Men are Defenders, Women are Defended? How the War Affects the Public Attitudes Toward Gender Roles in Ukraine

Abstract

This article explores how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has influenced public attitudes toward gender roles, particularly in the context of (gendered) military duty. On the basis of analysis of representative national surveys of leading sociological centers in Ukraine and other data from open sources, the author explores whether there are signs of the militarization of Ukrainian society at the level of (gendered) sociocultural expectations, with an emphasis on public attitudes toward three issues: the military and its role in society including in postwar reconstruction; the roles of men during war; and the roles of women during war. The findings reveal a complex and often contradictory set of gendered attitudes. While legislative norms reinforce a binary of gender roles of men who are “defenders” and women “are defended”, societal attitudes are more fluid: many men resist the prescribed “defender” role, and women’s participation in the military is increasingly accepted. The article contributes to debates on militarization and gender equality by showing that, in the Ukrainian context, war has led to erosion of patriarchal gender norms at sociocultural level rather than to their reinforcement.