BOTH INTO THE FIRE AND INTO THE WATER

On the eve of March 8, beyond all the flowers, gifts, and male thoughtfulness not always seen on regular days, we somehow forget that the holiday itself was not conceived as a way of praising women as the fairer, weaker sex. Quite the opposite - the day became a celebration of the assertion that men and women are equal. Today it's hard to imagine that this date in the battle for women's rights goes all the way back to 1857. It was then, on a day would later be called the "march of the pans", that thousands of New York garment-weavers took to the streets to demand compensation equal to that of their male colleagues: the same working hours, improved working conditions, and equal pay. At that time women worked sixteen hours a day, and their pay was only a third of what men made. Although then political freedoms were not at issue, at roughly the same time a group of women calling themselves suffragists (from suffrage - the right to vote) began to form in both England and the United States. While voting rights were their main demand, it was far from the only one. The suffragists also wanted equal rights in property ownership, education, and conditions of employment. 

The history of women's movements for equal rights goes on for decades, and only in 1911 was March 8 first celebrated as International Women's Day in a number of countries: in Germany, Austria, Denmark, and Switzerland. In 1966 an ukase of the Presidium of the USSR made March 8 a holiday on which work was not allowed. Admittedly, those who lived in the USSR forgot that the holiday originally had socio-political overtones, and it later was simply celebrated as a day of "love for all women."

Although this Soviet tradition has been preserved up until the present day, women still face hardships in everyday life. Yes, they have the right to vote, they can receive educations and equal pay with men, but often, and not only in Azerbaijan, many women courageously take on their frail shoulders a burden that is too heavy, facing discrimination all the way.

"I'm not afraid of any job…"

Nasiba xanim is fifty-eight. She works as a machine operator for an oil company. It is work "in the field" all the time: every day, in heat and cold, in hard helmet, boots, and uniform, Nasiba must walk around the site and check the work of pumps and rigs. If something has stopped working, she has to bring it back on line. Aside from attention to detail, it also requires considerable strength, since the mechanism are often screwed on very tight, and unscrewing them is hard. "Sometimes I have to change the pump's gasket," says Nasiba. "So I take the wrench and I unscrew it. Naturally, I'm not always strong enough to do it, and when that happens the younger ones help me. But everything that I do - it's not women's work, men are needed for it."

Nasiba also has another responsibility. If there is an oil spill, she must clean it up so that there are no fires. First she scoops up the spill, then she sprinkles it with soil, and then she carries the oil-soaked soil away as well. In addition Nasiba, another nine women work in this field. They are all of roughly the same age; only one of them is, in Nasiba's words, young - she is "only" 46. All of these women have families to support, which is why they take on such difficult work.

Despite her age, Nasiba looks very sprightly and proudly says that in 23 years she has been able to earn the respect of her co-workers and management: "I have always been very scrupulous about my work. I never made mistakes. If I didn't know something, I always asked. I never did my own thing."

Nasiba's life has not been easy, and she came into her profession by accident. At the age of 35 she, her two small children, and her disabled husband all became refugees from Armenian-occupied Agdam District. They had to move many times before they were able to settle down in one place. Nasiba has had many professions - she has been a seamstress, a nurse, and a superb carpet-weaver. But her life unfolded in such a way that her work is doing the rounds in a hardhat with wrench in hand. Nevertheless, she does not complain and says that she is not afraid of any job, no matter how hard it is.

"Mathematics is science for the lazy"

Today men are the majority in many intellectual professions in which women must overcome many of society's stereotypes in order to prove themselves. Natalya Qaraxanova is thirty. She is a successful computer programmer and web developer. She creates and develops websites, as well as various internet projects, in the process using new technologies. She also works in contextual and media advertising, branding, and consulting for high-volume IT projects. This was a deliberate choice for Natalya: "Since childhood I have been drawn to the hard sciences, because in the humanities my memory can let me down. You can forget a date in history. But in mathematics that won't happen. Mathematics is science for the lazy - for those who are too lazy to memorize things. It's for those who would rather understand. Once you've gotten the principle one time, you can easily use the same method in different situations." Natalya, however, never rests on her laurels: she continues to improve herself and take courses and master-classes. But it turns out that society does not always react as it should to healthy competition from women: "I come up against all sorts of difficulties very often. As a freelancer, you often receive gigs online on websites where, aside from your username and links to your work, no one knows anything about you. Because of this I'm often - especially in our city - met with surprise, or I would call it disbelief. Even though progress and women's rights are moving forward at a brisk pace, society has stereotypes about men's and women's work. Unfortunately, this applies to intellectual work as well, computer programming in particular. There's this idea that a programmer has to be a man, a guy, and not just any regular guy, but someone who's visibly introverted and psychologically dysfunctional. That means the boy sat down for a long time and practiced and worked his way up to a professional. And when people see a woman, and not some woman who looks like a librarian, but a regular, well-dressed woman who takes care of herself and has a social life, they simply can't believe that this person is capable of doing anything. So I've come up against this bewilderment many times. Sometimes it borders on disdain - what can she do? Don't make me laugh! Even though I'm just like every other professional who wants to grow within their field - I spend a lot of time working and on self-education." At the same time she often has to decide between work and her personal life, and has to deny herself many things. She doesn't hide the fact that men often do not treat her as an equal. 

"There's more to being an ecologist than just flowers"

For those not in the know, the word "ecologist" usually brings up associations of conservation and planting trees. Aleksandra Salamakina, 35, dispels that myth. She has devoted twelve years of her life to such branches of ecology as consulting, audits, projects, construction, the petroleum industry, and manufacturing. Aleksandra works at a cement factory. "Everything connected with work 'at the site' is not considered easy," she says. "Regardless of the weather, if you have to go to the site - you put on your coat and go, you solve problems, figure out what's going on. What do I deal with every day? From simple problems to multi-faceted ones whose solution depends on several departments. Is one of the gas readings over in the output: no one can give an answer right away. And we begin a run through all the departments after a careful examination of the technical information system: what's the calibration of the analyser like? What are the latest readings? And why not go outside the plan again? The same thing. In the quality department I look at the figures for the raw materials - has anything changed over the past six months? Nothing. In that case you take all your results to the production department. And we look for a final answer there. Did you find it and handle everything? Great. If you didn't find a technical solution - start it all over again and look for help from your colleagues from neighbouring factories of the same corporation." 

At first Aleksandra did everything herself (inspecting the workshops and worksites, running checks, doing the documentation). A little later they sent a co-worker to the department to help her. At morning technical "warm-ups" she was the only woman: "At first it was hard connecting with people at an all-male workplace when until you got there, there were men in that position too, and on top of all that you look younger than you actually are. Through trial and error, of course, each connection gets made with time. Everyone has their own age and personality, but there's one huge advantage - with 'techies' it's always easier. That's something anyone will tell you. Discrimination is out of the question - my co-workers are great; it all depends on how you position yourself from the very beginning. Don't resort to tiresome familiarity in your attempts to pass as "one of the guys", keep your dignity, and you can fairly easily make it in any men's workplace. Don't be afraid to demand your own conditions, but understand the point of view of other departments and employees if the situation demands it. The reputation of a self-important 'witch' at a factory has never done anyone any good - that's not the crew for that. And yes, leave all the womanly sweetness for girls' nights-out and parties. You can 'still be a woman' even without the gorgeous manicure, the make-up, and the high-heels, especially when you're around a pipe for baking clinkers. Enjoying the profession you love without harming your interests and rights - that's a completely realistic goal."

Bartenders are people too

In today's world women often have to be truly courageous to make it in fields that until recently were taboo for them. One such field - women bartenders. Women usually want to try their skills as mixologists at quite a young age - sometimes at a very young age. Obviously, not everyone can handle the working hours, but in bartending as in anything else, it has its own ins and outs. 

At the age of sixteen Alisa decided to get a job tending bar in a pub during a school break. "I wanted to make a little money and improve my English," the girl said. Entering the challenging work schedule was hard: she had to learn how to mix cocktails from an experienced bartender at the same time she served her first customers. Not only that: people who came into watch their favourite football team did not always treat her with respect - they flirted with her right at her place of work. But Alisa says that wasn't the most unpleasant thing: "Patrons often forget that we're people too. They act rude and can really be offensive." Alisa says this isn't something that comes with working at a pub alone, but an overall characteristic of how people treat service staff. Before long the young woman had learned to expertly mix cocktails - not only for regular customers with familiar tastes, but also to "surprise" them; she improved her knowledge of a foreign language by listening to the life stories of tipsy customers; and experienced all the hardships of a long and stressful workday. "This job like no other job teaches you perseverance, patience, resilience, and how to handle stress. The hardest thing about it is staying calm and not reacting to how people treat you," says Alisa. "You also have to deal with negativity and rejection from people around you who believe that a young woman shouldn't have a job like this. You often have to overcome the judgments of people close to you as well." 

"Epaulettes give you confidence"

Our heroine Ulkar (whose name has been changed) is a reserve officer. She says that entering the border guards was a deliberate choice - one she made at the age of 19. In light of her young age and her going through all the steps that led to her current rank, she talks with authority about not only everyday army life, but also finding oneself and the psychological aspects of her job. Overall, service as a woman does not differ that much from service as a man. The military exercises, firing practice, reveille, the training grounds, sport - these are all the same. The only differences are that women work an hour less than men - from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. - and do not have night duty. The daily schedule for all women in the armed forces is just as harsh - if you have to go to the training grounds, you leave at six to get there by seven. "Women-soldiers" go there with their Kalashnikov rifles and their Makarov pistols and handle them just as well as their male counterparts. "Only the most athletic women have learned to fire a machine gun," says Ulkar. "Because it's very heavy. It has a stand for firing from a prone position, but when firing from the knees not every woman is capable of holding up that weight," she says.

The requirements for women are only a little less than those for men: while, for example, for a man the "passing" number of push-ups is 60, for women it is 30. In shooting there are no concessions, and they're not needed anyway - everyone knows that women are known for their accuracy. 

When it comes down to it, the only voluntary decision a woman takes is to join the service. The rest of her life is subjected to strict regulation and the rulebook. Everything, down to her clothing, has to meet regulations described in a 250-page book: skirt - four fingers below the knee; jacket - must cover the hips; shoes - black, simple, on short heels; haircut - modest; make-up - reserved, not provocative. Jewellery is forbidden not only for the sake of the regulations, but also out of concern for safety. 

But all the same women remain women in spite of it all. Women try as best they can - sometimes in violation of protocol - to "spruce themselves up" at least a little within the acceptable bounds: the cut and slits of their skirts, patent leather shoes… "Even on the parade ground women don't stand there all the same," says our officer. "The formation has to be off just a little, but off just the same." 

Why then do women choose this difficult path? "The epaulettes give you confidence," says Ulkar. "The feelings are completely different from those you have as a 'civvy'. An absolute majority of people have an unshakeable respect for the uniform. It's nice to see their respect for you, and there are no problems or red tape in bureaucratic offices." Although Ulkar does not regret her decision, she admits that if she had to go through it all over again, she wouldn't have taken the risk. 

Today there are a multitude of women who are not only successful in the professional world, but also hold jobs that are generally held to be for men only. Whereas in Soviet times it was no rare occurrence to see a woman driving a tractor or operating an excavator, today the situation is different. With the rise of information technology and progress, women are conquering fields that were once considered the preserve of men only. Not every woman who choose a "man's job" does it of her own volition. But you have to give them credit - in spite of that, women do their jobs successfully and don't wait around for easy breaks, all the while still remaining women.