CHALLENGING PATRIARCHAL CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS IN “A CHRISTMAS TREE AND A WEDDING”, BY FYODOR DOSTOIEVSKY: GENDER PERSPECTIVE IN THE 19TH CENTURY?

Abstract

Readings with a gender perspective contribute to devel- oping a culture of gender equality because they allow us to notice customs and traditions that have fostered this type of inequality; but they also facilitate the approach to authors who have challenged the patriarchal system. This is the case of Fyodor Dostoevsky, an author who made a sharp social criticism of child marriage in his story “A Christmas Tree and a Wedding” (1848). This essay aims to demon- strate that the Russian writer was a man ahead of his time when he approached this harmful practice and contrary to child  protection under elements that today are considered part of a gender perspec- tive analysis. We will delve into the concept of marriage dowry by comparing the story with the movie Fiddler on the Roof, to finally complement the issue of gender equality with behavioral data in the cyber-culture of the Tik Tok social network.