From Russia with Love and Sexual Harassment
September 9, 2008 · Print This Article
Ever wonder about mail order Russian brides? Why Olga, Inga and the like are willing to sell their souls to middle-aged, over weight, folically challenged men across the globe in order to skedaddle out of the former communist regime? Could it be the cold weather that has them scampering West, or lofty notions of mansions and private jets that sends them to the nearest intercontinental dating agency? Perhaps those are underlying factors. More likely however is that they choose to stray from their homeland in an effort to avoid legal sexual harassment as recently deemed “necessary for the survival of the human race ” by an unnamed Russian judge.
In a late July article posted on Telegraph.co.uk it was reported that a Russian judge threw out a sexual harassment case filed by a 22-year-old female executive who refused to have sexual relations with her 47-year-old male boss. The judge claimed that “the employer had acted gallantly rather than criminally” therefore, evidence withstanding the case was dismissed. What? Since when is it a noble gesture for anyone to force another into sexually submitting without consent? I realize that comparing Eastern and Western philosophies is liken to apples and oranges, but these ideals and commonplace practices are nothing short of repression and eerily similar to slavery.
Equal opportunity and feminism aside, anyone who subscribes to the belief that “if we had no sexual harassment we would have no children,” is a complete lunatic! I can only suspect that the Russian judge who uttered this reckless statement is a direct descendant of Joseph Stalin. No wonder the lovely vodka swilling, babushka wearing ladies are willing to sacrifice themselves to the rapidly declining dollar…at least they’ll only be subjected to the grimy hands of one man rather than the entire Board of Directors.
The Telegraph also reported that in a recent survey “100 percent of Russian female professionals said they had been subjected to sexual harassment by their bosses, 32 percent said they had intercourse with them at least once and another 7 percent claimed to have been raped.” Ponder the lives of those women for a moment…upon returning home from a long hard day at the office, she’s asked how her day was. She wearily replies, “I was up for a promotion so I had to blow the Junior Executive, have sex with the Vice President and take it in the ass by the C.E.O. My raise will be effective next week as long as I gang-bang the President and the Advisory Committee. Oh, and by the way, I think I’m pregnant. Would you like stroganoff or borscht for dinner?”
What kind of world do we live in where this type of archaic, neanderthal behavior is not only a routine occurrence, but it is also made legal by elected government officials? What’s next, Russia…female castration? Stoning in the courtyard, perhaps?
The good ‘ol US of A may not be perfect, but at least we attempt to protect victims and punish criminals. And no matter which country you reside in no elected official should ever encourage such a heinous offense or have the right to force a woman to reproduce against her will…period, end of story.
Free Russia. Save a Bride!
Am I the only one in a tizzy over this nonsense? Do you believe that workplace sexual harassment is essential to the survival of the human race or is it an illegal act being justified by their legal system? And what about importing a spouse…Yeah or Nah?
On 09/8/08 at 8:53 pm
Karri said:
On the upside…I’ve decided that if I can’t wrangle a sperm donor some time in the near future I’m moving to Russia and getting a job as a secretary.
Thoughts on that plan, anyone?
On 09/9/08 at 3:40 am
Meghan said:
Hahaha…I read your comment after I posted mine…wanna share a long plane ride to someplace cold and anonymous?
On 09/9/08 at 5:51 am
Karri said:
My only concern would be the genetic pitfalls. Seriously, I’m neurotic enough the last thing I need is a whipper snapper who thinks torture is the new hide and seek.
On 09/9/08 at 6:11 am
Meghan said:
‘Muzah, you vill do vut I say! Now pour me zah meelk and zip it!’
On 09/9/08 at 6:40 am
Karri said:
Side note: my local news just reported that Moscow has banned South Park. Hmmmmm…
On 09/9/08 at 3:15 am
lisaq said:
Ugh! That’s not only ridiculous, it’s disgusting. Completely disgusting.
Were I a Russian lass, the cold would be enough for me to consider the whole mail order bride thing. Period. I frickin’ hate cold.
On 09/9/08 at 6:13 am
Karri said:
I’m with you on that one, sister!
Perhaps the sub-zero temperatures have caused their grey matter to freeze over.
On 09/9/08 at 3:39 am
Meghan said:
Holy Christ, Karri!
Un-fucking-believable <—My day of not swearing has been reduced to 6 hours and I blame this article. So much for extending chivalry through holding my hand while I cross a puddle. Now it is an act of a courting to suppress women who work for you?
Can you hear me over the beating of chests with fists? My Gawd!
I can’t even get to the part of importing a spouse (although, if the perfect sperm be overseas, I’m up for a plane ticket).
On 09/9/08 at 6:16 am
Karri said:
Oh you’ll love this tasty little tid-bit…although unconfirmed, the judge in question owns ovaries!!
Riddle me that.
On 09/9/08 at 6:18 am
Meghan said:
Are they dried out and in a jar on the shelf…then I’ll stop smacking my head into the keyboard!
LJFOIJOJ ‘JF’PF[QPUQJFQ93842948 EKWF!!!
On 09/9/08 at 6:41 am
Karri said:
HAHAAHA!
“LJFOIJOJ ‘JF’PF[QPUQJFQ93842948 EKWF!!!”
Is that your new cursing language?
On 09/9/08 at 4:10 am
~Lori~ said:
Funny you should write this blog today. I was channel surfin’ last nite and saw a documentary, called “Sex,Drugs,Roubles” or something along those lines, it was done in 2006. They were focusing on the HIV and drug/prostitution in Russia.
They spoke to so many young girls, and how they were selling themselves just to survive. Seems after the fall of communism, all structure fell to the wayside. From economy, housing, crime, drugs (which by the way they said all are pretty much injected regardless of type). These young girls have really so limited choices to earn a living/survive, then get strung out to deadened the emotions of what they are doing.
The sex industry in all forms went off the deep end after being suppressed for so long there too.
I’m guessing they are choosing to do the mail-order bride thing, with hopes of getting out, someone to take care of them, and isn’t selling yourself to only one more preferable to a merry-go-round on daily basis?
I don’t agree with any of it, nor the ruling you mentioned about the harassment case. Not a damn bit, but we are not walking in their shoes and living their life, so how can we comprehend the choices they make.
I just think its sad commentary on the world we live in today.
On 09/9/08 at 6:23 am
Karri said:
While researching this little ditty I ran across a website hosted by a former Russian citizen who was “rescued” by an American man. Her take on the current state of affairs was fairly close to the documentary that you’re describing. That being the situation, who can blame those babes for trying to escape?!
Sad, very sad, indeed!
On 09/9/08 at 4:32 am
Sarahh said:
What did Russia do to SANTA????
On 09/9/08 at 6:25 am
Karri said:
I’m guessing it has something to do with coal?
On 09/9/08 at 7:19 am
Jime said:
Hhahaaaa, So. Funny.
On 09/9/08 at 7:30 am
Carol said:
Poor Mrs. Claus….
On 09/9/08 at 7:44 am
Karri said:
All those elves make sense now.
On 09/9/08 at 5:14 am
Meghan said:
Bwahahahaha! Those bastards! I wouldn’t sit on his lap.
On 09/9/08 at 6:30 am
Karri said:
Ho-Ho-Ho will never sound the same!
On 09/9/08 at 5:55 am
Carol said:
Holy canoli. Guess I would expect this neanderthal behavior in other countries known so blatantly to demean women…but I had no idea it was so prevalent in Russia.
As far as importing a spouse, whatever floats others boats. I think the whole concept is archaic and just a different level of prostitution. But, I am sure it has worked well for a few.
Russian sperm….ew. Karri, don’t go there. Bad karma! LOL.
On 09/9/08 at 6:37 am
Karri said:
I’m sure they’ll be lopping off love buttons in the near future.
I just found this…
“Russia sent 2,310 children to the United States in 2007, making it the third largest sending country. Despite economic reforms that have taken place since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, many families in former Soviet nations struggle to survive. An estimated 600,000 children live “without parental care” in Russia.”
I am now thoroughly confused!
On 09/9/08 at 7:28 am
Carol said:
Mommy is too busy at the office blowing the jr.execs to keep her job. Of course the kids are unsupervised.
This just makes me so very sad for those children. How do you give a kid hope in that environment?
On 09/9/08 at 7:37 am
Karri said:
Not all latch-key kids that spring forth from the loins of a corporate ladder climber are hopeless. *ahem*
On 09/9/08 at 2:40 pm
Carol said:
Agreed. I was a latch key kid, too. But, at least I didn’t have a father milking the secretary or a mother milking her boss’s cock as parentals.
On 09/9/08 at 6:55 am
pecosa said:
I guess they would rather sell themselves for a higher price and less abuse. It’s a sad, sad situation.
And wtf is wrong with that judge? Gallantly? I can’t even find the words…
On 09/9/08 at 7:22 am
Karri said:
Asinine? Appalling? Ridiculous? Incomprehensible?
Pick one, any one.
I couldn’t possibly fathom being in that situation, but I wouldn’t negate the possibility of selling out for the greater good. Honestly, we all do it on some level so I suppose it simply comes down to the means to an end and how much one is willing to sacrifice.
On 09/9/08 at 7:12 am
Charles Albert Green said:
This has got to be the biggest outrage ever!!! I’m appalled, angry, and utterly flabergasted!!! How could use compare that to slavery where rape DID occur!!??!!?? I kid, I kid. It seems the Russians don’t love their children too, if that child is a female. Alright no more lame Sting jokes, and hyper overexagerations. I think that women will always be viewed as chattle that can speak and bare our children in some part of the globe. It doesn’t surprise me at all that a judge would respond that way. Men hate competition and rejection. So much that a jackass can be a judge and call forcing yourself on a woman gallantry. That judge should be ashamed of himself.
On 09/9/08 at 7:19 am
Karri said:
“That judge should be ashamed of himself.”
HERself. Allegedly.
Call me crazy, but wouldn’t it behoove the woman haters to honor the hoo-ha rather than disrespecting it? It is after all the gateway to “the survival of the human race.”
Dumb. Just dumb they are!
On 09/9/08 at 7:20 am
Jime said:
If I’m willing to go to all the trouble of hiring a girl, she damn well better be ready to fuck.
On 09/9/08 at 7:29 am
Carol said:
Oh my….I am shocked you even said this in jest!
On 09/9/08 at 7:34 am
Jime said:
Heh, er, sorry.
I think that the idea of this attitude is so repugnant that I cannot conceive of a lifestyle where it is admissible. Where are these peoples values? Apparently they reside inside their pants, and not inside their hearts.
On 09/9/08 at 7:24 am
Karri said:
Dicktator!
On 09/9/08 at 7:32 am
Jime said:
Hahaa. Yeah, Dicktation would be a required skill on my hiring list.
Seriously though, this is disgusting. I appalled when I think of all the opportunities of getting laid that I am missing. Damn the luck–if only I had been born a Russian!
Really seriously though, this saddens me. Russia is a huge country and if something like this passed through a court of their law…what does that say for the country as a whole? Poor women. It’s not fair.
Stories like this make me proud to be American where we only rake a woman through the coals if she is an intelligent and able candidate who tries to become president.
On 09/9/08 at 7:42 am
Karri said:
Don’t even get me started on the raking of said candidate! She’s a stones throw from this type of irrational law making…GRRRRR!
On 09/9/08 at 7:43 am
Jime said:
I agree. The words that come to my mind are: fucking travesty.
On 09/9/08 at 7:47 am
Karri said:
I’m one bad election away from fleeing to Costa Rica.
I’m just sayin’!
On 09/9/08 at 7:51 am
Jime said:
But you want to know who really fuckied up? Obama. He done fuckied up by not giving the VP slot to Hillary. I mean–here’s a guy who’s entire base is focused on Change. And what does he do? He goes and gives the nomination to “Mr. DC Old Establishment” Joe Biden. Great job, dipshit.
If he loses (and I hope he doesn’t) it will be because he didn’t give the VP to Hillary like he should have.
On 09/9/08 at 8:20 am
Karri said:
I have to wonder who McCain would’ve chose had Obama picked Hillary. It’s blatantly apparent that both Presidential candidates pulled the same card by the running mates they’ve selected…get the voters who support the idea of the VP someday taking over the helm. Weighing out the options Biden scares me a lot less than Pilan…fo’ sure!
And I really need to stop sharing my political views…it’s bad business!
On 09/9/08 at 8:36 am
Jime said:
Bad business, but great dialogue.
Pilan scares the hell out of me, too, but not for the reasons you’d think. She scares me because she’s interesting. She’s charismatic. She looks like Tina Fey! She has energized the Republican base and made them stronger.
Sen. Hillary Clinton would have had the same effect had she been nominated. Aaah, alas.
On 09/9/08 at 8:43 am
Karri said:
The last sentence of today’s post is why that hypocritical, polar bear hunter scares me. She’d lead the pack of wolves straight to Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and in that case those of us with a vajaja may as well just move to Russia!
On 09/9/08 at 9:03 am
Jime said:
Yeah. I think more and more that California should secede from the union. I used to say this jokingly. Now…not so much.
On 09/9/08 at 9:24 am
Karri said:
Are you suggesting that we return to our southern neighbors or just wing it on our own?
On 09/9/08 at 9:56 am
Jime said:
Wing it. After the energy crisis hit us 7 years ago and we had to fend for ourselves we became our own country anyway.
On 09/9/08 at 10:20 am
Karri said:
Shall I start the Jime for President campaign?
On 09/9/08 at 10:34 am
Jime said:
Hahaa, only if you’ll be my Vice.
We’d never beat out Swarzeneggerification though.
On 09/9/08 at 11:12 am
Phoenix said:
If Karri is your Vice, may I be your vice?
On 09/9/08 at 11:35 am
Jime said:
Without a doubt, Phi–though that is hardly a decision and more like a force of nature.
On 09/9/08 at 7:59 am
Phoenix said:
I won’t even touch the judges ruling here, enough of you have echoed my statements on it already.
But, I will say that if I was a woman in Russia, I would totally be a mail order bride to escape that shit. Not one qualm about it.
On 09/9/08 at 8:00 am
Jime said:
And what would you’re (hypothetical) address be?
On 09/9/08 at 10:22 am
Karri said:
I’m with P on this one! Make it overseas, get married, obtain citizenship, and get a divorce. Easy-peasy!
On 09/9/08 at 8:07 am
kiki said:
Good grief.
Here’s my daily “I despair…”
On 09/9/08 at 8:21 am
Karri said:
Girl, I’m starting to feel guilty for subjecting you to a near daily dose of disgust.
On 09/9/08 at 10:23 am
kiki said:
Hey don’t be feeling guilty, I enjoy having my mind broadened! But seriously, this is a perfect example of a situation that is appropriate for a hearty “WTF”???!!!!
And that Erickson quote about the rape? Well I’d like to commit some unearthly and cruel acts on his person and then see whether he still enjoys chocolate cake. What an a-hole.
On 09/9/08 at 10:55 am
Meghan said:
That’s not even the whole quote! He also used the word femi-nazi! He’s a real stand up guy - until I meet him and lay him out cold!
Verbally of course. I would never resort to violence against men.
Even though by his rational men like sex and violence, men like violent movies, so if I knock him out like Apollo Creed he should just think of it as me giving him a blow job.
On 09/9/08 at 11:02 am
kiki said:
My sentiments exactly.
On 09/9/08 at 8:44 am
Meghan said:
This is taking be me back to why I can no longer eat chocolate cake - remember that asshole? Nick Ericksen, Senior BNP Official:
“Women enjoy sex, so rape cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal…To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting force-feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offense…”
What chip is missing in these knuckle draggers? They need to put their brains back in and run another cycle on pots and pans!
On 09/9/08 at 9:04 am
Karri said:
I forgot about Erickson…what an ass, indeed! It just proves that sexism is alive and well here too.
I just stumbled this…
http://veg-tv.info/Earthlings
Watch the first 5 minutes it’s quite interesting and narrated by Kiki’s favorite man, Joaquin!
On 09/9/08 at 11:05 am
kiki said:
Karri you just made me day
On 09/9/08 at 11:57 am
Karri said:
I thought you might like that!
Just ignore the actual verbiage about raping and pillaging our fellow Earthlings and pretend he’s whispering sweet nothings.
On 09/9/08 at 12:58 pm
Kiki said:
LOL I did precisely that! Actually I did find what he had to say very interesting, and pretty sad and disturbing. I’m going to download the whole thing when I get home. I youtubed the first part of it, as quicktime or whatever it is doesn’t work on my iPhone.
On 09/9/08 at 9:51 am
troy said:
this is just terrible! I feel like I need to do something. how do I order a bride?
On 09/9/08 at 10:19 am
Karri said:
You’re such a giver, Troy…willing to take in a hawt, young willing to please bundle of joy. How kind of you!
On 09/9/08 at 10:20 am
Sarahh said:
I read recently about a judge granting an 8 year old Saudi girl a divorce from her 28 year old husband. Um Ew.
Traditions can be great, but not when it forces an 8 year old girl into this type of situation. Or forcing Russian women into sex. I mean sex with your boss? *Shudder*
Kinda of like sex with Santa
*SEE ABOVE
*I believe it to be all deplorable and wish that just for once all over the world men and women could just co-exist.*
On 09/9/08 at 12:01 pm
Karri said:
I just threw up…not a little, but a lot. I can’t even muster up the the proper way to articulate my complete and utter disgust!
On a lighter note, I can’t wait to read your thoughts on *co-existing.
On 09/9/08 at 3:19 pm
Sarahh said:
Ooh I got asterisk happy there didn’t I??
Very Festive.
On 09/9/08 at 12:05 pm
Ed said:
As if that weren’t bad enough, there was recently an article (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1051229/Five-women-wanted-pick-husbands-buried-alive-mass-honour-killing.html) about a federal lawmaker in Pakistan supporting the “honor” killings of 5 women. Three for wanting to pick their own husbands and the other two for sympathizing with them. They are said to have still be alive (after being beaten and shot) when they were buried.
The Russia stuff pisses me off, but this type of behavior make my blood boil. I am trying hard not to use the “bad words” as I have all too often lately.
On 09/9/08 at 2:03 pm
Karri said:
Stop. The. Insanity!
Trista will be quite thrilled with your expletive control, well done! Although in this particular instance, I would’ve given you a hall pass.
On 09/9/08 at 1:03 pm
PJ said:
This is