To invite Andrii Sochynskyi to the interview we managed not immediately. One of the first statuses of Andrew is a public figure, he is active and purposeful. Civic engagement with 16 years. Currently, in the team of the State Enterprise “Institute of Creative Innovations” implements many important initiatives and projects in Zhytomyr. Andrii is not quite an ordinary figure precisely because he is interested in gender issues and is working on the establishment of gender equality here and now

“My gender history began in 2009, when students began volunteering. One day they got to an anti-discrimination festival. He was then organized by the Association of Specialists in the Social Sphere. He was called the Inclusive Theater Festival “Theater without Borders”. It inspired me so much … When I saw children, young people with disabilities go out on the stage, I say honestly, I could not stop tears. It was very motivating for me! I started to be interested in anti-discrimination issues ”
“Men-specialists who urge the society to speak about gender issues, not only in Ukraine, but also in the world – a minority, there is nothing to do with self-deception”

“Once my headmaster Yulia Tsezarivna said that this sharpened struggle for justice comes from childhood. A sense of justice brought a lot of troubles, but it did not frighten me. There are things that are fundamental for me and they do not depend on the thought of the environment ”

“Why do not I work in the civil service, business structures, where I was offered a job? I do not “digest” the vertical hierarchy … Instead, horizontal decision-making takes more time, but such a solution will satisfy all that is the tradition of the Ukrainian veche since the days of pre-Christian Russia ”

“At one time, I met with journalist Yuliana Paran’ko. The editor of the edition, in which Yuliana worked, invited me to write blogs. I have not worked actively in the State Enterprise “Institute of Creative Innovations”. I once wrote about admiring Ukrainian women.Yuliana looked at my texts and spoke of them as discriminatory. It was a shock to me! Then she said what I did not understand yet. She had the impression of my texts that, as if from the “bar” shoulder, I let Ukrainians be myself. This story about how I got into the trap of gender stereotypes myself. I was educated not outside the society, on the general models of education and training at school … ”

“Very often you can hear the typical phrase that a successful man has a woman behind his success … Who then stands for a truly successful woman? It is very individual. In the conditions of our reality, for a successful woman is the titanic work of the woman himself. I say from what I know about successful women: in their lives, success is acquired, rather, not “for the sake”, but contrary”

“I do not suffer humiliation of people by any sign that does not depend on them. If you want to offend or humiliate, the most effective method of protection is the mention of an “anti-discriminatory” law, which for such acts involves a punishment – imprisonment up to 5 years with the confiscation of property. This usually stops people, especially public and officials, who afford such things ”

“Kinder, Küche, Kirche” – this formula is really terrible. When I see examples from life, I understand why my activities are related to gender. From one trip to Donbass I remember a woman who does everything from her A to Z. In my community, however, when I asked her why you did not nominate your candidacy to the head of the OTG, she replied that the head “should be a man” … During these two weeks of trips to de-community communities of Donbass, we talked a lot with her. Now she is a deputy chairman of the UTO and intends to take part in the local elections in 2020. Moreover, there is another woman in the community that everyone knows. Now, in essence, the most active and influential female candidates in the UTO will be. I do not want to praise myself, but for me it is proud ”

“Radical feminism and gender equality – these concepts are often replaced by people who are engaged in politics”

“Anti-nuclear movements have now intensified. I attribute this to the fact that, for the most part, people do not understand the meaning of the concept of “gender”, and people who are interested in it simply speculate. I’m guided by the four stages that Gandhi said: first you do not notice, then laugh at you, then fight – and then you win. I think that we have passed the stage “do not notice”, we somewhere between the stages “laughing ” and “struggling”

“Gender stereotypes form the society of unhappy people. Among my friends are many financially successful people, extraordinary personalities who, because of the gender pressure of the environment, are not doing what they would like. And they feel unhappy”

“The establishment of gender equality and gender partnership between men and women is beneficial for them, for each and every one of them. Secondly, gender equality is a positive decision for the most painful and … the most urgent issue in our country – for financial and economic development. For example, a man who has the talent of an artist but is not implemented because of a gender stereotype, goes to hate his work … As an artist, he could earn more. That’s how the whole sector of the economy is lost. For a moment, in the UK in 2015-2017 thanks to the creative sector, the economy grew by 35%”

“To explain the culture of relationships, do not go far. This truth, which is attributed to Immanuel Kant, has opened Confucius three thousand years ago: “Do not do with others what you would not want to do to you”

“Affiliate marriage, of course, more complicated. However, when two people are self-fulfilling, happy with life, the same, on the contrary, can unite”

“Children need to be watched. We, adults, have something to learn from them. I like to spend time with my baptism. She inspires me, including new projects. She has a different vision, not cluttered with any “social” claws, and this child’s freedom captures me”

“Parents should take care of the safety of children and their health. In the issues of education, I am a supporter of the idea that education as a process does not exist. Determining only a personal example of parents. I know such families, in which both parents smoke, drink alcohol, and when their children grow up and already students drink beer, parents arrange grandiose scandals. It reminds me very much of the theater of the absurd”

“On September 29, the State Enterprise ” Institute of Creative Innovations ” was 3 years old. We came to this vision: a society of one hundred percent potential. That is, we seek to create a society where everyone and everyone can exercise their right to self-development and self-development without suffering prejudice or discrimination”

“Political cuisine” from the NGO “Institute of Creative Innovations” is a teleproject: politicians prepare and share recipes for success. Three more shooting weeks – and programs will go live. And I cook like my father: delicious, but occasionally”

“I came to the brink of extinction … The phone switched off and went for three days. On a birthday you can devote for three days (laughs). In order to have your own restoration space, the dacha has been purchased. This is for me a relaxation area, and later I want to grow a garden there. For me it’s all new: I still lived “on the pavement”, but I really wanted to get closer to the ground. Now I discovered a new fascination for me – organic farming”

“I had eight opportunities to move abroad. I can not explain to myself what stops me, but I do not want to. There is no desire to go at all”

Translated by Aliona Matushevich