OLGA ROGACHEVSKIKH

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The image of a typical Russian consists of stereotypes and misconceptions. Unfortunately, the Kremlin's propaganda and informational gap between Russia and the rest of the world have been fueling the flame of hatred and misunderstanding towards Russians. The author of this book was born in Russia but now is currently living in Sweden. She is one of the citizens who had to leave her own country for safety reasons. The author saw that Kremlin’s propaganda affected the minds of Europeans as well. She decided to write a book that fights these stereotypes and shines light on the mindset of an average Russian, and what external factors affect it. The author hopes that her efforts will help to show the international community that citizens of Russia are not violent, barbaric, and bloodthirsty monsters that are craving a war, but people, who have been suffering abuse from their government and each other. Some of them must flee their country now. Generational trauma will haunt them even after the end of this abhorrent war.

Gatekeeper Syndrome: Power Here and Now

First, let's understand who a gatekeeper is.

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Most often, this is attributed to women, because seeing primarily men in power is a norm in many countries. Here's how it turned out. More than half a century ago, people in Russia had little housing and lived in so-called dormitories: many small rooms on either side of one long corridor. There were only one or two kitchens on the whole floor.  On top of that, no private toilets and showers were included, but there were shared cabins for 5-7 people. These dormitories were gender separated. However, officially registered couples could live together. Nevertheless, people always wanted to communicate, so men would often come to the dormitory where the women lived. Even though it wasn't allowed. This rule was maintained by a person stationed on the first floor of the dormitory. Most of the time it was an old, strong, and loud woman. She determined who could enter the building and who could not. Apart from this function, she was not responsible for anything else. No one sought such a job and therefore nobody would be fired for being rude, otherwise the control over the incoming people could be lost. Of course, a gatekeeper had an official manager. However, this person was responsible for water, electricity, fire safety and the supply of things, and almost without talking to people at all. As a result, after a while, these women realized their power and impunity. People who got into trouble also realized that power. Gatekeepers could insult people, not let people in and not open the door to those who had the right to enter or had good reasons for it. Some such women responded positively to offerings in the form of money and food. People realized that you needed to obey and not argue with even the most toxic gatewomen if you needed to get inside.
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Unfortunately, in current day Russia, there are many situations where women and men can similarly exercise their power over any people. This is called the gatekeeper’s syndrome - when a person knows that for no insults or harmful actions they will not be punished because they cannot be replaced. People of low-income professions are susceptible to it. Teachers (a very high percentage), medical staff, library workers, dressing room workers, public canteen workers, accountants of state-owned enterprises, small and medium-sized officials can experience it. This is a big problem because passive aggression from these people increases the number of unhappy people in the country. Those who could feel good and work well, are forced to endure toxic attitude and do not have the opportunity to change anything. Children are primary victims of this syndrome. Teachers systematically put students at a disadvantage. This can manifest itself in different ways. It has long been known that teachers in the Russian education system are biased: they can choose favorites and forgive them various things that are not allowed, give them higher grades, send them to competitions, turn a blind eye to cheating. On the other hand, there are children who the teachers simply did not like. It can be due to both appearance and specific skills (when the student knows more than the teacher). In these cases, grades may be specifically lowered, or a negative score is given for no reason, which spoils the average score. All this can be accompanied by toxic comments, and ridicule of the student in front of the whole class, which can lead to the formation of an individual with low self-esteem. The manifestation of the gatekeeper's syndrome in school teachers is a problem of the entire society, which has caused great harm to many generations and now continues to destroy the support under the feet of many children. It is important to say that this psychological attack to which people are exposed has a great negative effect. If a person can stand in the place of this gatekeeper, then he immediately uses it and begins to toxically humiliate the people around him.

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This phenomenon is terrifying because of how common it is. People who were victims become aggressors themselves. Children who have experienced constant stress from their teacher either suffer and withdraw into themselves with great internal problems, or vice versa – become even more aggressive than a teacher with gatekeeper's syndrome. Previously described jobs are not valued by the state in good money. As a result, few people after receiving pedagogical or medical education aspire to work in schools and hospitals. It is very difficult to live on this money, it is impossible to have a family living like that. If you do not take into account the large cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, then the salaries become extremely small, and people are forced to take on more responsibilities in order to get a little more money. This leads to burnout which then results in irritation and displeasure with their jobs. There is no way out of this situation. It is a vicious circle. A person who is forced to earn little, increases their workload to gain income, does not recover, gets tired, cannot control himself, shows aggression towards others and has gatekeeper's syndrome.     Meanwhile, the amount of aggression in society is growing. People communicate with each other evilly and impolitely. Even a passerby can say something inappropriate to you behind your back. Encountering such a person is displeasing. You don't want to interact with them. But you realize that you depend on them. They can prescribe medicines for your grandmother, give grades to your child at school, bring water on the plane, give food in the cafeteria, give out the right book in the library and many other situations that can bring you together. These are bad feelings, but you can’t be blamed for them. You feel injustice and resentment, powerlessness and understand that you are being used.

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This is how people in Russia feel all the time. The gatekeeper's syndrome is ingrained in them, and this is a manner of behavior that some people sometimes resort to. For many of them it is a permanent state of being. To find a solution to this problem, you must be in good conditions, but there are no good conditions in Russia. This is what the Russians are forced to do - to resign themselves for a while, to, then, if the opportunity arises, to vent their aggression on others. It's sad that millions of people swap victim-aggressor roles several times a day. There is no normal psyche here. Nobody feels calm and well, everyone looks back at each other and does not feel friendship and confidence. If we talk about the state, then officials are just as likely to have gatekeeper’s syndrome. They do not fulfill their duties, demand non-existent documents, and refuse to help. Police officers, judges and other representatives of public services can also do the same. The components of this scheme are simple: power and impunity. This has been going on for many decades and people in Russia have long been resigned to such a constant problem and have no chance to change anything.
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The last and most terrible thing: a Russian person is prone to such behavior. Learning toxic patterns happens very quickly and people themselves do not notice how they begin to use it in a situation of instantaneous power over another person. If a person does not have empathy, sensitivity to the emotions and feelings of another person, then they do not have the brakes on this slippery road to multiplication of aggression in society. One hundred percent of young teachers, after a year of work in school, absorb the poisonous seeds and either leave this bad place for their well-being, or join the ranks of women with gatekeeper's syndrome. It is impossible to eliminate this syndrome in Russia yet: people do not have anything good at all. There is not enough money, there are no comfortable and warm houses, there is no certainty that everything will be fine. This syndrome is a plague of Russian society. People are forced to obey it, while understanding the injustice of this situation. The treatment will be long.

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