AFTER ORZESZKOWA. THE STATUS OF GENDER STUDIES AT CONTEMPORARY POLISH UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The article analyzes the status of gender studies at Polish universities after 1989. The author quotes from a text by Maria Komornicka (“The Paradise for Young People”), who visited Cambridge, England, in 1896 and was greatly disillusioned with what she saw there, namely a model of education that in her opinion was a “refuge of emancipation”. The author the article refers to this metaphor, warning against politicizing gender studies and against favoring the model of education that excludes a polyphony of ideas, attitudes and traditions. In conclusion, it is argued that after 2015, negative attitudes towards gendered studies have gained strength and generated ideological confrontations.