він вона - gender difficulties

May 17 2010

I have been in school nearly 21 years of my life which amounts to somewhere around 45-50 separate teachers – all of who would probably describe me as stubborn, headstrong, and perhaps even a bit difficult (if I wanted to be) [Janet, John, Joanne…. I’m sure you can confirm this]. Generally I tend to stick to my convictions, regardless of the consequences.

For example – I help to put on a charity auction every November in support of different women’s shelters in Toronto. This event kicks off my Christmas season, and is one of the ways I am active in my community. This auction means A LOT to me, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. More often than not, the auction falls smack dab in the middle of the university exam schedule, and I usually have to do some rearranging in order to make sure I’m there. By and large, professors understand that it is an important event and are more than willing to work around it – there are some, however, who are less than concerned with battered women and have refused to allow any wiggle room for scheduled exams. To a number of these professors I have said that I would rather forgo the marks for the exam than miss the Auction. I feel strongly about the things that I involve myself in, and generally that kind of conviction persuades my profs to be more understanding – but even if they weren’t, I would be more than willing to stick to my guns and forgo the exam … I'm all about conviction.

Currently, I am learning Ukrainian at the Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University. I am enjoying the classes. I have a wonderful professor, Larissa, who’s English is better than my own. She is patient, and Learning a language while you are engaged in a culture is so rewarding because you can see measureable results with every inch of progress (speaking of which – Joanne, remind me I would like to talk to you about doing a Masters program….). I have actually become partial to doing my homework because I enjoy gaining the knowledge I need to navigate through the next 4 months. Nevermind the fact that I am enjoying the learning process, I have found something to be difficult about – Gendered speaking.
The Ukrainian language – like French,Italian,Spanish… etc. requires that all things have gender. Computer is male, dog is female, horse is male, belt is male, shoe is female, blog is neuter. The one distinction that really got to me was student – phonetically male student is stoo’dent, and female student is stoo’dentka. Whats the difference, you ask? Well what IS the difference between a male student and a female student? Why should we differentiate between them? Is male student a female student not just as capable and intelligent as any male student.

Of course I asked why this is the way it is done – actually I asked how I am to know (as a learning/non native speaker) which gender is assigned to which word; then I mentioned that distinguishing a male from a female student is politically incorrect, and unnecessary in Canada, and that I didn’t like the distinction. Larissa was understanding of my question and said “the Ukrainian language can seem irrational to some people, especially Canadians, but I will say that the language is a reflection of the people and the culture! I will also say that our language and culture is not nearly as progressive as yours may be.” I can-not, and will not make such statements about the Ukrainian people/culture, but she did, and I’ll take her word for it….

That being said, I have decided to take a stand against making such distinctions. Today during my regular lesson, I was putting sentences together and responding to questions about myself: what is my name, what is my last name, my age, my job, where I’m from , and what my nationality is. Nationality is another one that drives me a little nuts – a male Canadian would say “ya kanadiky” a female Canadian would say “ya kanadika” – I have decided that instead of saying I am (a female) Canadian (a now unofficial national statement) I will say instead “ya z Kanadikiu” : I am FROM Canada!

I think that I will be forgoing marks, and risk sounding improperly educated to other native Ukrainian speakers when I call myself a “stoo’dent” rather than a “stoo’dentka”, but I do so with my principals, and my convictions in mind. I told Larissa that I think change needs to start somewhere, and I am more than happy to be the first to make the “error” in the name of change – am I being culturally insensitive? Perhaps, but I’m ok with that for now, until someone can give me a better answer than “this is the way it is done here, it’s the way it’s always been done here”

Someone tell me I’m being difficult…..
*love*