Ukrainian beauties rebuff sexist president

By Stefan Korshak Feb 3, 2011, 15:32 GMT

   Kiev - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych meant it as a compliment last week when he suggested scantily-clad Ukrainian women could draw foreign businessmen to invest in his country.

   But the objects of his praise are hardly amused. Many women expressed disdain for the president and his homage to minimally dressed Ukrainian beauties.

   Yanukovych was at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, hosting a lunch billed 'Turn On Ukraine,' when he made his offending remarks.   

   'To 'turn on' Ukraine, you just have to see it with your own eyes, when the chestnut trees begin to bloom in Kiev. In Ukrainian cities the women begin to take their clothes off,' he said.

   'To see such beauty, it's miraculous,' the Ukrainian leader said as a mostly male audience laughed and applauded.

    Woman of all ages and walks of life have not taken kindly to Yanukovych's reverie.

   'I voted for him, but this is too much,' said Mariana Svetlova, a housewife. 'Foreigners should put money in our country because I dress nicely? It's a ridiculous idea!'

   Svetlova's views, which she shared with the German Press Agency dpa, are mild compared to the invective in the media and on the internet in recent days.

  'Every time the man opens his mouth, I just cringe,' wrote blogger Oksana Klimonchiuk. 'He is a beast.'

   Two female members of parliament criticized Yanukovych's remarks as a throwback to another era.

   'It's pleasant when we are reminded how beautiful we are, but what Yanukovych said, that's a typical post-Soviet attitude - that women are a decoration and not full-fledged members of society,' said Ksenia Liapina.

   'Chauvinist, thoughtless ... and objectifying' - that's how legislator Natalaya Korolevska described the comments during a popular televison talk show.

   Even Anna German, Yanukovych's senior spokeswoman, had trouble putting a positive spin on her boss's gaffe.

   'I'm not a woman, I'm a politician,' she said. 'For that reason I think it's a violation of gender equality, a violation of European principles and human relations, when one singles out a person's gender.'

   But some Ukrainians told dpa they had more understanding for their nation's leader.

   'In civilized countries, people don't mention such things,' said Oksana Rudnik, a graduate student at Taras Schevchenko University. 'But any normal man after our long winter is going to notice when women put on skimpier clothes.'

   Lorry driver Bohdan Karpenko thought Yanukovych was just talking straight.

   'Well of course if you want to be honest, 'Yanuk' was just stating the truth,' he said, using the president's nickname.

   'In the spring, gorgeous girls are walking everywhere,' he continued. 'Two motorists spot a beauty promenading on the sidewalk. You try not to look. And there you go - bang! Hello traffic police!'

   Karpenko said the president should have kept the secret of Ukrainian women to himself.

   'Europe will never understand this. They don't have girls like that anymore,' he said.