After being photographed standing in front of a policeman in the riots in Minsk, Nadia Pagodayeva suddenly became a star in protest • In an interview with Israel Today, she says: "The female voice is heard"
Nadia's picture.
Became a network star
Photo:
tut.by
Nadia Pagodayeva is a total of about 10,000 women who marched yesterday (Saturday) in the weekly march in Minsk, calling on President Lukashenko to honor the election results.
But after standing in front of a policeman in a riot in one of the squares in the city and being photographed doubtless confronting him doubtless laughing with him, she suddenly became the star of the social networks on the Russian internet when the photo received hundreds of shares and thousands of likes.
"The truth is that I was not the first to start talking to him," Nadia says in an interview with Israel Today about the documented moments. "I asked him about the cases of abuse (hundreds of which have been recorded in Belarus since the August 9 elections), I asked him why he was against us. "We asked him if he was commanded or arrested. He said he was standing because it was necessary, and no, he was not going to hit anyone because he has a head on his shoulders. When we asked him about the violence against his people - his people swore allegiance - he did not answer."
Nadia, 20, a Minsk resident and a student at the International Institute of Ecology near the State University of Belarus, said the policeman removed the mask during the call.
"It's important because during the conversation, when other women asked him why he was hiding, he said he was just scared of the corona. We saw his face. A very young guy."
"Women have a voice, and it matters"
Perhaps one of the reasons for the drama of the moment lies not only in the removal of the mask, but also in the fact that it is another expression of the prominence of women in the historical events in Belarus.
It began with the fact that even before the election, when the three presidential candidates were disqualified or arrested, their staffs united forces - and Svetlana Tikhnovskaya, the wife of one of the arrested candidates, was placed at the head of the opposition to dictatorial rule.
She plowed Belarus alongside Veronica Tsafkalo, the wife of another disqualified date, and alongside Maria Kolesnikova, one of the third candidate's chiefs of staff.
The three women became the face of the struggle to march Belarus into a new era.
Even after the election, in which Lukashenko refused to admit his loss, Belarusian women continued to stand out.
Whether it was a protest of units, like that of the old and young 73-year-old social activist, Nina Baginskaya, known for her “trips” with the flag and participation in every demonstration and demonstration;
And between women’s marches that take place every Saturday.
What brings about such a large participation of women?
First and foremost, this is an unprecedented protest in Belarus.
It encompasses the entire population - doctors and musicians, adults and students, blue-collar workers and high-tech people, and of course men and women as well.
Also, women could not stand aside when men were brutally abused in administrative detentions - brothers, sons, fathers.
But many women were also arrested and subjected to very severe threats of sexual violence by security personnel, including evidence of threats of gang rape.
But at this revolutionary moment in the history of Belarus there is also another aspect: in front of the citizens who awoke en masse stands a president, known for his unflattering statements towards women.
Thus, for example, he belittled the Tikhnovskaya candidate and argued that the Belarusian constitution was not suitable for female management.
One could easily see in the Belarusian awakening - and the female in particular - a dimension of coming out of the yoke of extreme conservatism.
Nadia agrees.
"The day before Tykhnovskaya, Kolesnikova and Tsafkelo reunited, I talked to a Belarusian poet, Dmitry Strucev, about understanding 'female energy,'" she says. "It is a matter of compassion, not weapons. The unification of the three women in the leadership of the opposition has shown that women have a voice, and it is important. And when the government trampled on the law to disqualify presidential candidates, it pushed women into action."
Longing for Belarus is different
The Belarusian philosopher, Prof. Tatiana Szczytsova, raised another perspective.
In an interview with TUT.by, she said among other things that what is happening now is what is happening now in Belarus is a re-establishment and other foundations of the Belarusian nation.
According to her, if in the past the ideas of strengthening the Belarusian nation through ethnic nationalism came up, this time it is about promoting nationalism on a civic basis.
If you will, this is a model of the French Revolution for the founding of the nation - in contrast to the ethnic model, the gain in Eastern Europe.
"There is a longing for Belarus," says Szczytsova, "and the issue of difference also resonates with the female aspect. We can talk not only about the re-establishment of the nation, but also about the re-establishment of women as a political subject in our society. In the mid-20th century, Simon wrote. De Beauvoir the ‘opposite sex’, in which the question of female political subjectivity was posed.
Our events are a good reason to write a new book under this name.
"This time, the 'other sex' acted as a significant political code, symbolizing the other Belarus."
It seems that in the coming weeks we will also see an impressive presence of women in the cities of Belarus.
"We go out to demonstrate that we can not be silent and sit idly by, while being exposed to violence, while feeling such great pain," Nadia concludes, "and it has all become so conspicuous because we are no longer afraid."