"Vedic woman": Myth, speculation or the trap of patriarchy
Rules like "being a man" and "being a woman", trap us everywhere, from popular wisdom to the best-selling book "Woman: A Textbook for Men" or the course "Wife-Director", which for 9 thousand rubles promises to teach, "how to walk, sit, sit down" and "become the cause of great victories and achievements for the husband ". After all, as the author of the course (and not only he) believes, "being married is perhaps the most important position in the life of a woman."
Women themselves are talking about the idea of some special “female purpose” and “following their female nature given from above,” referring to millennial traditions - not only Slavic, but also Hindu. We understand where the concept of the "Vedic woman" came from, why she is so in demand and how they are trying to drive us from all sides into a convenient framework.
The idea is not new: in patriarchal discourses, the life of a woman is represented as some derivative form from the life of a man, and its existence is regulated by various "institutions of noble maidens". In fact, it is always an educational program - a set of rules necessary to perform the practice. So, in the nineties, Russian bookshelves were overwhelmed with literature about a bitch woman: why it would be useful for her to be and how to become one. At the same time, consonant trainings became fashionable: it turned out that “femininity”, both aggressive and “domesticated” - was a successful market product.
Vedic authors are also located in a commercialized niche: Vedic texts, festivals (for example, "Goodness"), seminars and trainings are sold. The ideologists of the movement speak on the territory of psychology, most often without proper education - this is primarily “a specialist in astrology and psychology of interpersonal relations” Ruslan Narushevich, a dermatovenereologist and reflexologist Oleg Torsunov and his follower, skeptical about academic education for women, Olga Valyaeva ("I am not a psychologist. Once I was ashamed of this. I thought that I really needed a diploma. It was important. It was a psychologist. But God took it away"). A similar niche, though distantly distancing itself from the Vedic teachers, is occupied by the “female trainer” Denis Bayguzhin, a specialist in “marrying women”. Differences in details do not change the basic principle: they all construct a certain model of femininity, earn money by transmitting it and finding supporters who spread the "knowledge" free of charge.
One of the markers of a "real" woman, whose image is promoted by all ideologues and fans of "true femininity", is a married status or a desire to get closer to him. The wife and woman in this concept are synonymous. The tags here are "serving the man" and "female destiny", for which you must adhere to certain behavioral norms and standards of appearance: "In bed, men love round and beautiful forms. The waist should definitely be narrow", "A woman should dress for a husband and the way he likes. " A separate, obligatory item of the dress code is skirts, the wearing of which is endowed with sacral and even healing power, the main thing is “not too short” in order to “accumulate” some kind of “energy”.
The output is a retrograde, anti-scientific, and crippling psychological state, but under certain conditions, it catches the image - after all, a woman in compliance with the prescriptions is promised to live in harmony and happiness. In essence, she is offered a model of femininity — understandable, accessible, concrete, and deadly narrow. The main reception with which the “experts” work is the division of the world into “male” and “female” and a look at relationships and the world as a whole solely from this perspective. Every action and deed becomes part of (in) faithfully femininity and masculinity.
As the ideologues of the current themselves emphasize, they adapt Vedic knowledge to modern realities - and in this “adapted” form it diverges into the masses. The source of knowledge may inspire confidence in its antiquity and authority, but in this course there is an elegant substitution: how information is presented as a fact, which has no direct and accessible references to the Vedas, but appeals endlessly to them. Nobody provides a convincing evidence base, and it is not needed when there is convincing rhetoric and brightness of metaphors: “Let's start with the fact that a woman’s main purpose is to save energy. This is said in all ancient writings in different languages and different words. This energy is meant to make the world a better place. Man’s hands. "
The exploitation of the image of the Vedic woman uses patriotic, esoteric and psychological references to reinforce the basic idea: the success of a woman lies only in the plane of relationships, and her main task is to “present herself to her husband” and fulfill “female mission” (up to the need to get pregnant in no later than through five years after marriage).
It is not surprising that a significant part of the recommendations on how to become the right woman is focused on devoting enough time to maintaining comfort in the house and maintaining a good mood. The first prescription of the Vedic wife is to follow the husband. The list of qualities she should possess varies. Some speak of a dozen dogmas, others go further and offer sixty-four points - from the ability to arouse her husband, sleep after him and sleep in any position to the ability to solve dreams and interpret signs. The difference between such lists is that in the level of detail, but the general tone is one.
Proponents of Vedic knowledge suggest describing this system of knowledge as ideal for those "who are tired of endless haste, deadlines and feminism." In general, feminism comes from Vedic followers as an aggressive and killing femininity at the root of the model. Instead, a confident boundary is drawn between women's and men's rights, opportunities, and norms. Equality in such a concept cannot and should not exist.
The danger lies in the fact that these ideas are supported and disseminated by the women themselves. On the online sites dedicated to Vedic femininity, a cozy space of trust and warmth is created, the “female circle”, understanding people support, they say that problems are solved. And then comes the direct instruction. For example, the fact that it is best to be friends only with women, and married women (their energy is the most correct), it is dangerous to be friends with men (this is an energetic betrayal to her husband), you should not get involved in a career (it kills female energy) and further on. A familiar, not at all Vedic desire to teach others is attached to this, than we are being baled from kindergarten: "And make a little different facial expression - the wrinkles on your forehead are not painted at all."
The trap is that frankly archaic, baseless, and pseudoscientific instructions and attitudes interlace with seemingly reasonable ideas. Follow the diet, engage in physical activity and enjoy yourself with a massage - why not? Another thing is that self-care should not be imputed to women as a mandatory part of their identity and a way to serve men. In essence, this is a call to deprive yourself of autonomy. A woman in this concept does not have the right to exist as an independent unit and is obliged to present herself to society, primarily to the male: "The ability to remain a girl is very important. Immediate, cute, funny, sometimes funny. Remember a lady of five years old - and you will understand which women use success. " Common place for such communities - they teach to exploit a certain form of femininity in order to get certain results from a man.
As with sectarianism, the threat to fly into the same at full speed is the higher, the higher the vulnerability: after breaking up, moving to another city, because of experienced violence or betrayal. The danger awaits at the time of the loss of critical thinking, which contributes to the unstable psychological state, emotional pit or depression. If a woman shares at least some of the attitudes of the patriarchal society, she can identify with him, especially during a crisis of personal relationships or suffering from their absence. Add to this the endless dumb question "When will you marry?", Which you have to face at least once in your life (and this is lucky).
The bait in this case becomes the promise of harmonious relations and the full realization of oneself. And to the clear "useful tips" is added the tempting moment of the "magic" thinking. If to simplify, then one of the fundamental ideas of Vedic femininity sounds like "give up emancipation, put on a skirt - and troubles will go away." This trick allows you to temporarily distance yourself from solving problems. The danger is that they do not disappear anywhere and then catch up in tenfold. And the Vedic femininity itself turns into a cell, and it takes a lot of energy to get out of it. It is symptomatic that many experienced “Vedic” experiences subsequently think seriously about the rights of women.
The main catch is that for the adherents of this ideology, power, power and resources are concentrated in the hands of exclusively men. And the task of women, using the leverage of "female" influence, is to get some of these benefits from men's hands. This concept is flawed in its very foundation - women are invited not only to accept the oppressed position, but also to enjoy it, to use all its “bonuses”, being subsidized by a man and carefully honing certain skills of conquest and seduction.
The danger of the Vedic paradigm relationship is that it tacitly endorses total inequality in relationships. Men and women are invited to prove their "masculinity" and "femininity" within the framework of the proposed strategies, which in turn becomes a salutary basis for a wide variety of problems: the financial and psychological dependence of a woman in such relationships, burnout and neurosis. The multidimensionality of human identities, partnerships, personal interests - all this is out of focus. As Sati Casanova sings, "do not be clever - you need to save love in your heart."
In the wake of the current conservative turn in the Russian-speaking space, the Vedic concept looks organic. It complies with the necessary patriarchal conditions: it preserves and fixes the gender gap, maintains a heteronormative matrix, concentrates on unified “dogmas” in relations, clearly draws the line between norm and abnormality. Fortunately, this is also its weak side.
On the negative effects of Vedic femininity say bloggers, representatives of the family community, members of social networks who have experienced a personal experience of immersion. For example, Evgenia Zadrutskaya is actively involved in this problem, which describes in detail and reflexively her experience of falling into the trap of Vedic femininity and subsequent deliverance from it. Eugenia published an article where she tells her story in detail and with links and in turn conducts trainings for women who are faced with the traumatic consequences of the “Vedic” experience.
The large public "VKontakte" "Zhenzhennost" is devoted to this topic - it is a constantly updated archive of information and analysis of statements, articles, trainings of Vedic authors. Many of the community members are women who have had the experience of “becoming a woman in the Vedas,” and then have found the strength to leave the system. They discover and describe inconsistencies and contradictions in the texts of Vedic authors, provide links to articles, and provide counter arguments. The stories of women affected by Vedic femininity are easy to find online and see how destructive this concept is not only in theory but also in practice - and it’s scary to imagine how many such stories have not yet been described.
Photo: cover image via Shutterstock
