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SUMMARY:Imagining the Ukrainian Body: Intersections of Nationalism and Sex
 uality in Contemporary Ukraine - Dafna Rachok\, Visual Culture Research Ce
 nter\, Kyiv
DTSTART:20150302T160000Z
DTEND:20150302T170000Z
UID:TALK58127@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:21355
DESCRIPTION:Commenting on the negotiations between Ukraine and the EU on t
 he topic of Association Agreement\, Ukrainian deputy said that signing it 
 will result into "a bunch of European homosexuals putting Ukraine into a d
 oggy-style position". Along with some similar remarks this commentary migh
 t be seen as illustrative of the centrality of sexual insecurities in the 
 debates on Ukraine's political and cultural belonging\, as well as a parti
 cular sign of homophobic and nationalist consensus existing in Ukrainian s
 ociety.\n\nThe talk explores the intersections of nationalism with gendere
 d and sexualized bodies in contemporary Ukraine. It argues that national b
 elonging is carved upon people's bodies and transgressing the binary coded
  gender roles is regarded as a menace to the whole national sexual and gen
 der order. It also considers the ways in which young people's views on the
  (im)proper body are constructed in relation to the gazes of several Other
 s: Ukraine's post-Soviet past\, complex relationship with "the West" and R
 ussia\, and its newly built national narrative\, which is highly exclusion
 ary.\n\nDafna Rachok (MA in Critical Gender Studies\, Central European Uni
 versity) is an activist\, journalist and researcher affiliated with Visual
  Culture Research Center\, Kyiv. Her research focuses upon the intersectio
 ns of nationalism and sexualities in Ukraine and the mechanisms of creatio
 n of (im)proper bodies. \nIn my presentation I analyze the intersections o
 f nationalism with gendered and sexualized bodies in contemporary Ukraine.
  Taking as my primary data the interviews and field notes made during the 
 research in Kyiv\, I argue that the idea of the “proper” Ukrainian bod
 y is largely inspired by the discourse of nationalism\, that aims to estab
 lish heterosexuality as the only normal sexuality and therefore highly val
 ues gender binarism and gender-appropriate behavior. I show that young peo
 ple’s views on the (im)proper body are constructed in relation to the ga
 zes of several Others: Ukraine's post-Soviet past\, complex relationship w
 ith “the West” and Russia\, and its newly built national narrative\, w
 hich is highly exclusionary. I argue that national belonging is carved upo
 n people’s bodies and transgressing the binary coded gender roles is reg
 arded as a menace to the whole national sexual and gender order.
LOCATION:Lecture Block Room 8\, Sidgwick Site
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