Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Usually I read the Kyiv Post with great pleasure, thinking that the newspaper contains interesting material. But recently I’ve been faced with two columns in a row which really made me furious. These articles were about the best asset that Ukraine possesses – its women.

First, I read a column written by a Ukrainian woman (Kyiv Post, Inside Out with Yuliya Popova, Feb. 5: “Men complain quality women are becoming scarcer”) that there are almost no women left in Kyiv who have any moral values or who are looking for a serious relationship. To say that I was surprised is to say nothing.

First of all, to write such nonsense about other women makes you look the same in the eyes of the readers. No qualified journalist would generalize like that.

For sure, if you meet women at the clubs, they may look for some fun. But does it mean that all the other representatives of female sex are like that?

Definitely not.

To judge like that is somehow narrow-minded. There are so many amazing women in my environment who are smart, generous, educated, kind-hearted and are in search of the real feeling.

What shocked me even more was another article written by some former Soviet Union resident who is now a businessman living in Holland. (Kyiv Post, March 5, Georg Nurakhmetov, “Many Ukrainian women need to take closer look at themselves”). I don’t really know why he was chosen to be an author, but he is definitely not an expert to make such silly conclusions about Ukrainian women.

With every word I read, my desire to spit in his face grew. How dare anyone to say something like: “Ukrainian women are stupid, greedy and empty with tons of makeup and poor vocabulary?” Who is this man? A God? Has he happened to meet every Ukrainian woman?

The women I know are intelligent, educated, have goals and often know more than three languages (when often their foreign friends barely know their mother tongue). Apart from that, they manage to look good and to care for their friends and families.

I hate listening to how poor foreign men who come to Ukraine to find love find nothing but greed instead.

Maybe, if a man is stupid he can be deceived by some unfair woman. But it doesn’t make the whole nation stupid and greedy. In every country there are different people and anyone can face such a problem, no matter where you live.

Therefore, I think generalization is a prerogative of narrow-minded people.

I believe many Ukrainian girls could complain about being deceived by foreigners who came to Ukraine as sex tourists. They spend vacations with beautiful girls, promise her the world and then just say bye-bye, babe. But somehow I haven’t seen this type of article being published.

Probably, it’s because women here do not generalize and don’t live with stereotypes to the same extent. Perhaps, they are more open-minded although have less opportunities.

So, for all you authors to keep in mind, Ukrainian women are not only beautiful, they are also deep and complex personalities. But maybe those men should be able to look inside rather than make superficial judgments in attempts to humiliate other human beings.

Anna Stepanova is a student at the International Economics Department of the Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University. She can be reached at ss2603@yandex.ru.