{"id":527,"date":"2010-02-23T13:27:17","date_gmt":"2010-02-23T17:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=527"},"modified":"2014-07-16T19:45:04","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T19:45:04","slug":"and-in-russia-it%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cman-day%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/and-in-russia-it%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cman-day%e2%80%9d\/","title":{"rendered":"And in Russia it\u2019s \u201cMan Day\u201d!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Question of the day: \u00ab\u0410 \u0433\u0434\u0435 \u0442\u0432\u043e\u044f<\/span> \u0444\u0443\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0436\u043a\u0430?\u00bb <\/strong>[And where’s you cap (peaked cap)?] Of course you haven’t really been to Russia if you haven’t had a Russian officer place his old \u00ab\u0441\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f \u0443\u0448\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u043a\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [Soviet (i.e. Red Army) fur hat] on your head!<\/em><\/p>\n

But I can already hear your objections, \u00ab\u0434\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0433\u0438<\/span>\u0435 \u0447\u0438\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0438\u00bb <\/strong>[dear readers], that today – the 23rd of February – is NOT \u00ab\u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c \u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u00bb<\/strong> [\u2018the day of men’<\/em>, or why not simply: \u2018man day’<\/em>] at all, but \u00ab\u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c \u0437\u0430\u0449\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u041e\u0442\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [Defender of the Fatherland Day]. Women can also be – and often indeed they are – \u00ab\u0437\u0430\u0449\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [pl.<\/em> defenders] (though in this case it would be more correct to use the female form of the word: \u00ab\u0437\u0430\u0449\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u0446\u044b\u00bb<\/strong>)<\/em>. Today is historically known in Russia as the day when we celebrate the army; back in Soviet times this day was as a matter of fact called \u00ab\u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c \u041a\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0430<\/span>\u0440\u043c\u0438\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [Red Army Day]. So how come I take the liberty to call this public Russian holiday “Man Day”? There are a couple of reasons for this. First of all, in Russia \u00ab\u0412\u0421\u0415 \u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u044b \u043e\u0431\u044f<\/span>\u0437\u0430\u043d\u044b \u0441\u043b\u0443\u0436\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c \u0432 \u0430<\/span>\u0440\u043c\u0438\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [ALL men must serve in the army]. For women, on the other hand, this is not so much \u00ab\u043e\u0431\u044f<\/span>\u0437\u0430\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c\u00bb <\/strong>[obligation, responsibility, duty] as it is \u00ab\u043f\u043e \u0441\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0435\u043c\u0443 \u0436\u0435\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u044e\u00bb <\/strong>[at one’s pleasure, at one’s will]. Thus when we celebrate \u00ab\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u043c\u0438\u044e \u043a\u0430\u043a \u0442\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0443<\/span>\u044e\u00bb <\/strong>[the army as such], we are implicitly celebrating \u00ab\u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u0438<\/span>\u043d \u043a\u0430\u043a \u0442\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0432\u044b<\/span>\u0445\u00bb<\/strong> [men as such]. But to say that every Russian man has at one point in his life been a soldier is of course not correct. I know plenty of Russian men who have NOT served in the army – but spent every day of their lives after turning eighteen until the age of twenty-seven (when you’re deemed as \u2018too old’ to serve)<\/em> hiding from the army. Many Russian young men try to do this (and some of them are successful in it)<\/em>, not because they’re not \u00ab\u043f\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0438\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [pl.<\/em> patriots] but because the Russian Army is no \u00ab\u0440\u0430\u0439 \u043d\u0430 \u0437\u0435\u043c\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [heaven on earth]. Enough said! (It is not my subject to speak on at length, after all, being as it is that I have two gigantic arguments speaking against me: a)<\/strong> I’m a woman; and b)<\/strong> I’ve never served in ANY army).<\/em> Secondly, coming up soon here in Russia is the public holiday \u00ab\u043c\u0435\u0436\u0434\u0443\u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c\u00bb <\/strong>[International Women’s Day] on the 8th<\/sup> of March. On this day it is tradition to \u00ab\u043f\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u0438\u0442\u044c \u0432\u0441\u0435\u0445 \u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0449\u0438\u043d\u00bb <\/strong>[congratulate all women], so why shouldn’t there also be a day to \u00ab\u043f\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u0438\u0442\u044c \u0432\u0441\u0435\u0445 \u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u00bb<\/strong> [congratulate all men]? I think it is only fair!<\/p>\n

Besides, in Russia both of the traditional gender-oriented \u2018Western<\/em>‘ holidays of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are only slowly gathering popularity. But this also means that in Russia you don’t have to have children in order to have someone congratulate you! Really, women on the 8th<\/sup> of March don’t have to do ANYTHING to get flowers. By our birth right we’re simply \u00ab\u043f\u0440\u0435\u043a\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u00bb<\/strong> [the beautiful sex] and we don’t even have to try and prove something further than this, unlike the men who in Russian are known as \u00ab\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u00bb<\/strong> [the strong sex]…<\/p>\n

But while speaking on the differences between male and female in Russia, let me share this my \u00ab\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u0431\u043b\u044e<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [local observation] with you: at my university every spring there is a beauty pageant known as \u00ab\u041c\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0440 \u0438 \u041c\u0438\u0441\u0441 \u0423\u0440\u0413\u0423 (\u0423\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0433\u043e\u0441\u0443\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0443\u043d\u0438\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0441\u0438\u0442\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0430)\u00bb [<\/strong>Mister and Miss Ural State University]. About a month or two before this pageant the walls all over our university\u00a0are filled by enormous amounts of posters of its female participants. These posters are usually not outright \u2018sexy’<\/em>, rather they’re \u00ab\u0441\u0443\u0433\u0433\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0432\u043d\u044b\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [suggestive], but I think that to the untrained western eye most of them would seem a bit \u2018sexist’<\/em>. However, there is not a single poster of a male contender – not yet at least. How come? Our university has more female students than male students, it would surely only make sense if it was the other way around? Also I would like to say that I think – this is only my strictly personal opinion though – that a beauty pageant has no place at an institution of higher education. Not only because in order to take part in it – though these \u2018rules and restrictions’<\/em> apply only to female contenders – one must be of a certain height and weight (last time I checked this was taller than 168 cm and lighter than 58 kilos – I checked this because once upon a time I was younger and wanted to participate in it, but \u00ab\u0443\u0432\u044b<\/span>!\u00bb <\/strong>[alas!] they told me that even though I’m light enough, I’m too short)<\/em>. One of my Russian friends informed me though, that at the university where she studies – \u00ab\u0423\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0435\u0445\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0443\u043d\u0438\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0441<\/strong>\u0438\u0442\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [Ural Polytechnic University] – where there are a lot more male students than female students, the male contenders put up plenty of more \u2018suggestive’<\/em> posters than the female do… I guess that no matter how you look at things, Russia will always seem to be \u00ab\u0431\u0435\u0437 \u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0433\u0438\u043a\u0438!\u00bb<\/strong> [without logic!]<\/p>\n

\n

Who would you vote for to be \u00ab<\/strong>\u041c\u0438\u0441\u0441 \u0423\u0440\u0413\u0423 2010\u00bb <\/strong>[Miss Ural State 2010]?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Question of the day: \u00ab\u0410 \u0433\u0434\u0435 \u0442\u0432\u043e\u044f \u0444\u0443\u0440\u0430\u0436\u043a\u0430?\u00bb [And where’s you cap (peaked cap)?] Of course you haven’t really been to Russia if you haven’t had a Russian officer place his old \u00ab\u0441\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0442\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f \u0443\u0448\u0430\u043d\u043a\u0430\u00bb [Soviet (i.e. Red Army) fur hat] on your head! But I can already hear your objections, \u00ab\u0434\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0433\u0438\u0435 \u0447\u0438\u0442\u0430\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0438\u00bb [dear readers], that…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,179,913],"tags":[1041,1137,1240,1269,1843,1537,1665,1689,1690],"class_list":["post-527","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-news","category-traditions","tag-day-of-the-defender-of-the-fatherland","tag-life-in-russia","tag-russian-holidays","tag-russian-public-holidays","tag-1843","tag-1537","tag-1665","tag-1689","tag-1690"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t