The Constitutional Principle of Gender Equality and the Mythologemes of Patriarchy

The paper analyzes the mythologemes of patriarchy in contemporary Russia and globally in the context of the formal proclamation of gender equality alongside actual discrimination against men in legislation and law-enforcement practice. The author observes that the struggle for women’s rights has succeeded and should be recognized as a major achievement; however, a post-victory «war of women against men» is neither necessary nor desirable — society needs civil peace, including gender peace. Patriarchal mythologemes, as well as the converse practice of discrimination against men, create socio-legal problems in the family, labor, and other spheres of society; they adversely affect birth rates, life expectancy, quality of life, and the stability of marital and family relations. Modern society no longer accepts patriarchy, yet concern about infringements of men’s rights is not widely shared by the majority of the population. The author proposes a critical synthesis of constitutional and traditional values to secure genuine gender equality by reinterpreting traditional values in a modern context adapting them to current realities and legal foundations, and abandoning outdated concepts (for example, the notion of the «head of the family»). It is further argued that traditional values should be formalized by incorporating them into regulatory legal acts from the Constitution of the Russian Federation to sectoral legislation. In particular, the author recommends broader introduction of such norms and values into the Family Code of the Russian Federation. The paper advocates consistently ensuring true equality of men and women, i.e., equality of rights, freedoms, duties, and opportunities to realize them. Achieving this requires eliminating gender-based distinctions throughout the regulatory framework, except where objectively justified (for instance, in matters related to pregnancy and comparable issues).

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