Born: 6 February 1978, Ukraine
Died: NA
Country most active: Ukraine
Also known as: Olena Volodymyrivna Kyiashko, Олена Зеленська
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
Even in the midst of a war, women are expected to act “ladylike.” In August 2022, months into the Russian invasion of her country, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska was on the cover of Vogue. Seated on a set of stairs, the pants-clad Zelenska is leaning forward, forearms resting on thighs that are a little more than shoulder width apart. As she told Vogue “We have no doubt we will prevail,” morons on the internet chided her because she wasn’t sitting “like a girl.” Other critiques, including from her own people, were that her hair was too nicely done, her eyes looked tired, and countless other minutiae. She was simultaneously accused of war propaganda for doing an interview and trivialising the war for doing it with Vogue and having an accompanying photoshoot with Annie Leibovitz. In response, women around the world shared their own images of what it means to #SitLikeAGirl, including Kyiv resident Polina Karabach, who perhaps best summed up the situation: “I think that we should stop paying attention to this and start focusing on what’s important— like doing what you can to support Ukraine in the war.”