‘Parental Culture Shock’ that occurs after returning home from working abroad and the ‘Reactive Parental and Spousal Culture Shock’ that can happen in response. The concept of the ‘Transfer of Gender Equality’ is proposed to designate egalitarian norms and models of behaviour acquired during the process of migration. The data is based on many levels of fieldwork, including 25 interviews with experts in the field of migration, gender and women’s studies. The conclusions of the work show that while transnational forces do liberate women in Ukraine from patriarchal structures, they also burden them with the responsibility of playing the role of breadwinner. This heaps additional pressures on them as ‘pseudo-mothers’, subjected to a wide range of exploitative practises, all of which does not lead to an easing of their situations but can often bring mothers close to emotional burnout. The changes of the gender roles of fathers remains temporary and does not attract with it a more substantial transformation of the institute of fatherhood in Ukraine.  As migration patterns take on a more long-term or permanent nature, we cannot expect these social changes to fade away anytime soon.