University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

The progressive movement of Armenian women

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The progressive movement of Armenian women

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The Progressive Movement of Armenian Women

How A Woman From A Patriarchal Mainland Mentors Contemporary Women

by

Nicole Antounian

Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)

December 2022

Copyright 2022 Nicole Antounian

ii
Table of Contents

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………...…iii

Chapter 1: The Realization .………………………………………………………………………1
Chapter 2: The History…………………………………………………………………………….5
Chapter 3: The Feminists………………………………………………………………...………13
Chapter 4: The Move…………………………………………………………………………….17
Chapter 5: The American………………………………………………………………………...20
Chapter 6: The Girl………………………………………………………………………………26
Chapter 7: The Process…………………………………………………………………………..31
Chapter 8: The Harvard Grad……………………………………………………………………32
Chapter 9: The Trojan……………………………………………………………………………33
Chapter 10: The Student…………………………………………………………………………35
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..38

iii
Abstract

This paper explores the history of Armenia before the Armenian Genocide and after and
how it can be used as evidence for the traumatic experiences the Armenian people experienced
as a result of the April 24, 1915 annihilations. Specifically, I will explore how certain behaviors
and mentalities of patriarchy contribute to the existence of the Armenian people after the
Genocide. The Armenian Genocide has yet to be recognized by the perpetrators, as modern-day
Turkey continues their everlasting denial. However, through the preservation of Armenian
culture and traditions, the Armenian society ends up prioritizing the male point of view, thus,
unjustly treating Armenian women in society. Through the lens of a contemporary Armenian life
coach and certain ideologies of modern-day feminism, this academic paper aims to call out and
establish the societal, economic, personal, and political equality of the female gender.

1
Chapter 1: The Realization

It was 10 a.m. on a Saturday in 1998 when Victoria Nikogosyan realized she needed an
escape route. Physically, she wasn't in danger. Emotionally, she knew she had to get out.
Mentally, her values differed from societal norms.

Victoria, a mother of two sons and a newborn daughter at the time, was living in the heart
of downtown Yerevan
1
, Armenia’s capital. Awake since 5, she had just finished mopping the
floors and folding her family's laundry. “These are just half of the household chores that an
Armenian girl does,” she said. Now it was time for her to cook her family's breakfast.

"I made pamidorov dzvadzev
2
that morning," Armenian for a tomato omelet.

She sat down on her brown leather couch, resting her feet on a wooden coffee table,
sipping her morning Armenian coffee. She gazed through the window at the little tan squirrel
camouflaged in the branches of a Silverberry
3
tree. She was alone with her thoughts; her
children were still sleeping.

1
“Yerevan.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/place/Yerevan.
2
“Tomato Omelette.” Mayuri's Jikoni, 25 Apr. 2018, https://mayuris-jikoni.com/2018/04/24/tomato-omelette/.
3
Limited, Alamy. “Russian Olive / Silverberry (Elaeagnus Angustifolia), Edible Fruits, near Yerevan, Armenia Stock
Photo.” Alamy, https://www.alamy.com/russian-olive-silverberry-elaeagnus-angustifolia-edible-fruits-near-yerevan-
armenia-image357511672.html.

2
The jangling of her telephone woke her from her daydream. "Parev [hello] Victoria, we
are outside your house for coffee," announced a voice.

It was her first-born son's mother-in-law. With her was the grandmother-in-law. The son
had been married for 10 years.

Victoria quickly tied shut her pink robe and headed for the door.

"Mwah mwah, mwah mwah," the ladies' lips went as they went for one another's cheeks.

Her guests began walking to Victoria's living room before her, throwing their bags and
coats on the chairs and sitting beside each other. Their host put on another pot of coffee
4
,
engraved within Armenian traditions as an invitational gesture.

"They very well understood the 'make yourself at home' saying," Victoria said, recalling
that morning.

"Sorry for coming so early…" they said to her with a fake smiles. It was apparent they
weren't really sorry.

"… but we came here because we wanted to speak to you about your son."

4
Kavatcoffee. “What Is Armenian Coffee?” Kavatcoffee, https://kavatcoffee.com/pages/roots-and-rituals-of-armenian-coffee.

3
Victoria’s feet left the ground and her hand slammed into her kitchen countertop. She
quite literally jumped so hard she spilled hot coffee on her robe. Her eyes lit up. She was
alarmed.

"My son? What's wrong with him? Is he hurt? Did something happen?"

"No, no, he is fine. You just need to talk to him – like, fast."

Victoria’s face demonstrated her state of confusion.

The mother-in-law continued. "Is he sick in the head? Maybe damaged a little? Because
he does not want to have babies. He is already 30 and is always working. Talk to him."

She finally understood.

The role
5
of the son's mother is historic and especially crucial within Armenian society. It
is understood that the mother is the only woman her son will listen to; the only one who can
make an impact. Thus, relatives pester the mother to get to her son.

But on that morning in 1998, Victoria stopped the in-laws. "Sorry,” she said, “but I will
not."

5
Taub, Pat. “‘A Mother-in-Law Should Be Blind in One Eye and Deaf in One Ear." - Armenian Proverb.” Medium, Medium, 21
June 2017, https://pat-taub.medium.com/a-mother-in-law-should-be-blind-in-one-eye-and-deaf-in-one-ear-armenian-
proverb-88bcb11a0606.

4

She knew her answer would go against seemingly all Armenia’s patriarchal revered
norms.

All the same, she simply wouldn't budge.

Their faces went ghostly white. It seemed they had just received the biggest insult of their
lives.

"What do you mean you won't? We must work together and force your son to have kids.
My daughter is ready."

Victoria readjusted her pink robe, deciding to hold her ground. "My job is to not interfere
with his decision,” she said firmly. “That is his decision, and I am here to support it."

Before she knew it, the ambulance was at her house.

The grandmother had fainted.

"At that moment,” Victoria said, “I realized I was different."

5
Chapter 2: The History

To understand the patriarchy embedded within the gender roles in the Armenian culture,
it is important to understand history, to and through the 1915
6
Armenian Genocide, and now, into
our 21st century.

Dating back to 301
7
A.D., tradition holds that Armenia was the first country to adopt
Christianity as a religion.

Though there were a series of wars, territorial dominations and multiple collapses of the
Armenian kingdom, Richard Antaramian
8
, a professor of Armenian history at the University of
Southern California, said in a class lecture, it’s “easier to focus on the 7th century to present day
Armenia” meaning the number of different actors in the Armenian foreground who, across time,
would directly rule social and political life in Armenia.

6
History.com Editors. “Armenian Genocide.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 1 Oct. 2010,
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/armenian-genocide.
7
“Armenians Were the First to Adopt Christianity as a National Religion by Tradition in 301 AD.” 100 Years, 100 Facts about
Armenia to Commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, http://100years100facts.com/facts/armenians-first-
adopt-christianity-national-religion-tradition-301-ad/.
8
“Faculty Profile > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.” USC Dornsife College News RSS,
https://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/faculty-and-staff/faculty.cfm?pid=1058017.

6
“First it was the Byzantine Empire
9
, where they destroyed the kingdom of Armenia and
abolished Armenia’s nakharar
10
system in the 7th century,” meaning Armenia’s imperial
hereditary systematic rule of giving the highest titles to Armenian nobility. Armenia, back in the
4th

century, had been divided into large estates; nobles dominated certain property domains and
the people who lived there. A consequence of Byzantine control: nobody was in control to
Eastern Anatolia, or present-day Turkey.

That is, until the Umayyad Caliphate
11
Arabs began raiding small Armenian towns,
eventually taking control of the unprotected side.

Antaramian said that “by 652 A.D., Armenia was the buffer state,” divided into two
realms of two high forces attempting to transform Armenia’s social and political life, the
Byzantine Empire on one side, the Arab empire on the other.

Seemingly from then on, Antaramian said, is that though Armenia always welcomed
neighboring countries with open arms, “Armenia always got, and still gets, the short end of the
stick.”

This is because of two factors: Armenia’s prime location and religion.

9
“Byzantine Armenia.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Aug. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Armenia.
10
“The Establishment of Feudal System in Armenia: Institute for Armenian Studies of YSU.” The Establishment of Feudal
System in Armenia | Institute for Armenian Studies of YSU,
http://www.armin.am/en/Encyclopedia_Armency_the_establishment_of_feudal_system.
11
“Muslim Conquest of Armenia.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Apr. 2022,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquest_of_Armenia.

7

Other key players would come, and go, among them Abbasid Caliphate
12
Arabs, the
Seljuk
13
Turkmen tribes, Mongol Muslims
14
[led by Genghis Khan
15
], even Armenian trader
families, or different Armenian kingdoms like the Julfan
16
and Amira’s
17
families, who would
over some years take control of culture and society.

Between the 15th and 16th centuries, the “Osmans,” meaning the Ottoman Empire
18
, took
control of Armenia.

For a long time, the Ottomans, “kind of gave Armenians freedom.” Freedom here does
not mean absence of restraint. Rather it refers to the Ottomans allowing Armenians to be
bureaucrats and civil servants and, moreover, to ascend in terms of political power, societal
language, religion, and wealth.

12
“Abbasid Caliphate.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Oct. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphate.
13
“Seljuk Empire.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Oct. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljuk_Empire.
14
“Religion in the Mongol Empire.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Nov. 2022,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Mongol_Empire.
15
“Genghis Khan.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Nov. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan.
16
McCabe, Ina Baghdiantz. “‘Small Town Merchants, Global Ventures: The Maritime Trade of the New Julfan Armenians in the
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries’ - Maritime History as Global History.” Cambridge Core, Liverpool University
Press, https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/maritime-history-as-global-history/small-town-merchants-global-
ventures-the-maritime-trade-of-the-new-julfan-armenians-in-the-seventeenth-and-eighteenth-
centuries/D7B7247F176CFEBD2C80DE9F1C84A773.
17
“Amiras (Feudal Lords) and the Assembly of Amiras under the Administration of the Armenian Community |.” Turks and
Armenians - Turkish-Armenian Relations Throughout History | A Project by Marmara University, 1 Jan. 5600,
https://turksandarmenians.marmara.edu.tr/en/amiras-feudal-lords-and-the-assembly-of-amiras-under-the-administration-
of-the-armenian-community/.
18
“Ottoman Empire.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Nov. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire.

8

“There were no persecutions,” Antaramian said, “until the Ottoman Empire started
collapsing,” from defeat in the first Balkan War in 1912
19
. Blaming the Christians for their
defeat, the Ottoman Empire lost all of its remaining territory in Europe. As a result, conflicts
arose between Muslim and non-Muslim, or Christian, civilians, as Muslim refugees started
demanding land and blaming Armenian citizens for their loses.

To summarize, Antaramian said that as the Ottoman Empire fell short of money, it began
oppressively taxing “non-Muslim” citizens higher. He called this the start of the “marginalization
of differences in religion.”

In turn, the Empire, protective of its sovereignty, implemented the Ottoman millet
system: all religious and racial differences, meaning non-Muslims, were now minorities. Gone:
all nobility titles, property, livestock and money prospered since the 4th century. Further, the
Ottomans began implementing the ideology that Armenians were traitors and couldn’t be trusted.
Eventually, the Ottoman Empire was entirely “anti-Armenian,” seeking to deport all non-
Muslims and “unnecessary people” living within Armenia in 1913, promising them a “better
place with more freedom in Syria.”

Rather, the promised land was Anatolia’s concentration camps of systematic campaigns
of mass murder located in the desert region of the mountains.

19
“First Balkan War.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Oct. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Balkan_War.

9
This was the Armenian Genocide
20
.

Genocide, according to the Merriam-Webster
21
dictionary, is defined as “the international
action to destroy people in a whole or part.” In this equation, 1.5 million Armenians were
destroyed; the couple hundred Turkish soldiers were the destroyers.

"The Armenian diaspora community is here [in America] because the Genocide
happened. But because the Turkish Government continues to deny it, it didn't happen, right?. It's
kind of a cognitive dissonance that messes with your psyche," said Dr. Shushan Karapetian
22
,
deputy director and linguist of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies

After a century-long quest to have the atrocities acknowledged by the United States,
Armenian American citizens scored a victory in 2021 when President Joe Biden
23
signed the
recognition bill
24
of the Armenian Genocide.

20
“Armenian Genocide.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,
https://www.britannica.com/event/Armenian-Genocide.
21
“Genocide Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/genocide?utm_campaign=sd&utm_medium=serp&utm_source=jsonld.
22
USC Institute of Armenian Studies. “USC Institute of Armenian Studies Welcomes Dr. Shushan Karapetian as Deputy
Director.” USC Institute of Armenian Studies, 25 July 2020, https://armenian.usc.edu/usc-institute-of-armenian-studies-
welcomes-dr-shushan-karapetian-as-deputy-director/.
23
“Joe Biden: The President.” The White House, The United States Government, 12 July 2022,
https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-biden/.
24
“Statement by President Joe Biden on Armenian Remembrance Day.” The White House, The United States Government, 24
Apr. 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/24/statement-by-president-joe-biden-
on-armenian-remembrance-day/.

10
But Dickran Khodanian, an expert from the Armenian Genocide department at the USC
Shoah Foundation
25
, or the Holocaust and Genocide Center, believes the 106 years to Biden’s
recognition caused significant intergenerational storytelling tremendous inherited pain.

Storytelling primarily serves as an educational tool for cultural and traditional
preservation of the Armenian society, including pre-genocide and post-genocide. Despite the
exploitations and deportations, Khodanian said, Armenians have nonetheless been able to
“preserve their culture,” to spread their Christianity legacy generation to generation.

After the genocide, having lost their homeland – many Armenians dispersed around the
world - the Armenian community went from being a nation to an indigenous minority diaspora
26

ethnic group. A significant consequence is the struggle to remain Armenian and the need to
preserve tradition. Logic dictates this means “pure-Armenian blood babies.”

Generally speaking, Armenian families apprise the import of continuing pure-blood
Armenian lineage. Though there is no written intra-ethnic marriage law, there is a clear
expectation, as a consequence of the ethnic cleansing: marry your own kind.

Parents reinforce the notion of marriage within the Armenian tribe. For girls, the idea of
marrying an Armenian man, and only Armenian, begins young. This idea took hold with

25
USC Shoah Foundation, 10 Oct. 2022, https://sfi.usc.edu/.
26
“Armenian Diaspora.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Oct. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_diaspora.

11
incredible force in the 20th century when genocide survivors purposefully chose to marry
Armenian counterparts.

“This is why you typically see Armenians marry Armenians,” Khodanian said.

The generational youth within the Armenian society act as “agents of memory,”
Khodanian said. Through this, acts of social construction and mentalities are repeated through
the transmissive memories of power relationships and cultural reflections. Accordingly, these
passed-down intergenerational forms of emotions and memories influence how survivors
remember the genocide. But part of the memory chain, too, includes societal roles between the
Armenian men and women: men typically took over more- authoritarian responsibilities and
leadership roles while women, in the home, influenced the familial units.

This idea replicates the ancient 4th century nakharar system where Armenian kings were
highly revered and exposed to the public society while Armenian queens were rarely seen out.
Following their royal rulers, the men represented their females in the public sphere as the women
were left in the shadows hidden in the private sphere.

Through the stories told through generations, such gendered labor division norms
unconsciously get passed down as well.

As a result of the long-lasting marriage rule, parents make plain to their daughters the
priority of marriage before finishing school. Rather than wanting a career, income to call their

12
own, most Armenian girls grow up learning that their place in society is to stay home to cook
and clean for their men. From generation to generation, it’s powerfully reinforced the male-
dominated patriarchal.

13
Chapter 3: The Feminists

The system has vastly run into more modern-day concepts.

What do these concepts consist of?

Experts, USC professors, explain.

“It’s an example of the binary,” said Diane Blaine
27
, director of undergraduate studies for
the USC Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Looking through the lens of a radical feminist
28
, the dichotomy within the male and
female binary, becomes apparent, especially within the Armenian society. Simply, males are
dominant and are superior to women.

To be obvious, women are thus seen as subordinate.

The binary of placing men as the authoritarian gender and females as the secondary
results from the social construction: one part of the binary having more power than the other. But

27
“Faculty Profile > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.” USC Dornsife College News RSS,
https://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/faculty-and-staff/faculty.cfm?pid=1003110.
28
“Radical Feminism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Nov. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_feminism.

14
if one were to deliberate, it is evident that the idea of sex itself responds to the social
construction, as there is no true way of defining the coined term.

“’Sex’” is merely an act that gives a man an erection [and] sexual pleasure," Blaine said
in a class lecture, adding that it ultimately allows men to exploit, objectify and dominate females.

This replicates the hierarchical societies historically established throughout the Armenian
Genocide, but not recognized as a type of caste system.

Relating this idea through the radical feminist lens, the concept of sex produces an
eroticization through a hierarchal type of binary within the two genders, and what ultimately can
create rape culture – where one forces the other to have nonconsensual sex.

In contemporary society, this is normally seen as males raping women. As a result of the
binary and, thus, the subjugation and subordination of women against their will, Blaine believes
that helpless, weak and passive women are labeled under the controlling image of being sexy.

“One of the main reasons females created the theory of feminism was to abolish the
binary altogether,” Blaine said.

Of course, the binary norm still reigns supreme in much of the world, particularly in
many Middle Eastern nations, among them Armenia.

15
Therefore, females, who participate in a male privileged society thus accept the
stereotype of being "powerless" and “passive” compared to the “dominant” and “authoritarian”
males, Blaine said.

She believes the only way to resolve the perception of weak women is to reconstruct
society and to see women advocate for a women-privileged society.

But is reconstructing all it takes?

Daniela Barrafio
29
, a clinical professor of communication and director of the digital
social media master's program at USC, believes there is an extra element.

Looking through the lens of a “post-feminist feminist
30
,” acts of surveillance by
Armenian men upon women and, further, children and the elderly amounts to nothing less,
Barrafio said in a class lecture, than another method of subjugation.

Women, according to Barrafio, have always been victims "appearing in the male gaze."

Through this, she asserted, women have become nonconsensual percipients, ever under
intense scrutiny. The idea of surveillance becomes apparent in the patriarchal Armenian society

29
“Daniela Baroffio.” Daniela Baroffio | USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism,
https://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/daniela-baroffio.
30
“Postfeminism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 June 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postfeminism.

16
in which both women and men play a part. Barrafio believes "women are subjugated as
interiorized bodies that are understood – or surveilled – by larger oppressive and inegalitarian
disciplines of sexual subordination."

What a woman wears is a factor of scrutiny within the Armenian society. How much skin
is revealed is a factor of scrutiny within the Armenian society. How late a woman stays out, how
much she drinks, how she presents herself in front of other men all these are factors of scrutiny
within the Armenian society.

This type of surveillance can also be considered as a control mechanism. It mirrors the
power dynamics in play during times of war.

17
Chapter 4: The Move

Though the system has long been this way, there have on occasion been exceptions and
rebels.

Like Victoria Nikogosyan.

She earned a Ph.D.

Still, it wasn’t enough.

That pivotal moment in Armenia more than 20 years ago made Victoria realize she was a
leader, not a follower. She wanted to help uplift people of her kind, not tear them down. She
knew she had to overcome her biggest nightmare: to abandon the seemingly unquestioning
loyalty to tradition and, with it, what she believed was a relentlessly toxic mentality
surrounding her.

She was tired of being told
31
Armenian women must “first clean, then study.” She was
weary of co-workers who didn’t know she had a doctorate in biophysics, who mistook her for a
secretary, who told her, “That’s not your place.” She was tired of having to ask permission to go

31
Contributor. “Reflections as an Armenian Woman on International Women's Day.” IANYAN Magazine, 8 Mar. 2010,
http://www.ianyanmag.com/reflections-as-an-armenian-woman-on-international-womens-day/.

18
to a friend’s wedding or “having to fight for my rights to become equal. I worked just as hard,
probably even harder, and deserved to be there just as any other man did."

To adapt, she had begun acting like someone else. “To be cool, like the boys,” she even
started smoking.

But none of this felt right.

What did she want? She asked no special treatment. She merely wanted to live her life on
her terms. As an equal.

"I did not want to abide by the patriarchal and traditional economy of women being afraid
to talk to their husbands,” Victoria said. “I wanted to surround myself with confident women,
and since that was non-existent at the time, I decided to make my own community."

She wanted to help women understand the importance of rejecting the masculine,
hegemonic aspects of her culture, to explain how ancient patriarchal traditions were suppressing.

Victoria knew she couldn’t speak with every woman from Armenia.

Instead, she knew she had to start small.

19
And so on a chilly evening in April 2004, after five years of waiting for her green card,
48-year-old Victoria took her 5-year-old daughter, Mariamane, and boarded the first of a series
of Lufthansa planes from Yerevan to Munich, then onward to Brussels and, finally, to San
Francisco.

They had a one-way ticket.

"I saw the type of women young girls were becoming, and I didn't want my daughter to
turn out as an uneducated, dependent bride with no rights,” Victoria said. “I wanted her to go to
focus on school like me, so I moved my family out of the motherland and to the States."

20
Chapter 5: The American

Victoria arrived as a blonde pixie-cut-haired woman who spoke broken English. She and
her 5-year-old settled in Pleasanton, California, a 40-minute drive from San Francisco.

Now Dr. Victoria Nikogosyan, a hypnotherapist
32
for 18 years and author
33
of four books,
coaches individuals who have undergone any sort of challenge to boost their “resilience and
productivity.” She helps people overcome “painful traumas and emotional distress, dissolve
conflicts and attract more businesses and investors.” She does this by actively achieving
professional and personal goals through her slogan, being “happy by default.”

She says that coaching is her life mission. “It is so rewarding for me to observe… happy
people who find and achieve what they want.”

Victoria said on a cool early fall day in September 2021, leaning back in her black leather
office chair: "The expectations of marriage on young women are ingrained within the Armenian
community. It stems the fact that we [Armenians] are so few in number and that we were almost
decimated entirely. They still believe they're living in the Before Christ era…”

32
“Victoria Nikogosyan: Personal and Professional Development Coach.” Live, https://www.live-in-
harmony.com/?fbclid=IwAR1_2VwjvWJ0Tfa1RAVbig2a-H2qC2Yq3OQ2g7Cl8IeLHmkqvdFeiEXNESM.
33
Amazon.com: Want Your Teen to Listen?: The Proven Irresistible Formula ... https://www.amazon.com/Want-Your-Teen-
Listen-Irresistible-ebook/dp/B06XPQ2WHX.

21
Though she is overgeneralizing, she speaks to a community trauma that has not had the
safe space to be reconciled.

“And that is what my profession is: to try and make them understand the democratic 21st

century mentalities,” Victoria said.

On her office wall hangs her Ph.D. diploma in biophysics. Stacks of printouts and trade
journals lean precariously on her desk. “I know how to take the norms and values and habits and
teach young women to go against them."

Victoria’s mission is to show women how to “get back on track” by becoming more
confident. She believes women supporting women is the most powerful thing a woman can do;
she has coached and provided advice to over 4,000 individuals
34
to get on track from more than
25 different countries, most of course Armenian and Armenian American.

Her doctorate serves her as an executive coach and a performance consultant. She helps
women seek to overcome trauma by transforming them mentally to perform better and be
happier by default. It wasn’t until recently that she started coaching Armenian women in the
United States.

“Otherwise,” she said with a laugh, “you’ll be sent to the kitchen.”

34
“About Victoria Nikogosyan: Live in Harmony.” Live, https://www.live-in-harmony.com/about-me.

22
“The men?” Victoria said in a sarcastic tone. “Who cares about what the men are up to?
They are allowed to do whatever they want.”

To fully eradicate patriarchal societies, however, men need invention as well.

How, then, to respond constructively to such subjugation?

Using her knowledge of “persuasive engineering
35
,” or “manufacturing the biochemical
compositions of our bloodstreams to feel happy without external sources” to young women,
Victoria has created the free space of mentoring her young clients about the empowerment of
womanhood through the analysis of musical lyrics. Depending on one’s desired price range, she
holds both group and private Zoom calls.

“I wanted to find a unique way of reaching young women in a way that would make them
remember empowerment. Are they going to listen to me counsel them for an hour? No. Are they
going to listen to Beyonce’s ‘Run the World
36
’ single? Definitely."

Victoria typically holds classes via Zoom with women in Armenia, ranging from young
adolescents to high school graduates. Each week, she picks a song and evaluates the lyrics.

35
“Workshops: Victoria Nikogosyan: Live in Harmony.” Live, https://www.live-in-harmony.com/workshops.
36
“Beyoncé - Run the World (Girls) (Official Video).” YouTube, 18 May 2011, https://youtu.be/VBmMU_iwe6U.

23
Late one Thursday afternoon, minutes before her Zoom call with 14 mid-teenage girls –
all of whom in Armenia – she softens the lighting in her office, adds a coat of lip gloss, turns on
the Zoom, blurs her background and waits.

“Before we begin, let’s go around and say our names and our favorite leading women.”

“I’m Adel, and I like Rihanna
37
,” a girl said.

Another chimed in. “I’m Nareh, and I love Ariana Grande
38
.”

The look on Victoria’s face said it all: despair. “These women are popstars, not leading
women.” Though her goal was to analyze pop lyrics, she hoped her mentees would have some
basic women’s rights history, “W-who knows who Rose McGowan
39
is?” she asked.

Crickets.

“This is what the problem is,” Victoria would say after her hour-long Zoom meeting.
“How are these young girls supposed to be strong, independent women when they are not taught
about feminism or how it came to be?”

37
“Rihanna Shop.” Rihanna, http://www.rihannanow.com/.
38
Arianagrande.com, https://www.arianagrande.com/.
39
“Rose McGowan.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Oct. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_McGowan.

24
The patriarchal model within the Armenian society is to blame for that: a culture that
consists of bolstering the males and objectifying the females. Perhaps not to the same degree, but
patriarchy is alive and well in the United States as well. The difference? Young Armenian girls
are taught at a young age never to talk back to a male, even if he was wrong. Also, she should
always expect the guy to pay for her.

Victoria attempts through the lyrics to teach her impressionable students about women’s
empowerment, equality, and independence.

“This week’s theme is beauty and confidence. Today we are going to listen to a song –
one of my daughter’s favorite songs,” she chuckled, “which is ‘Who Says
40
’ by Selena Gomez.”
She begins to share her screen.

Victoria is also aware of her attendees' age range and what she thinks they would enjoy.

She first plays the song for all to listen, and sing along to if applicable, and then she
searches the lyrics online.

She reads the Gomez lyrics: “Who says you’re not perfect? Who says you’re not worth
it? Who says you’re the only one who’s hurting? Trust me, that’s the price of beauty, who say’s
you’re not beautiful?”

40
“Selena Gomez & the Scene - Who Says.” YouTube, 4 Mar. 2011, https://youtu.be/BzE1mX4Px0I.

25
Victoria pulled her hair behind her ear and placed her hands together.

“Perfect does not exist,” she said, “but each and every one of you girls are worth it in
your own ways, and absolutely no man, woman or animal can tell you otherwise.”

A few girls nodded. Some took notes. All were smiling.

Victoria likes to engrave words like “confidence, independence and dominance” within
her students’ minds because she believes "nothing else will empower you other than language…
it gives you the door to another society… translation will move another volume, or serve as
another way of understanding something."

26
Chapter 6: The Girl

One of the square images on the screen belonged to Sofia Abramian, 20. The blonde-
haired, blue-eyed girl felt different. Her peers, teachers, and grandparents kept pestering her not
to further her education after high school and focus instead on finding a husband instead. She
came to Victoria for a second opinion.

Sofia’s first Zoom call with Victoria took place on a breezy March evening; because her
usual WiFi was not reliable, Sofia went to the nearest Starbucks, at Scott and Glenoaks in
Burbank at 3 in the afternoon, two hours before that scheduled Zoom call, because of an
everlasting fear of being late to meetings and appointments.

"Ever since a young age, I've wanted to open my own business up, but back home [in
Armenia], I would get shamed at for wanting to work. They would say to me, 'You have such a
beautiful look, don't waste it [on going] to school.'" Some of her classmates even called her
damaged for telling them she would continue her studies in the United States, a dream she had
been sharing with her parents for years.

Finally, in March 2020, Sofia’s parents moved her and her sister to North Hollywood.
They arrived just as the pandemic hit. Sofia started with Victoria right away.

In Sofia, Victoria’s emphasis on empowerment through pop culture found a willing
participant.

27

Chick flicks and romantic comedies were Sofia’s favorite movie genres. But her interest
in independence first struck when she first watched Legally Blonde
41
and saw Elle Woods go to
law school.

Just like Elle, Sofia wanted to go to law school in hopes of one day creating her own
business.

Victoria encouraged Sofia to answer her peers confidently by saying “I appreciate your
thoughts, but I am different and have my own plans and goals.”

Although she knew that it went well beyond the usual norms of womanhood within the
Armenian society, Sofia wrote it down. No woman shall talk back to anyone — especially a
man.

Doubtful now that she had made the right choice coming to Victoria, Sofia, picking at her
cuticles, quietly said, “I’ll try,” on the Zoom screen.

Victoria grew visibly upset.

“Next thing I knew,” Sofia said, referring to Victoria, “she screamed.”

41
“Legally Blonde.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 13 July 2001, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250494/.

28
"‘I’ll try’ has a negative connotation!” Victoria said, raising her voice and evidently
spitting at her screen. “Use, ‘I will do my best!’”

Sofia, intimidated, embarrassed, saying later that she felt “dumb” at that moment,
promised she would.

“As I kept attending her classes, I realized she does that to everyone, so that made me
feel better about myself,” Sofia recalled.

"I am a very strict woman,” Victoria said. “I require my clients to sit with good posture
and make them repeat phrases aloud or write them down. At the same time, I am a very
empathetic person, so I know I would feel bad yelling at people in person, so I speak in a vulgar
tone, similar to how the men in our community speak to one another… you need to talk in their
language, which is being rude —that is the only way you can get to their heads.”

As this approach concedes a male-dominated world, even here in the U.S., feminine
traits, which are both male and female, still carry the connotation of weakness.

It took a couple more convincing sessions for Sofia to feel confident enough to make a
decision. This year, she enrolled at Glendale Community College
42
, to study business
administration.

42
“Glendale Community College.” Home, https://www.glendale.edu/.

29
She continues her weekly one-on-one calls with Victoria.

In one session, Sofia told Victoria, “Everyone around me is telling me I have to get
married within the next three years to have healthy kids… but I don’t want to get married just
yet.”

“So, don’t,” Victoria responded bluntly.

“There is this expectation of marrying these 20-year-old’s off to have babies,” Victoria
would say later. This is in part because of the establishment of how the Armenian Diaspora
continues to uphold patriarchal norms.

“They don’t even know that they have a choice of getting married and that they can be
respected without being married. One woman even told me, ‘What’s wrong with you? Why you
haven’t told me?”

Sofia’s face went blank, and her eyes lit up.

“It looked kind of like the time when my in-laws’ grandmother fainted,” Victoria said
with a smile.

30
Chapter 7: The Process

Though Sofia found her success in Glendale, most of Victoria’s clients are in Armenia.

After collecting her fee, Victoria sends out a Zoom link via email to her clients, sets a
time and urges her clients to have battery on their devices and not to be late. “I am a very picky
person when it comes to time. I never like to be late. It is unprofessional and shows you are
unorganized. For whatever reasons these girls are in my classes for, something they will all get is
how to hold themselves together, especially if they are going to be standing their ground in front
of a patriarchal man.” If a client is late, she purposefully will place that girl on the spot and say,
“You’re late,” before even saying, “Hello.”

Victoria mentors girls seeking change. But also those with far more complex stories:
sexually assault victims, domestic violence victims, abused wives, The common thread: all
seeking to find strength through having independence in their selves. She challenges the
traditional rule of men’s domination by advocating a change within the Armenian culture.

31
Chapter 8: The Harvard Grad

Her first client, Manana Hakobian, hails from a small village in Armenia. She is now 24
with a UC Berkeley
43
bachelor’s degree in data science and is currently getting her master’s at
Harvard University
44
. She is the founder and chief executive officer of “Data Point Armenia
45
,” a
non-profit organization dedicated to “fostering a community with the common interests of
advancing data science in Armenia.” Victoria convinced Manana of the importance of education
and having her own income, whether or not a man came into the picture.

“I don’t care about the quantity of the people I reach, because I know I am only talking to
young girls at the end of the day… but if the quality of the information remains with them and
they share it along to one person who will share it to another, and it becomes this cycle… we can
change the mother country,” Victoria said.

43
“Home: University of California, Berkeley.” UC Berkeley, https://www.berkeley.edu/.
44
Harvard University. Harvard University, 1 Nov. 2022, https://www.harvard.edu/.
45
DataPoint Armenia, https://datapoint.am/.

32
Chapter 9: The Trojan Grad

Her first “Armenian-American” client was Azniv Libarian, a 25-year-old master’s
graduate from the University of Southern California
46
. She is now studying for the dental
admissions test to prepare for dental school.

"I am a first-generational college graduate in my family; Victoria helped spark my
dreams of being a dentist by telling me it's possible for Armenian women to become dentists,”
Azniv recounted. “I remember she listed all these Armenian women all around the San Fernando
Valley and told me. ‘If they can do it, why can't you?'"

Not only is Azniv in the process of "doing it," prepping to become a dentist, but she
tutors acquaintances and helps people with college applications for free to encourage their
educational path.

Victoria explained to Azniv, "Women without school are as similar to being a piece of
property. Most Armenian women are smart and educated into secondary school, but as soon as
they get into families, they are considered properties of their husband and the husband's family."

She got this idea from her background experience. She believes that the Armenian
community will forever reinforce the binary that feminists work so hard to overcome today,
including the expression that females must remain hidden in the private spheres while males can

46
University of Southern California, https://www.usc.edu/.

33
enjoy their presence in the public sphere. She believes that Armenians demonstrate on a daily
basis, and explicitly, that males are dominant, and females are submissive. This idea replicates
the ancient patriarchal royal system where Armenian kings were highly revered and exposed to
the public society while Armenian queens were rarely seen out. Following their royal rulers, the
men represented their females in the public sphere as the women were left in the shadows hidden
in the private sphere.

Intriguingly, Victoria refuses to have any Armenian friends or be involved in Armenian
events. She holds many rules with her daughter, who is now 23, pertaining to who she can and
can’t be with:

“I will not allow my daughter to marry an Armenian man who is not a third generational
or later; the men, and women, in the first and second generation will still have that toxic
patriarchal mentality.”

Victoria takes cautions with her business and worries about possible reprisal from certain
Armenian men. Her business runs on a word-of-mouth basis, as she knows the dangers from the
homeland in an extreme patriarchal rule are still present within the Armenian Diaspora in the
states. She’s concerned about "physical altercations happening with Armenian men… that's why
I do not classify myself as a feminist. Though I am one, I hide it. I could get attacked or beaten…
there is no such thing as a woman's right. In the Armenian society, it is a man's world only."

34
Though Victoria wouldn’t admit that she was not a feminist out of fear, she does consider
herself as an ally to the movement.

"It makes me sick to my stomach when women have to say, 'Let me ask my husband.'
Women don't make decisions… if they want to go somewhere, they have to get permission from
their husband or their mother-in-law."

35
Chapter 10: The Future Grad

On a recent call with Sofia, Victoria described a choice that no one in her home country
had ever spoken of.

"Marriage is a choice,” she told Sofia. “You do not need to get married. Having a
boyfriend is normal, too.”

Victoria told Sofia a story she had learned scrolling through her feed on Facebook in
September 2020.

The woman in the story openly announced on Facebook that she had a boyfriend and ran
away to a scenic place with him for a weekend,” But when the woman returned to her village,
“She was shamed, shamed really hard. She was kicked out of her home and forced to go to
another village."

This is bravery, Victoria told Sofia. "We need more women like this to open our
communities' patriarchal mindset."

“Digin [Professor] Victoria saved my life. She taught me that I am just as capable of
going to school and do not have to settle my life any other way… she opened up my heart and
discovered a hidden feminist in there," said Sofia.

36
Sofia is now involved in various leadership positions in clubs at her college. Her proudest
position is being the president of an Armenian Sorority, Alpha Gamma Alpha. She also serves as
the chairman of the business club and the outreach director of her school’s honor society.

“I want to reciprocate the confidence boost Victoria did to me to more Armenian women.
I want my fellow ‘sisters’ to know that there is not a life clock ticking on when to get married.
That’s the beauty of having freedom- a term I learned after coming to America.”

37
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract This paper explores the history of Armenia before the Armenian Genocide and after and how it can be used as evidence for the traumatic experiences the Armenian people experienced as a result of the April 24, 1915 annihilations. Specifically, I will explore how certain behaviors and mentalities of patriarchy contribute to the existence of the Armenian people after the Genocide. The Armenian Genocide has yet to be recognized by the perpetrators, as modern-day Turkey continues their everlasting denial. However, through the preservation of Armenian culture and traditions, the Armenian society ends up prioritizing the male point of view, thus, unjustly treating Armenian women in society. Through the lens of a contemporary Armenian life coach and certain ideologies of modern-day feminism, this academic paper aims to call out and establish the societal, economic, personal, and political equality of the female gender.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Antounian, Nicole (filename)

Core Title The progressive movement of Armenian women

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism

Degree Conferral Date 2022-12

Publication Date 11/04/2022

Defense Date 11/03/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Armenian genocide,feminism,Genocide,OAI-PMH Harvest

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