WOMEN in Poland have, unlike their sisters in Britain, formal equality before the law.
They have the right to work. They don't have to put up with page three nudes, the sexist film advertising outside cinemas, the exploitative pornography that outrages the woman walking through Soho Men aren't encouraged jects for consumption.
Polish women work in jobs not usually open to British women: thes drive heavy vehicles work officers, and take a much fuller part 'masculine' fields of science and engineering.
socials. paradise for women?
Sadly the answer is no Cultures Poland lies at the intersection of two cultures: the Slav with its traditional contempt for 'A chicken is not a bird, and a peasant woman is not a humar being' says a traditional Russian proverb; and the Roman Catholic, veneration or woman as Virgin/Mother concealing the profound oppresSIOn OI women in all Catholic countries Add to this the legacy of Stalinism, glorification of domesticity and motherhood, would truly amazing if Polish women were any more liberated than their Western counter barts.
A woman's right to work, itself an advance, becomes in Poland a dreary necessity since wages are so low. For most women means LIne wearying obligation do two jobs, the second being in the home Share Polish men are even less likely than their counterparts to do fair share of Housework. and Tousa women cannot buy the wide of 1 alice nience foods available to Nor do they have the labour-saving devices we have Britain. Until recently washingmachines were only sold Pewex, the hardcurrency shop, bulletin office: • One day a woman goes to the doctor: 'Doctor, give me an examination!' 'You've come to the wrong place, I'm afraid, I am just a vet I don't look after humans.' 'Oh, that's all right, doctor, I feel just like an animal.
'When 1 get up in the morning, I dash through the house.
Panting like a dog or a cat, I gallop to work like a horse, I cling to the bus like a monkey, Loaded up like a camel, Defending my marriage like a lion.
"I'm already asleep when I get back from work in the evening, and then I hear my husband whispering Above my head, •Perhaps you have some miracle cure Which will make me a human being. Queues, queues and more queues woman accompanied by a man is allowed to open a door. carrv a parcel.
gallantry however mainly for the middle classes Picture the average working woman's up early to • prepare wit break asen hearts ly she waits darkness in the driving sleet for the packed, lurching tram or bus to take her to work.
This is likelv to be monotonous, alienating and possibly CVCI dangerous - in the field of safety at work Poland is just as bad if not worse than Britain At the end of an exhausting day, after endless queueing in the bitter cold for food, there is another meal to prepare. And all this six days a week.