prof. Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė
U: gender studies, feminism theories, equality issues.
Prof. Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė is one of the main founders of Vilnius University Gender studies Centre (1993). From 1994 till 2000 she was director of this Centre. From 1991 till 1996 she was acting as president of Lithuanian Association of University Women. From 1994 till 2004 she was chair of Literature history and theory department at Vilnius University. Prof. M.A.Pavilionienė set an academic feminism in Lithuanian science society; participated in various national and international conferences and seminars, read report on feminism theory, violence against women, gender studies, gender and literature, women’s health, and women’s rights issues. She was initiator of first scientific journal on gender studies Feminizmas, visuomenė, kultūra (Feminism, Society, Culture) and chair of editorial board (1999-2002). Also she is author of several monographers “Lyčių drama” (1998), “Romantizmas Vakarų literatūroje” (2000), “XX Vakarų literatūra” (I d. – 1994, II d. – 1995) and etc. From 2004 till now prof. M.A.Pavilionienė is member of Parliament. Also she is a member of National UNESCO Commission and president of Family Planning and Sexual Health Association. She is very active and famous feminist in Lithuania. M.A.Pavilionienė got nomination Women of the Year 2009 as active defender of human rights.

Assoc. prof. Jolanta Reingardė
Field of expertise: gender sociology, sexual minorities, equal opportunities.
JOLANTA REINGARDĖ is Associate Professor of Sociology and Head of Sociology Department at Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. Her research interests include sociology of gender, sociology of families, sexuality studies, violence and women’s rights, gender mainstreaming, EU and Lithuanian gender policy. She is the author of Gender Mainstreaming and Employment Policies in the European Union (2004), editor of Between Paid and Unpaid Work: Family Friendly Policies and Gender Equality in Europe (2006) and the co-editor of Men and Fatherhood: New Forms of Masculinity in Europe (2005).

dr. Margarita Jankauskaitė (doctor of philosophy, 2001)
Field of expertise: gender studies, feminism theory, sexual minorities, equal opportunities.
Margarita Jankauskaitė is project leader at Centre for Equality Advancement. She is responsible for designing and implementing initiatives in the organization’s areas of activity, including advocating for gender equality and gender mainstreaming, conducting training for civil servants, teachers, and others, providing gender expertise to the media and state institutions, and preventing the social, political, and economic exclusion of women and other marginalized groups in Lithuania. The objective of many Centre’s initiatives is to discourage multiple discrimination and to encourage tolerance in Lithuanian society and the enactment of anti-discrimination policies. M.Jankauskaitė conducted research about the Lithuanian media and its representation of marginalized groups (due to gender, ethnicity, or disability) in Lithuanian society. As a result of her work, she also often provides expertise and consultation on all forms of discrimination, particularly discrimination against ethnic minorities. Also she is Part-time lecturer at European Humanitarian University in Vilnius. She conducts lectures for bachelor- and master-level students on visual representation and multiple-discrimination, including issues about ethnicity and race in everyday life, perception of the “other” culture, and stereotypes and their negative impact in cross-cultural communication.

Assoc. prof. Solveiga Daugirdaitė (doctor of Humanities)
Field of expertise: gender studies, gender and literature
Solveiga Daugirdaitė is researcher at Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore. Also she is working as lecturer at Vilnius University Gender Studies Centre. Research interests: feminism literary criticism, women’s autobiographical writings, social construction of women’s roles. Doctoral thesis: “Representation of Femininity in Contemporary Lithuanian Women’s Prose Writing” (1999).

Selection

Report on the selection process by the Lithuanian FRAGEN team

For the selection of the texts I chose four experts that are knowledgeable of various gender issues and feminism. Two of these experts – Jolanta Reingardė and Solveiga Daugirdaitė are from academic sector, Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė is Member of Parliament (previously professor of Vilnius University Gender Studies Centre) and Margarita Jankauskaitė, who represents NGO sector on gender equality.

In the beginning of selection of the texts it seems, that there are few texts relevant to the project goals. Actually experts found many texts on gender and equality frames and decided to select 10 texts, which are most important on gender issues and feminism in Lithuania. Each expert selected 10 texts and gave arguments for their proposals connected to the criteria. General list of the texts consists of 29 items, because experts choose the same texts. General list was send to experts and each was asked to select 10 from 29 the most relevant and prioritize them. The next stage was to discuss final selection, because selections made by experts were various. After long and constructive discussions experts first of all decided to select texts for database which were marked by: all four experts (1 text) and by three experts (4 texts).

The biggest attention was paid to the texts chosen by two experts. There were decided to pay attention to the priority point, to the relevance to project goals and to the diversity of approaches.

Also experts decided to locate in to the database texts written in English if there are same texts written in Lithuanian and English, thus for the final list instead of book Moterys Lietuvos visuomenėje, written in Lithuanianwas selected bookWomen in Lithuanian society and instead of the book (Ne)apmokamas darbas: šeimai palanki darbo aplinka ir lyčių lygybė Europoje(written in Lithuanian) – Between Paid and Unpaid Work: Family Friendly Policies and Gender Equality in Europe.

We found many texts on gender issues and we expect the project will continue and database will be annexed with new actual texts.