One may think that all Slavic women are the same. There is some difference, however, that is caused by the peculiar features of the climate, the way of life, and the influence of the neighboring countries.

For instance, Russia has always been under the influence of Asian culture. That’s where the oriental humbleness and respect for men – the family bread-winners – comes from. Ukraine is a European country, so the Ukrainian people were developing according to the European model and even sharing their wisdom with Europe from time to time. That’s why Ukrainian women are more Europeanized and more independent than Russian women. They have more of that European luster, even though they love and value men as much as the Russian ladies do.

How did Russians live in the olden days? They sowed the field, but if the harvest was lost because of the cold, the family fully depended on men who could provide their relatives with food by hunting. Ukrainian climate is so good that it would be too hard to lose the harvest – only an incredibly lazy or luckless person would manage to be short of provision. Thus, the Ukrainian women weren’t that dependent on their husbands. Moreover, it was the women who kept the house in Ukraine. The men either spent most of the year in Zaporozhskaya Secha (national military forces) where they mastered their fighting skills, or were busy protecting their lands from invaders (often invading the foreign lands themselves). Sometimes they also went to do the “chumak” where they transported salt from one end of the big country to the other.

In such circumstances, a woman would have to keep the house and care about her children on her own. That’s how they’ve perfected their sharp mind, quick-wittedness and of course, thrift.

And how they awaited the arrival of their men! The women had learned that when you don’t see your husband too often, you start to value him much more. Plus, the men traveling all around Ukraine and other countries were often meeting so many different women. That’s why a Ukrainian lady always had to possess the best personal qualities in order to keep her husband willing to come back home. The husbands always came back home because they knew that no other woman would be able to give them more care and attention than their own wives did. There’s hardly a place in the world where you could meet such tender, careful, smart, and cheerful ladies. Besides, Ukrainian girls were always famous for their beauty.

It was their beauty that made a Turkish sultan and a French king marry Ukrainians. However, what the people of Turkey and France always praised was their former Queens’ intelligence.

Ukrainian girls always attract a lot of attention at modern beauty competitions. Elena Avramenko has become the first vice-miss at the 2006 European Beauty Contest (where the Ukrainian and French contestants originally got an equal number of jury votes, so the final result was determined by an audience vote). Ukrainian beauty Inna Tsimbaluk was among the 20 most beautiful women in the world according to the results of the “Miss Universe 2006” beauty contest. It should be noted that our girls don’t resort to the help of plastic surgery unlike contestants from other countries! First, it’s not popular in Ukraine; second, it’s not necessary… With such a body – perfect breasts, thin waists, and wide hips – no correction is required, just like it’s not necessary to correct their beautiful oval faces, big expressive eyes, thin dark eyebrows, smooth white skin, and silky light-brown hair.

Ukrainian women are vigorous, joyful, and sharp-tongued but at the same time incredibly kind and hearty. The Ukrainian language is said to be the second most beautiful after Italian. Ukrainian girls love singing; often they have an ear for music and a beautiful melodic voice. It’s hard not to enjoy listening to a Ukrainian mother singing a quiet lullaby to her baby.