The position of a woman in modern culture - that of a subject or of an object?

Is gender clearly defined and merely biological or is it a much greater phenomenon? Can a modern woman, within her (clearly) defined role, be a subject in some important aspects of the culture she belongs to or is she still an object, following a long tradition of a (slightly changed) masculine principle? In order to find an answer to these crucial questions, this paper first deals with the history of masculine and feminine principle, their relations and the issue of dominance. Some gender differences are presented as well, in order to provide a frame for what we wish to examine. As only a synthesis of different cultural aspects can provide us with the real picture, this paper looks at three different spheres in the life of a modern woman – her private life, her professional life, as well as media and popular culture and the way modern woman is presented in them. Our aim is to examine certain views we can find in literature concerning these spheres, in order to approve of these views, deny them or provide some new examples from this region and the world