Gender Identity in the Intersection with Ethnicity and Religion: the case of Banat Bulgarians Women of Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria

U etniĉkoj grupi Banatskih Bugara, u Srbiji, Rumuniji i Bugarskoj, rodni odnosi su predmet kontinuiranih transformacija. Pružajući doprinos prouĉavanjima identiteta ţena iz manjinskih etniĉkih grupa, kao i komparativnom prouĉavanju etniciteta u zemljama koje dele sliĉne društvenopolitiĉke okolnosti socijalizma i postsocijalizma, ovo istraživanje ima za cilj da utvrdi na koje naĉine Banatske Bugarke u razliĉitim društvenim kontekstima, oblikuju rodni, etniĉki i religijski identitet. Kako su jezik i religija dva najznaĉajnija društvena i politiĉka domena kulturne razlike u modernom svetu, a rodni identiteti ne deluju nezavisno, već u sadejstvu sa drugim identitetima, intersekciju rodnih identiteta sa etniĉkim i religijskim posmatram sa stanovišta oĉuvanja identiteta grupe. Analizama položaja žena u javnoj sferi života posvećuje se znaĉajnija pažnja, a zanemaruju se rodni odnosi u privatnoj sferi života, posebno brojĉano malih etniĉkih grupa. Privatna sfera života je, međutim, znaĉajna, jer rodni identiteti u ovoj sferi utiĉu na oblikovanje etniĉkog i religijskog ideniteta i na njihovu intersekciju. Reĉ je o regionu sa razliĉitim istorijskim iskustvima i tradicijama multikulturalizma i koji se odlikuje ĉestim promenama državnih granica. Kontekstualni okvir analize, pored rodnih režima, ĉine potiskivanje religije u socijalizmu, te afirmacija etniĉkih i religijskih identiteta u postsocijalizmu. Akcenat istraživanja je na ženama, ali da bi analiza intersekcije bila celovita, u ovom etnografskom istraţivanju, zastupljeni su i muškarci. Ukupno je 51 osoba u osnovnom uzorku, od ĉega, 31 žena i 20 muškarca. Rezultati pokazuju zadržavanje patrijarhalnih rodnih odnosa u privatnoj sferi života u seoskim okruženjima, uz izuzetak Bugarske, u pojedinim aspektima. Intersekcije identiteta se razlikuju u odnosu na kontekstualne karakteristike Srbije, Rumunije i Bugarske i zavise od višestrukih povezanosti na relaciji privatna/javna sfera: od mogućnosti upotrebe maternjeg jezika, karakteristika etniĉki i religijski mešovitih brakova i porodica, te od rodnih razlika u religioznosti. Najveći uticaj na oĉuvanje identiteta imaju rodni identiteti žena, jer one socijalizaciju decu i prenose etniĉki i religijski identitet u sledećoj generaciji. Pošto su žene religioznije od muškaraca u sve tri države, veći stepen religioznosti je u pozitivnoj korelaciji sa oĉuvanjem i etniĉkog i religijskog identiteta, u kontekstu etnifikovane crkve. Uloge muškaraca u oĉuvanju identiteta, nalaze se u javnoj sferi života i one su omogućene rodnom podelom rada u privatnoj sferi ţivota. U postsocijalizmu, u kontekstu desekularizacije i afirmacije jezika i etniĉkog identiteta, muškarci su zastupljeniji u javnim ulogama, ali se beleži postepena transformacija rodnih odnosa u pravcu veće egalitarnosti, posebno u mlađoj generaciji u uzorku, u urbanom okruženju i kod osoba sa većim stepenom obrazovanja.Gender relations within the ethnic group of Banat Bulgarians have been a subject of transformation in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria, both during the socialist as well as during the post-socialist period. By contributing to the study of female identity in minority ethnic groups as well as to the comparative study of ethnicity in countries which have similar social and political circumstances in light of socialism and postsocialism, this thesis aims at determining the manner in which the Banat Bulgarian women in different political and social contexts shape and define their gender, ethnic and religious identity. Given the fact that the religion and language are the two most significant social and political domains in terms of cultural differences in the modern world and that the gender identities do not act independently, but rather in conjunction with other identities the intersection of the gender identity and the ethnic and religious identity is observed from the perspective of fostering and preserving the identity of the group. While much focus has been put on the analyses regarding the status of women in the public sphere, the gender relations in the private sphere in smaller ethnic groups still remain under-researched. The private sphere is very important since the gender identities affect the shaping of the ethnic and religious identity and their intersection. This region has a plethora of diverse historical experiences and multicultural traditions and is often characterized by changes in state borders. The contextual framework of the analyses, in addition to gender regimes, includes suppression of religion as well as the affirmation of ethnic and religious identities in post-socialism. Even though the focus of the research was women, in order to make a comprehensive analysis of the intersection, this research also included men. The research included 51 interviewees (31 women and 20 men). The results indicate a preservation of patriarchal gender relations in the private sphere in rural areas, with the exception of Bulgari, in specific aspects. The identity intersections differ in relation to contextual differences between Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria and mostly depend on multi-faceted connections between the private and the public sphere e.g. the use of the mother tongue, characteristics of ethnically and religiously mixed marriages and families as well as gender differences in religiousness. The female gender identity has the greatest impact on the preservation of an identity i.e. the women socialise their children and carry on their ethnic and religious identity. Since women are more religious in all three countries, the greater degree of religiousness is in positive correlation with the preserving of the ethnic and religious identity, in the context of an ethnically-specific church. Male roles regarding the preservation of identity belong to the public sphere. In post-socialism, in the context of de-secularisation, the state enables and promotes the affirmation of language and ethnic identity. Men have more prominent public roles, however the transformation of gender relations slowly shifts towards equality is noticeable, especially among the younger generations in the sample, in urban areas and among persons with a higher degree of education