The article analyzes results of the international scientific and practical conference “Gender Studies. Theory, Scientific schools, Practice” (Moscow, March 4–5, 2021). The geography of the representation of the conference participants showed the relevance of the stated topic in Russian and foreign humanities, and the range of researchers in the humanities – sociologists, historians, cultural scientists, political scientists, psychologists, anthropologists – expressed multi-disciplinarity in the study of gender issues. It presents an analysis of current trends in the gender relations and gender discourse in the political, social, economic and cultural spheres in the context of the formation of a new gender order. Moreover it accumulates the scientific ideas, approaches and new research technologies and adduces the practice of implementing their results. The conference was timed to coincide with the 110th anniversary of the celebration of International Women’s Day–March 8 as a day of solidarity of women in the struggle for their rights.

In order to study the feminization process of the Russian city, the article compares statistical data on a number of indicators for 2015 and 2019–2020. In the course of the analysis an asymmetry in the urban population is revealed: (there are more women than men). It is shown how the ratio of women to men in employment has changed during the study period. As well the article defines those areas in which women lead. The authors outline a range of works studying the feminization phenomenon in social processes, including the feminization of the city. The results of the work made it possible to conclude that the feminization of the Russian city is one of the processes in the space of a today Russian city that have a positive dynamics.

In the article, the gender socialization is considered not only as a process of influence on children of the adult community through various mechanisms, it is proposed to include in the analysis the childhood events related to the independence, self-socialization of the younger generation. On the basis of a sociological study of the youth recollections of the childhood events (2018), the paper describes specifics in the behavior of boys and girls and draws conclusions about the manifestation of diversity, different intensities of the passage of the childhood events in the spheres of education and culture, the development of the information space, deviation, consumer practices. The contradictions in the reproduction of parental attitudes towards children of different sex, the destruction of deviation as a “male” sphere of adolescents’ life, and the infantilization of young men are revealed.

The article analyzes the complex and contradictory process of the formation of higher education for women in Russia on the example of the opening and operation of two non-state higher educational institutions: Women’s Medical Institute (1897) and Moscow City People’s University named after A.L. Shanyavsky (1908). The author reveals the history of the struggle for the organization of the “Higher Women’s Medical Courses”, which graduated the first female doctors in 1877. On the example of the fate of A.N. Shabanova, P.N. Tarnovskaya, N.P. Dragnevich shows a complex way of those who at the end of the courses did not have the legal rights and had many years to prove their own professional male counterparts. After the closure of the courses in 1881, it took sixteen years to defend the right of women to a higher medical education within the walls of the first Women’s Medical Institute in Russia. No less difficult was the history of the three-year struggle for the opening of the Moscow City People’s University, in the charter of which all restrictions on gender, nationality and religion were remove. According to the conditions of A.L. Shanyavsky, women could not only be students, but also participate in the management of the university (L.A. Shanyavskaya, L.B. Khavkina) and be admitted to teaching (L.B. Khavkina, V.N. Shatskaya). Among those people who made an invaluable contribution to the organization and activities of these non-state educational institutions were named: patrons and benefactors A.L. Shanyavsky, L.A. Shanyavskaya, M.V. Sabashnikov; medical professors M.M. Sechenov, I.M. Sklifosovsky, S.P. Botkin, I.I. Mechnikov; Professor M.M. Kovalevsky, S.A. Muromtsev, N.V. Speransky, K.A. Timiryazev. It is concluded that the organization of higher education for women in Russia became possible thanks to the joint efforts of individual representatives of the authorities, the leading circles of the intelligentsia, entrepreneurs,and patrons of the arts, as well as all caring people who have spared no effort and their own funds for this noble cause.

The subject of the article is an issue of the gender equality in the scientific sphere in modern Russian society. The paper notes the successful involvement of women in higher education and science, achieved during the years of socialism. Currently, Russia lags behind not only the developed countries, but also the countries of the former Soviet republics in terms of women’s participation in scientific research. At the same time, it is noted that a significant number of Russians consider a career in science and technology as one of the most attractive for their daughters. The article focuses on the negative trend of the last decade towards the stagnation of the number of women with PhD and doctorate degrees. The authors conclude that, despite the high level of feminization of the spheres of science and higher education in Russia, the country is still far from achieving gender equality in that area. Along with the negative phenomena, there is also a positive trend towards an increase in the number of young women interested in a scientific career.

The article considers the position of men and women researchers in the labor market in the precarization context. It is revealed that from the viewpoint of formal signs of the work precarity, researchers are in a safe situation. Most of them work under an indefinite contract, having a set of social guarantees secured by the Labor Code, and rarely change jobs. But the social well-being of scientists indicates that the formal description of the situation is at odds with reality. Gender context of science is the following: there are fewer women than men among researchers; there are more men among those holding the academic degrees of doctors, so men occupy positions more preferable in terms of status than women; the average salary of male scientists is higher than the female; men have more opportunities to influence decision-making in their organization. Gender asymmetry in the scientific field persists in Russia.

The article deals in studying how the value of the external attractiveness of young women influences various aspects of their life in society. The data are given, allowing to describe that value as basic, having the motive-forming and compensatory functions. The results are presented that reveal a high degree of importance of appearance for young women: achieving a higher social status, a luxurious life, a successful career in management and entrepreneurship. The author sees the regularity in the relationship between external attractiveness and agharmonic components of the initiative, egoism and selfishness. He also outlines a negative relation between the significance of the considered value and the attitude to labor and work. When the appearance is attained too much of significance with the young women, they tend to get rid of some generally accepted norms. At the same time, girls associate the value of their attractiveness with well-being in interpersonal relationships and life success.

The article presents the main characteristics inherent in the Russian family as a small social group in line with a new gender order. In the 21st century one may see the new traits, characteristics and functions of the gender and gender relations, which is reflected in the emergence of a new gender order, which sociologists and feminologists have started talking about. The concept of a gender order is briefly defined and a historical retrospective of its emergence is given. The author marks three main subjects in which the changes taking place in the Russian family in recent decades are analyzed. First of all, it is the variability of family scenarios, which consists in different gender compositions of families (if we take the example of a country with officially permitted homosexual marriages); in matters of the childbirth, divorce, housekeeping practices, etc. Secondly, it is a change in gender roles, which is manifested in the growth of economic activity of women, their growing financial independence within the family, with the simultaneous transfer of the household responsibilities to a man. That plot leads to a third feature: changes in the family lifestyle what is most clearly evidenced by the strengthened educational function of the father. The family simultaneously reflects changes in a gender order and generates them, which speaks in favor of the relevance of the topic being studied.

The article presents the gender dimension of the discourse about adopted children in Russian social networks. Basing on the included observation and textual analysis during 2014–2021, it interprets female (key) and male roles in the adoption/guardianship – from discussing the decision to adopt a child and the search organizing to adaptation; gender wishes of candidates are identified (preference is given for girls). It was found that women are much more involved in the discussion of adopting/fostering than men.

The relevance of studying changes in the political consciousness and behavior of women is associated with the trend of gender asymmetry in the structure of the population, persisting gender inequalities in the political sphere, and growing socio-cultural risks associated with the digitalization processes. The purpose of the article is to characterize the stages in the evolution of political consciousness and behavior of women in modern-day Russia and possible changes in the conditions of digitalization. The author identifies the evolution: stages: the crisis mobilization of political consciousness and women’s behavior (1987–1991); differentiation of political consciousness and behavior of women and readiness for decisive action (1992–1999); women’s electoral activity (2000–2007) and the stage of women’s political absenteeism and the search for a new identity (2008 – present). The digitalization of politics is associated with a significant change in the traditional practices of socio-political interaction, there is a rejection of its hierarchical structure, which is facilitated by the absolutization of the network connections built on impersonal algorithms of big data. That may contribute to increase the participation of women. Most notably, the development of electronic platforms for collecting the signatures and declarations as well as of social networks allow women to articulate their civic positions, build up their social capital, and realize group and socially significant interests.

The article presents materials from a socio-gender empirical study of the attitude of YouTube users to the candidates for the post of President of the Russian Federation who participated in the 2018 elections. The elections are indicative of the gender imbalance. Of the 8 candidates – only 1 is a woman. YouTube, on request in the search bar “presidential debate 2018”, gave out four posts with millions of views. The videos were concerned with the most emotional moments of the elections. It was revealed that gender stereotypes affect the perception of the image of a political leader by Russians. The conducted sociogender study showed that the Internet has a huge information potential for gender sociology.

The paper presents the results of the sociological study conducted in the republics of the North Caucasus. The sociological research focuses on the issue of the gender strategy of civil society structures (women’s organizations and women’s activism) and its reflection in view of the local population and women activists. The research aims to determine the gender strategy of the region through the analysis of women’s activity, to identify its directions and the most common issues and questions that women’s activists and organizations solve. Women’s organizations in the region are heterogeneous, have different agendas and focus on solving different kinds of issues. Among the organizations one can distinguish formal organizations created “from upstairs”, unified by common priorities; organizations that solve a number of tasks related to their local communities or group interests; independent women’s initiatives that respond to the needs of society and its challenges. The main results of the study show that the gender strategy in the region is formed primarily by religious structures, and is built on patriarchal attitudes. The largest women’s organizations do not influence the gender strategy, and, moreover, their activities are almost invisible at the moment. At the same time, individual initiatives are emerging, which are currently not strong enough and not consolidated, but at the same time, raise important issues for women and defend their interests

The article considers an issue of the growth of domestic violence in the context of a pandemic, measures to reduce it, recommended by the government and by the YABLOKO party. Based on the correspondence with the authorities of the Federation and the regions, the author analyzes the differences in approaches to solving that issue in various constituent entities of the Federation. Attitudes towards domestic violence range from a complete lack of understanding of the danger to the comprehensive prevention and assistance measures taken by regional authorities.

Based on the study of existing practices from different countries the article attempts to determine the existing barriers in the political career of women, which vary in different countries depending on the established and changing political culture, constitutional and electoral reforms. It also analyzes the foreign countries experience in moving towards gender parity at the highest level of political institutions, like national parliaments. It is concluded that such mechanisms as quotas, including internal party quotas, have served very effective in increasing a number of women in the power structures. Following the analysis of data for different countries, a conclusion is also drawn that after achieving the gender balance or gender parity in parliaments questions arise about the real influence of women on decision-making, while the mechanisms that have shown their effectiveness, but are somewhat outdated, are being rethought.

Despite the fact that Pakistan is considered a traditionally conservative Muslim country, it is also characterized by a feminist movement. Women’s activity in the political, economic and other spheres of society began in the period of British India and continued in an independent country. Prominent political figures took part in the struggle for women’s rights, and feminist organizations were created. At the same time, feminism of that period can be viewed as an elite phenomenon, accessible only to the upper class of society. During the Afghan War, feminist organizations entered into sharp confrontation with the government. In the 21st century, the activation of Pakistani feminists has reached its maximum and continues to increase, but with certain difficulties. Currently, the country is represented by classical European feminism (which is subject to decomposition to a certain extent), the Nisaism movement (they seek the rights for women in accordance with Islam) and individual activists. Potentially feminism in Pakistan has great chances for the development and elimination of the chauvinist norms of the country’s civil and criminal law, what will certainly give an impetus to new phenomena in the development of the future Pakistani society.

The paper deals in the issues of the evolution in the gender policy in Ireland and the role in that evolution of the women’s movement and the Catholic Church – two actors who took opposite positions in the process. It considers an influence of the Irish movement for women’s liberation on the change in the gender policy of the state, fighting the influence of the Catholic Church. Based on documents of the women’s liberation movement, legislative documents and materials from periodicals, the dynamics of the gender agenda development is revealed, as well as the factors of its change. The article reviews the change in policy in such issues as contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage, divorce, etc. The author concludes that there was the key role of the Catholic Church in the formation of a patriarchal society in independent Ireland of the first half – mid 20th century and that the disappointment of the Irish in the authority of the church played a significant role in the change of the gender agenda. Contemporary Ireland’s progressive policy on the gender, family and sexuality is associated with the influence of liberation movements in other Western countries, the fall of the influence of the Catholic Church, and the tradition of active women’s participation in the Irish national liberation movement.

This article is an analytical review of gender science in Russian African studies. Under modern geopolitical conditions Africa is becoming an important vector of foreign policy and international economic cooperation for Russia. The development of further mutually beneficial ties between our countries requires expanding and deepening knowledge about each other. Russian scholars of Africa play an important role in that process. In recent decades significant gender shifts have taken place in a number of African states: women are taking an active part in public and political life, gender equality is being ensured at regional and national levels, including the electoral process which is one of the most accurate indicators of the democratization in society. It is noted that the realities and prospects in the formation of gender balance in social and political life in African countries have common trends, but in some cases the significant country specificity exists. The author of the article indicates the reasons for the considerable increase in the representation of women in legislative and executive bodies in several countries of the continent, as well as the obstacles that impede social and political activity of African women.