Broken Dreams in “Land of Gold and Honey”? The case of cross-cultural marriages of Ukrainian women in Norway

Abstract

The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate “What are the crucial factors for self-realization for Ukrainian women in Norway?” This is a qualitative, case-study research, based on the method of Narrative Inquiry. The fairy tale of Cinderella who waits for her charming prince is still the most popular story among the majority of women in Ukraine. Contemporary Ukrainian reality cannot satisfy their dreams. On the other hand, the Western World since the Soviet times and the “iron curtain” was perceived as a land of Eldorado. Many Ukrainian women left their country in search of “Eldorado”, where they hoped to find not gold but their prince charming. One of those destinations has been Norway. Some came as workers, some as students, and many came here as wives. The dream for a beautiful life and a charming prince was a major motivation to seek husband abroad. The easiest way to achieve their dream was to utilize on-line matchmaking agencies. This thesis presents the stories of eight women in cross-cultural families, where the husbands are Norwegians and the wives are coming from Ukraine. I will discuss conditions which prevent or stimulate their personal development; the differences in their experiences; specific challenges during their integration and challenges in cross-cultural communication and how the family relations influences women’s self-esteem. There are three main findings in this thesis. First, there are two crucial factors make an impact on their self-realization. Second, there are three types of adaptation to Norwegian family life and society, and each type corresponds to how they met their husband and Norwegian society. Third, women who met their future husbands through the internet would experience different scenarios in their relationships, compared to those who met them in person.

Keywords: Ukrainian women, gender, integration, identity, conflicts