For Moscow's businesswomen, a powerful new role

Nor does the gender gap appear to be closing on the domestic front, according to many Russian women. Men have traditionally expected women to shoulder the burdens of housework and child rearing, while giving them little respect for professional accomplishments. "There's a lot of complacency about Russian men; they are changing much more slowly than women," says Doletskaya.

Nonna Gazayeva, a public relations consultant in her 30s, complains that Russian men have absorbed James Bond-esque ideas about male-female relations from Western culture, while failing to adapt to the changing needs of women.

"Russia is still a man's world, and it's really hard to prove that a woman deserves a place," she says. "Men think it's cool to behave irresponsibly toward women in personal relationships, but they still won't accept that she has ambitions in the workplace."

Women's Day, an important holiday on the Soviet calendar, has long since been shorn of its feminist origins and turned into an officially sanctioned occasion for Russian men to atone for 364 days of neglect by showering women with flowers, compliments, and copious vodka toasts.

Despite progress in some areas, many women say they feel ambivalent, at best, as March 8 rolls around.

"This holiday always left a bad taste in my mouth," says Irina Zvigelskaya, a professor at the official Institute of Foreign Affairs. "It seems to be the only day of the year for men to prove they care. But I always thought, if they were real men they'd do it all year round."

Experts say the prosperity that has transformed the lives of some women, mainly in Moscow, still eludes the vast majority. "For most women economic conditions have deteriorated," says Tatiana Troynova, director of the Women's Information Network, a grass-roots group. "Of course women are more emancipated now, they have greater opportunities in business and commerce. But even here they need to be 10 times more capable than men to succeed. It's not equality."

A recent survey of living standards by the independent ROMIR monitoring agency suggested that of the poorest 15 percent of Russians, 68 percent are women. Many of the poor are well-educated women who find their skills unrewarded in the new economic order.

"The values of society are turned upside down," says Yevgenia Vanina, a senior expert on Indian history at the official Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow, who speaks fluent Hindi and English, but earns just 4,000 rubles ($130) per month. "Some women today can get wealthy doing PR, modeling, or advertising, but a doctor, professor, or factory worker can't even make a living. Where is all this leading?"

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