A ‘WOMAN-SELF’ IN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIA
Elena Shitova
15,597 words
The thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Gender and Development.
Gender Studies Program School of Philosophy, Anthropology and Social Inquiry Faculty of Arts The University of Melbourne
October 2008
Declaration
This is to certify that this thesis comprises only my original work. Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other materials used.
Elena Shitova October 2008
Acknowledgements
In Russia my sincere thanks to all women who participated in my research project and found time to share their life experiences with me. I would like to express my appreciation to all Russian women activists and colleagues, especially to Women’s Alliance and its founders Natalia and Sergey Sereda, where I have been working for eight years before continuing my studies. They have inspired me to keep being active in the sphere of prevention of violence against women in Russia and seeded the belief into the positive outcomes of our joint efforts.
I would like to thank Dr. Maree Pardy for supporting me and supervising my work, for providing valuable comments and strengthening my confidence in creating my project.
Also I would like to thank my dear friends: Lana for supporting me through all ups and downs, Deb for reading my initial draft and contributing essential advice and Greg for being there for me whenever it was needed.
The last but not the least, I would like to express my deep respect and gratitude to the Institute of International Education/ Ford Foundation for giving me a chance to complete my degree in gender studies, for awarding me with its scholarship, and for contributing funding for travel expenses that enabled me to conduct the field research in Russia.
Translation and Transliteration
All material quoted from Russian sources and interviews are translated by the author. I acknowledge that there could be other types of transliterations and translations of the same materials. In the references I provided the translation of the titles of Russian books/articles to make Russian authors understandable for English-speaking audience. Some Russian terms and sayings I present in English transliteration and provide their translation in brackets. The purpose of this is to keep the richness of expressions and cultural meanings. Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...... 2
The Research...... 5 Interviewed Women and Their Brief Stories...... 8
Chapter One: ‘WOMEN’S QUESTION’ THROUGHOUT THE LAST CENTURY
OF THE RUSSIAN HISTORY...... 13
Uniform Socialist/Communist Gender Identity...... 18 Equality by the Soviet Rules...... 21 Soviet Fantasies about Gender Order ...... 25
Chapter Two: PERESTROIKA, GLASNOST AND OPPORTUNITIES WITH
GENDER SPECIFICS. FROM SPACE FLIGHTS TO BEAUTY SHOWS ...... 31
Opportunities Through Political and Public Prisms...... 33 Opportunities Through Employment, Career and Business Prisms...... 37 Opportunities in Gender Roles in Contemporary Russian Society...... 42
Chapter Three: PERESTROIKA, GLASNOST AND FREEDOM IN GENDER SOUCE .....45
The Wind from the West, Globalisation, and Freedom...... 46 Freedom of Gendered Images in Mass Culture ...... 49 ‘Traditional’ Gender Images of Russian Women with a New Gloss...... 54
CONCLUSION ...... 59
Appendix 1: Research Participants...... 61
Appendix 2: INTERVIEW INFORMATION...... 62
Appendix 3: About Russkoe Radio and Sexist/Discriminatory Jokes ...... 63
Appendix 4: A Brief Comment about Russian Culture of Jokes ...... 65
Bibliography ...... 66
INTRODUCTION
“A woman is something that is strong and capable of great endurance; something that can hold the head high even through the pain and hardship... It is something weak and strong, light and heavy. There are so many contradictions in a woman...” (Larisa 2008)
Perestroika1 inaugurated the ‘transitional period’ from the Soviet Union to the Russian
Federation in 1985. The old communist regime existed no longer. For the majority of
Russians it seemed that everything was turned upside down. They lost status, security, decent standards of living, and ideology that used to control and empower them at the same time (Bonnell 1996; Levinson 2000). The transition forced the entire population to fight for survival, and exerted especially harsh pressure on women (Hemment 2007; Gal and Kligman
2000; Lapidus 1993; Noonan and Nechemias 2001; Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta 1996). The 1990s can be characterised as ‘psychic crisis’ for the Russian society, and is often referred to as the
‘neuroticization’ of the society (Hemment 2007; Klimenkova 1996). It was evidenced by a rapid growth of crime, corruption, alcohol and drug abuse, prostitution, moral panic and a common feeling of hopelessness (Buckley 1992; Mamonova 1994). The gap between rich and poor became extremely noticeable. This too created additional tensions in the society
(Bonnell 1996; Hamment 2007; Sakwa 2004). Through the period of transformation “the culture of hate and the culture of love were strangely entangled in our society... everyone hated everyone else to some extent, and everyone loved everyone to some extent too”
(Lissyutkina 1999: 181).
This period also created new prospects for Russian people, including women. Perestroika allowed Glasnost [speaking out] that associated with democratisation, freedom, and new
1 Perestroika is the Russian term for the economic reforms started in 1985 by Mikhail Gorbachev, the first President of the Soviet Union. This term means ‘reconstruction’, ‘restructuring’ (Rempel 1996). 2 opportunities. In spite of the promises of perestroika to improve the lives of citizens, most people met those promises with scepticism. Yet hopes remained high that the Russian society was being transformed in ways that would acknowledge existence of women’s problems and would address the issues that worried women. Some analysts claim that at least speaking out about women’s issues stopped being a dangerous business, for which those who dared to speak out, could be exiled (Heldt 1992; Buckley 1992; Mamonova 1994). Reforms created significant changes in lives of women: in their political, economic, and social status.
Although Gorbachev’s policy of perestroika was meant to employ everything ‘new’ [as an opposition to ‘old’ Soviet regime] – new ways of thinking, new strategies of decision making, new psychology, it failed to shift significantly from the ‘old’ perceptions on the status of women. Historically inherited mythology of women’s emancipation, created in the
USSR, remained foundational for discriminatory policies and practices in contemporary
Russia, with civic and social activities considered to be feminine, and politics remaining a masculine sphere (Buckley 1999; Hemment 2007; Johnson 2007; Posadskaya 1994;
Salmenniemi 2005; Sperling 1996; Usha 2005). As one journalist put it, gendernaia obrechennost [‘gender doom’] continued to exist and was influenced by current politics, economics, ideology and mass media images (Levinson 2000).
The collapse of the communist system has impacted the identities of people in Russia, particularly gender identities. Perestroika with its transformations and opened borders forced people to search for new identities (Bonnell 1996; Kuehnast and Nechemias 2004). Gender identities in Russia today are shaped by a number of factors: historical period, social relations, political regime, ideology, culture, and other (Kirilina and Tomskaya 2005;
Klimenkova 1996; Kon 1995). This is especially the case for women as the term ‘Russian woman’, is problematic identity category, failing to capture various realities and specifics of
3 women’s lives (Johnson 2007). This argument is in line with post-structural feminists who argue that a ‘woman’ is a concept to be constructed, not taken as an already existing (Elson
2006; Rinehart 1992). In her famous book The Second Sex (1949), a French novelist Simone de Beauvoir created the grounds for such a thinking of post-structural feminists. She conducted the study on women through viewpoints of anthropology, biology, history, sociology, and psychoanalysis and made a statement: “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. ... It is civilization as a whole that produces this creature...” (De Beauvoir 1997:
295). This account is also taken into consideration by post-structural identity theory that emphasises shifting and multiple identities (Alexander 1997; Hawthorn and Lund 1998;
Torchia 2008).
During the past twenty or so years much of the scholarly and analytic work on women and gender relationships in post-Soviet Russia has been concerned with the achievements of
Russian/Soviet women - women at work, women and their role during war times, women in space (Shcherbinin 2004; Schwartz 1979); strong division between private [feminine] and public [masculine] spheres (Buckley 1999; Haavio-Mannila and Rotkirch, 1996; Klimenkova
1996; Mamonova 1994; Popkova 2004); development and growth of independent women’s movement (Hemment 2007, 2004; Johnson 2004; Noonan and Nechemias 2001; Popkova
2004; Sperling 1999; Stites 1978); or changes in economic, social and political situation of women in post-Soviet Russia (Buckley 1997; Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta 1996; Jyrkinen-
Pakkasvirta and Poretzkina 1999). Some scholars discuss and explore the mythology of womanhood throughout Russian and Soviet history and in Russian culture (Hubbs 1988;
Kelly 1993; Levin 1993; Ponomareva and Khoroshilova 2006; Pushkareva 1996; Vowles
1993); they study how this reflects on contemporary gender roles and attitudes in Russian society (Hansson and Linden 1984; Klimenkova 2001; Posadskaya 1994; Usha 2005). In
4 many cases such writings are the work of Western/foreign researchers and for
Western/foreign audiences. Often in such works Russian women are presented as keepers of
‘traditional’ approaches to gender roles and traditional understandings of masculinity and femininity. The researched women have generally been objectified, silenced, and discussed but have been rarely given an opportunity to speak for themselves.
The Research
My project aims to contribute a more nuanced understanding of the experiences of Russian women. I am concerned here with how Russian women understand and construct their meanings of gender identities, gender roles, women’s problems, and the concept of ‘to be a woman’ in Russia today. The current situation of women is analysed in the comparison with the past, the Soviet past in particular. It is based on the belief that contemporary situation of women in Russia cannot be understood separately from the history of Soviet regime and gender constructs inherited from the past. My approach also allows ordinary Russian women to speak for themselves, offering valuable contemporary and comparative knowledge about women’s subjectivity and its transformations. While making a modest contribution to this knowledge, the themes emerging here lay the groundwork for future research in the area.
The work presents the results of twelve in-depth interviews with different Russian women, conducted during the period of June-August 2008. The participants were recruited through personal connections and with use of ‘snowballing’ technique. I told my friends and acquaintances about my project, gave them the description of it and asked to ask their friends and colleagues if any of them would like to take part in my research. Later, interviewed women suggested other women who would have liked to be interviewed. In order to become
5 participants of my research women had to agree to participate; be between 20 and 60 year of age; and live in Russia. I did not set any other limits for the process of recruitment because I was interested in ordinary women and interviewed all women, who agreed to participate in the project. The research project is of a qualitative nature and provides the basis for a discussion about the experiences of Russian women. The number of the participants is limited by the nature of the qualitative research and also by time and resources of the small-scale research project. As Padgett emphasised that more important is the quality of the research data, not the quantity, because the emphasis of the proposed research is to explore and understand meanings, rather than to make generalizations and comparison to a possible
‘norm’ or ‘truth’ (1998: 52). Along with interviews I use a wide range of empirical data: pictures, advertisements, radio programs, reports, images and some quantitative data to illustrate some of the current and past tendencies in gender politics in Russia.
I acknowledge that the experiences of twelve women cannot be claimed as the ‘truth’ about all women in Russia. While letting those women speak for themselves [that is also a very hard task2], I also engage in telling their stories through interpretations, through making links with theoretical and analytical information, and through translating from Russian into
English. I recognise that ‘Russian women’ is a very wide term that represents a variety of persons with individual stories and experiences of ‘being a woman’ in Russia rather than reflecting a category of particular cultural practice or expression3. Also I have chosen to employ my personal anecdotes throughout the paper. Having eight years experience working in the sphere of prevention of violence against women, I have come to realise throughout this
2 One may argue that ‘letting women speak for themselves’ is impossible as for according to feminist methodology the author always edits and creates people’s voices. By saying ‘let women speak for themselves’ I mean that I try to engage their stories and comments throughout my thesis and use them as illustrations of current and past processes in the Russian Federation. 3 I try to escape generalisations whenever it is possible, but I think I was not very successful in doing so because of the ambitious topic I have decided to research. 6 research project the importance of theory and research for implementing this practice. I can recall being very sceptical about scholars ‘knowing nothing about the reality, speaking with unknown terminology, and making no practical sense for everyday realities of women in such a troubled country, as Russia’. Now I would argue for a consensus between theory and practice, scholars and activists. All have a stake in the same goal – improving the situation of women.
I argue that gender identity of Russian women cannot be viewed in vacuum or taken as a static element. Self-perceptions of women exist in, and reflect upon the social space, which is influenced by many factors, such as state politics, legislation, history, ideology, attitudes of the society, and men in particular. Thus, it is impossible to isolate present from the past. I find it essential to evaluate the influence of the Soviet history on attitudes and behaviours of modern Russian women. I also argue that so called ‘traditional’ images and gender roles held by and prescribed for Russian women, thought being present and seeming to be alike, have many faces, layers and variations. Women in contemporary Russia learnt to employ practices of manipulating and modernising ‘traditional’ gender constructs.
First, I give a brief introduction to the key informants. Then, in Chapter one I explore gender identities during Soviet era (1917-the first half of 1980s), providing the ground for better understanding the processes of gender identity formation in modern Russia. In chapters two and three I keep the focus on contemporary situation of women in Russia. Chapter two explores the links between current political, economic and gender order; and Chapter three analyses the relationship between contemporary Russian culture, social order, public attitudes, and gender constructs.
7
Interviewed Women and Their Brief Stories
I would like to start with a short introduction of the key informants. All participants are self- selected. Interviewed women represent different professions, levels of education, marital status; and with age range between 27 and 594. Seven women were interviewed in Barnaul5; three women were interviewed in Moscow6; and two women were interviewed in Melbourne between June-August 2008. The decision to choose participants from different geographical settings (capital/provincial city; Russia/abroad) was made in order to enrich the quality of the obtained information7.
Twelve women, twelve different stories placed in no particular order8. To keep the identities of the participants confidential pseudonyms are used.
Dasha is in her mid-thirties, married and has a child. She is well educated and works as an economist. Perhaps, it is more accurate to say that she worked as an economist. When we met, it was her last week at work. She happened to be among a big number of people [most of whom were women], who were fired due to restructuring within their company. She expressed regret over the situation of women in Russia and was pessimistic about her future as a woman.
4 For more details about participants see Appendix 1; about interview questions see Appendix 2. 5 Barnaul is one of the big provincial cities in the South-West of Siberia. It is the capital of Altaiskii krai [Altai region] with population of 649,700 people (289,000 men and 360,400 women) as stated in 2007 (www.barnaul.org/gorod/vchera_i_segodnya/geografiya 2008). 6 Population of Moscow is 10,470,300 people (http://www.mos.ru 2008). 7 There was no significant difference in the responses of women that could be linked strongly to the place where women live. Nevertheless, one difference in opinions was noticed: women from Moscow were more confident in evaluating employment and career opportunities for women as rather equal. Another difference appeared between attitudes of women who live in Russia and those who have immigrated to Australia: the immigrant women tended to be more negative about life in Russia and situation of women in current environment. Perhaps, the biggest distinction in the opinions of interviewees about the Soviet past and situation of women in the USSR can be connected to the age difference. Women, older than 45, have more positive memories about the Soviet past than younger women of ages 27-45. 8 The first seven women described in this introduction live in Barnaul. 8
Yulia is in her late twenties, divorced and has no children. She grew up in a very small village. At the age of eighteen she decided to ‘conquer the city’ in search for a better life and opportunities. At present, she is a co-owner of a small beauty saloon and proud of her achievements: starting from zero; coping with twice failing exams to the university; overcoming difficulties while setting up her business. She believes that there is a big distinction between the mentality and situation of women who live in rural and urban areas.
Yulia thinks that women should be ‘traditionally’ feminine, look good and wear skirts and dresses9.
Valentina is a successful local business woman in her late fifties. She looks younger than her age and full of energy. She is active, focused, serious and clever [with two higher degrees].
She was widowed from her first marriage and then left with two small children by her second husband. Business was the means of surviving for her as a single mother with small kids in the chaos of perestroika. She believes that the main role for a woman is to be a mother, and moreover, to be a mother not only for her children, but also for her man/husband.
Zoya is a young woman in her early thirties. Recently she has given a birth to a long-awaited child and is overwhelmed by the happiness of being a mother. She is well-educated and has a good job that provides maternity leave and related benefits. Her main priority is family, children and her husband. Work for her is just a necessity for economic stability of the family.
Yevgenia was expected by her father as a boy: “I was raised as a boy... always tried to prove
9 At the same time Yulia mentioned that she likes to wear jeans because they are comfortable and keep her warm during cold weather. This difference between what women say and how they ‘do their gender’ is addressed in more detail in Chapter three. 9 that I am a good girl. ... I tried to be equal to boys, at least not worse then they were...”
(2008). This set a start for a process of constant self-improvement and broadening skills and knowledge. She started a local NGO at the beginning of 1990s. Now she is well known in the public sector, respected by colleagues and local community for her professional and leadership qualities. She is in her mid-forties, has a wonderful family, based on the principles of partnership, and two children.
Marina is in her mid-fifties with three grown-up children. She had lived with her husband for more then thirty years until recently when he left her for another woman. As she recalled, it was not a perfect marriage, but she was committed to keeping the family for the main reason
- ‘children’. She had witnessed and felt all the hardships of the perestroika: lost her job, her savings, and her hope. She had to work at various jobs not connected to her education [a degree in mechanical engineering] – a weaver, a sorter, a cleaner, a librarian, and many others. She regrets that the ‘old’ Soviet morals and respectful attitudes to women are long gone, along with a sense of stability and security.
Larisa is a positive, energetic and confident woman in her early thirties. She is married and has two children. Though valuing her family and putting it at the top of her priorities, she is confident that her priorities can be flexible and variously shift to personal life, social entertainment or work. She told me that it is important for her to keep the balance between being with family, spending time with her friends; going out and working. Larisa is an active person and does not imagine herself being just a housewife. Her husband is supportive of her views and shares the principles of partnership within the family, although most of domestic duties are performed by Larisa.
10
Tamara is a native Muscovite, in her early forties. She was married twice and raises three children (two biological and one of her second husband). She is well educated and knows several foreign languages. She holds a high position at a big and well-known Western company. Although she places her children and family at the top of her priorities, she is a career woman and does not understand how women can leave their careers in order to sit at home with their children. She said that she would die without communication and people.
Maria is a young woman in her late twenties from Moscow. While talking about her childhood, she admitted that all family duties were done by her mother. Her father was an alcoholic and considered as “an additional burden to the family” (2008). Maria spent her teenage years with her mother’s grandparents and at the age of nineteen she got married, mostly as she recalled, to become independent. This marriage lasted less then a year. She divorced, and then at the age of twenty met her new partner. Since then, they have been living together in civil marriage. She calls herself a strong and confident person. Maria thinks that responsibilities within her family should be shared between the family members and believes that women should be equal with men.
Nina is a woman in her late twenties. She holds a good and well-paid position in an international company, lives and works in Moscow. Originally she is from a provincial city.
She came to Moscow in search of a good job offer. She is modern and confident, though she considers herself to hold ‘traditional’ views on the role of women and family. She considers her mother as a role model - as a successful woman who was able to keep the balance between work and having a family.
11
Vika is a woman in her late thirties. She has immigrated to Australia from a small provincial city and found a good job. She was married once and does not hold good memories of her first husband of eight years. He was jealous, used to drink and was incapable of keeping up with being ‘nastoyashii muzhchina’ [a ‘real man’]. In her opinion, men play a crucial role in constructing an identity of a woman: “it reflects from men – the way how he treats you, the way how he understands you, they way how he looks at you” (2008). She came to Australia with a hope to start a new life, find a new love and a partner, and to start a new family and have children. She feels more comfortable in Australia and does not want to go back.
Rita is in her mid-thirties, happily married and has one child. Rita and her husband immigrated to Melbourne from a small Russian provincial city. She has a good job and at the time of the interview, she told me that she was offered another position which she considered to be more exciting and matching her personal and professional interests. She said that
Australian society made her feel more confident as a woman and a person. Although she mentioned that she did not want to blame Russia all the time, she was openly critical about some issues connected to discrimination of women. She identifies herself as a woman with
‘traditional’ family values and points out that this is her choice to do all domestic duties
(cleaning, cooking, washings, etc). She does not mind doing that because the main thing for her is that her husband is a wonderful person.
12
Chapter One: ‘WOMEN’S QUESTION’ THROUGHOUT THE
LAST CENTURY OF THE RUSSIAN HISTORY
“The progress of the generations depends upon women. Everything depends upon how women bring up their children...” (A Soviet sociologist10 in Buckley 1986: 17).
Gender perceptions and the range of possible relations between men and women are shaped both by ideologies and policies that a state dictates. Fundamental to these ideologies are ideas about differences or similarities between men and women, for it is that find expression in society and its social policies and cultural practices (Caiazza 2002; Gal and Kligman 2000).
Thinking about the process of identity formation trigged a sudden memory for me. It was an amazing self-reflexion that captured not only the individual specifics of my childhood development but also something more historical - the influence of the state ideology and culture. As a little girl I wanted to be a cosmonaut or a partisan, who would fly into the space, make our people proud by brave achievements, and defend our country from the ‘enemy’. I always would make a joke out of it comparing my memories to childhood memories of other girls, most of whom wanted to be actresses, teachers or doctors [the very female dominated occupations in Russia]. It is only now when I have realised how deep the ideology hides in us. I have come to understanding that Soviet propaganda had a profound influence on me too
- a girl who was born in 1977, when the USSR era had almost come to the end. I had hardly witnessed all that ‘genuine’ Soviet ideology ‘in practice’, yet, my childhood dreams reflect two common tendencies of the Soviet times. The first one is the idea that, as Michael Urban
10 Throughout Chapter one I use parts of interviews with Soviet sociologists conducted by Mary Buckley (1986) to illustrate the gender atmosphere of the Soviet times. These interviews were anonymous, thus, I cannot refer to names of those interviewed by Buckley. 13 put it, the Soviet identity constructs had a notion of defining the world as “we/they”,
“ours/not ours”, when the others were positioned as “enemies” (1996: 141, 142). The second is the domination during that period of propaganda images of women-heroines – bolshevichek, kommunistok [members of the Bolshevik movement, Communist party] as legendary persons. They were set as examples to follow in public, labour, family, and social spheres of the Soviet society (McAndrew 1985; Shabatura 2005).
It is important to understand that the images, identities and lives of women in contemporary
Russia cannot be understood in separation from their Soviet past. In this chapter I explore the ways how women’s identities were constructed in the USSR. It starts with a brief tour through almost one hundred years of Russian history in addressing ‘women’s question’11.
Then, I focus in detail on the state politics towards gender identities of Soviet women; proclamation of equality of women and real position of women in the USSR; and, finally, on gender order and images of women promoted by the Soviet state.
It is possible, and plausible for the purposes of this thesis, to identify four historical periods when ‘women’s question’ received attention from the state and underwent transformation: post-October Revolution Russia (1917 - 1930); the period of Stalin (1930 - 1950s); the
Khrushev-Brezhnev period (1950s – 1980s); collapse of the Soviet Union and perestroika
(1980s - present).
The first period starts with the Great October Revolution of 1917 and goes till the 1930. After the Revolution the main goal of Russian peoples was to overthrow Tsarism and build a socialist society. Women gained the right to vote, to participate equally in paid labour and to
11 To tell the truth, I feel guilty for squeezing a century into several paragraphs, but have no choice but to do so. 14 maternity pay, to live in civil marriage, to divorce and to have an abortion. The legislation of the 1920s on equal rights for women was among the world’s most advanced and revolutionary. After 1928 a great number of women were drawn into the work force, in line with Stalin’s economic plans to turn Russia into a modern industrialised country (Buckley
1986; Johnson 2007; Shabatura 2005; Sperling 1996). In 1919 Zhenotdel (women’s department) was established in order to increase women’s activity and educate women of their newly discovered rights (Sperling 1996; Stites 1978). As it was put by Svetlana
Aivazova12, “The Soviet rule made the business of protecting women’s interests of its own.
Thus, it gave the start for a new phenomenon as ‘state feminism’...” (2001: 45). During this time the works of Alexandra Kollontai had become very popular. She thought of women as active participants of political, economic and social life leaving the secondary position to the roles of mothers and wives. The main role for women by her ideas was to serve the Soviet society and to build socialism/communism (Carleton 2005; Clements 1973; Kon 1995;
Shabatura 2005; Stites 1978).
The second historical period of ‘women’s question’ in the USSR started in 1930 and lasted till the first half of the 1950s. This was the period of Stalin’s regime and was characterised by massive repressions and strong pressure ‘from the above’. It was the period when any new ideas and independent movements were depicted as ‘enemies’ to the Communist rule. Thus, in 1930 Stalin decided that women had been emancipated enough and diminished the
Zhenotdels. Abortions and civil marriages became illegal; possibilities for divorce were limited by legislation. Pro-natal policy was put onto the top of the agenda and motherhood started to be seen both as biological and social function, for which the state became responsible as well (Kon 1995, 73-74; Lapidus 1993). The ‘moral’ image of Soviet people
12 Svetlana Aivazova is one of the most famous feminists in contemporary Russia. She is the author of many books and articles. She is a Senior Researcher, Institute of Comparative Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Political Sciences. 15 became the centre of discussions in mass media paying very little attention to the ‘women’s question’. Orientation on monogamous marriage, family with children, and strict laws on marriage were introduced in order to keep the citizens under the control of the state (Kon
1995; Shabatura 2005, Sperling 1996). This policy was the final break-up with the Marxist ideas of women’s emancipation.
During this period the USSR faced the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) with the tragic loss of 25 million of its citizens, most of whom were men. Women were forced into the front lines of war and civil life. They took leading roles in post-war recovery of the country (Buckley
1986: X). Between 1930 and 1979 women did not organize on an independent basis at all.
The only organisation allowed to exist was the Komitet Sovetskikh Zhenschin (Soviet
Women’s Committee - SWC), which was originally organised in 1941 as an antifascist committee, and then became subordinated to the Communist Party. After the war, the main purpose of the SWC was to showcase successful and professional Soviet women in order to convince the rest of the world that Soviet women live happy and equal lives (Sperling 1996).
The Soviet government declared that the ‘women’s question’ had been solved and pointed to overall employment of women in paid labour, their active participation in cultural, political and social spheres of the Communist state, as evidence of their success (Shabatura 2005)13.
The third period starts with the second half of the 1950s and goes until the first half of the
1980s14. The unequal status of women in the Soviet Union was silenced for almost three decades. It was not until 1956 and Khrushchev’s speech at the Twentieth Party Congress that
13 The Constitution of the USSR of 1936 proclaimed: “In the USSR, for the first time in the history, the goal of the vital historical importance is reached - the true equality of women is ensured in the reality” (Aivazova 2001: 47). 14 Some scholars tend to link the end of the Soviet era to official breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991. I suggest that changes in political and social life appeared several years before the official declaration of the Russian Federation and other countries of the former Soviet Union heritage. For the purposes of this paper I make the division between historical periods in the mid-1980s. 16 concern about the female position in society returned to the Soviet political agenda. During the late 1960s, Brezhnev named the USSR a developed socialist society with existing
‘unsolved’ problems that, by his views, was a norm for such societies. Such ‘unsolved’ problems included ‘women’s question’ (Buckley 1986). But the general tendency to proclaim that ‘women’s question’ had been settled persisted. By the mid-1950s abortion became legal again and state policies on women were focused on advancing women’s situation. Improving economic productivity and labour involvement of women was understood as such an
‘advancement’. Soviet economic development depended heavily on both men and women being involved in labour (Buckley 1986, Mamonova 1989; Sperling 1996).
The state needed women as workers, especially given the colossal losses of the Great
Patriotic War. At the same time, the state started to express worries about the falling birth- rates. These two concerns underlined the main policy of the USSR towards women – a Soviet woman was seen as a worker and as a mother, who was supposed to balance harmoniously between labour and home, public life and childrearing. The discussions of ‘double burden’
[full time paid labour and domestic duties of women] began to appear in mass media. The general tendency of the state’s policy was to rationalise female labour, mechanise domestic work, and create access to public services such as canteens, kindergartens, cleaning and laundry facilities (Buckley 1986, Sperling 1996). Zhensovets (women’s committees - the former zhenotdels) were brought back to life. They were established throughout the USSR as a part of local authorities with the main role of engaging women’s support for Communist
Party policies. They had little to do with increasing the involvement of women in political and economic decision-making (Sperling 1996).
The fourth period of ‘women’s question’ in Russian history comprises the troubled times of
17 the breakdown of the Soviet Union, perestroika and development of the contemporary
Russian Federation. It covers time of the second half of the 1980s and up until present. This period was full of events and policies that turned the country ‘upside-down’. It established new political, social, civil, economic, cultural and identity orders. I deal with this period in more detail in Chapter two.
Uniform Socialist/Communist Gender Identity
“...the statist revolutionary nongendered woman” (Rofel 2007: 82)
Uniform state Marxist-Leninist ideology of the Soviet regime provided people with a sense of security, common purpose and a common Soviet identity. Public and private life in Soviet
Russia was regulated ‘from above’ through the imposed socialist/communist ideologies
(Bonnell 1996; Haavio-Mannila and Rotkirch 1996; Urban 1996). A strong and ideologically centred education raised people as Soviet patriots with respect for order and discipline, who were proud to be citizens of a ‘superpower’, of the largest country in the world, of the holder of the biggest nuclear arsenal (Breslauer 1996; Buckley 1986; Carleton 2005; Jyrkinen-
Pakkasvirta 1996). The Soviet policy had a binary opposition of “we”/“they”, “ours”/“not ours”, “friends/enemies” resulting in the Cold War and persistent rivalry between communist and capitalist ideologies in the international arena (Buckley 1986; Urban 1996). On the domestic level, any liberal notion of freedom of an individual or individuals was seen as potentially destabilising and destructive to the Soviet idea. Any possible power alternatives or ideological influence15 were destroyed during the Stalinist regime, for fear of the potential opportunity to mobilize people around those centres of competing identities, creative ideas
15 Such power alternatives included the Church, trade unions, professional associations and movements, women’s organisations, unions of property owners, wealthy peasants, and many others. 18 and different ideologies (Breslauer 1996). The authorities maintained monopoly and strict control over the forms and expressions of identity of Soviet people (Bonnell 1996; Carleton
2005; Klingman 1996).
Propaganda of Soviet patriotism and discipline
was conveyed through various means –
legislation, mass media, and visual images. For
example through such posters of the Soviet
times that are presented throughout the chapter.
Picture 1.
“DO NOT THROW THE WORDS AROUND! Be on the alert. These days the walls overhear. It is not far from the waffle and gossip TO THE TREASON.”16 (Davno.ru 2008)
The USSR created an unified set of relations between Soviet citizens and the state with an attempt to reconfigure the gender order. Gal and Klingman called it “a single gender regime of state socialism” (2000: 5). A certain socialist/communist gender relationship was promoted through erasing gendered political differences and enacting gender-neutral legislation. The main tool of such policies was universal state employment. Wages, benefits, and career opportunities were designed centrally and regulated by the state. The ideological meaning of work was not rested on the salary, but on the importance of this work for the common good of the Soviet Union (Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta 1996). The Soviet government tried to create total dependency of individuals on the state. In the case of women, the idea of dependency on the
16 All messages and slogans from the posters presented in the thesis were translated by the author. 19 state superseded the traditional idea of dependency on individual men. Thus, on the one hand, the state started to play the role of protector and on the other hand the role of the liberator of women from dependency on men through women’s full-time participation in the labour forces as the basis of women’s emancipation (Gal and Kligman 2000; Róna-Tas 1996; Usha
2005). The irony of such liberation could be found in the fact that women were drawn into the work force not by the ideas of women’s liberation but by the needs of industrialisation
(Shabatura 2005; Voronina 1994).
Picture 2.
“WE SERVE OUR PEOPLE!” (Davno.ru 2008)
Women’s position as workers was a class
position – women belonged to the country and
served its people (Shabatura 2005; Voronina
1994).
20
Equality by the Soviet Rules
“The problem of participation in the labour force is already solved and this is a prerequisite for equality.... ” (A Soviet female sociologist cited in Buckley 1986: 13).
The Great October Revolution of 1917 and policies of the Soviet Union were meant to end discrimination of women and give them equality. Socialism had freed working men and women from the oppression of capitalism. After the revolution the class struggle was over resulting in the full emancipation of women. The argument was that by liberating the working class, women were also necessarily liberated. If the working class was not oppressed, neither were women. Soviet women gained rights to vote, to equal job opportunity and pay, to education and participation in the social and political life of the country (Buckley 1986;
Gorsuch 1996; Johnson 2007; Noonan and Nechemias 2001; Remennick 1999; Schwartz
1979).
Yet, equality has remained a rather elusive slogan. As a participant in Lisa Rofel’s study said17:
“We used to recognize that women’s liberation is the entrance of women into society... This
certainly is a premise of women’s liberation, but... women entering society is not the same as
women’s liberation... The development of the productive forces is not the same as women’s
liberation... ” (Rofel 2007: 71).
One of the women of my study continued this idea:
“My father was a director of a very big company. There were no women at all, even in the
17 Though Rofel’s research was conducted on China, it can also be used to describe the way women felt under the Communist regime in the Soviet Union. 21
middle management positions. The best role for a woman there was to be an accountant! ... If
you recall any big companies or industries, there practically were no women at all! Well, there
were the leaders of production, best employers... I remember all those posters with
women. They were exploited but they could not go further than a certain limit – they should
know their place” (Tamara 2008).
Women’s overall equality was said to be guaranteed by Soviet legislation and the
Constitution. For example, until perestroika there was a women’s quota of 33 percent to be represented in different branches of the Communist Party. But in reality, there were a few women in decision-making positions (Sperling 1996)18. As an illustration to this I am citing
Zoya’s words about the position of women in the USSR:
“... before, all party officials were men, all of them... Women were not accepted into leading
positions at all” (2008).
According to some research (Huland 2001; Usha 2005), most of the female deputies/people’s representatives had no power and played a ‘decorative’ role in order to create a visual proof of equality in the Soviet society. As Larisa put it:
“You work equally with men but everyone who is above you is men... Women, who were at
the helm of decision making, were directed by men... they stood there as puppets” (2008).
Despite proclaimed equality of Soviet citizens, men were still expected to and were in practice main actors at all higher levels of decision-making (Gorsuch 1996; Haavio-Mannila and Rotkirch 1996). Women were horizontally and vertically isolated from equal rights and opportunities. They mostly occupied low-paying and unskilled jobs, often performed heavy labour or worked in unsanitary, polluted and noisy conditions (Buckley 1986; Huland 2001;
18 Statistics of 1966-1967: total population consisted of 45.8% men and 54.2% women; among members of the Communist Party were 79.1% of men and 20.9% of women; among members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party were 97.2% of men and 2.8% of women; in the Politburo and Secretariat of the Party [the top levels of the Party hierarchy] 100% of members were men (Aivazova 2001: 52). 22
Johnson 2007). The labour market was divided between male and female occupations. The terminology ‘women’s work’ was widely used in the Soviet lexicon. Thus, some industrial branches were dominated by women, such as light industry, especially textiles, teaching and medicine (Johnson 2007; Shabatura 2005; Sperling 1996). Common attitudes are contained in this claim of a sociologist: “Certain professions can only be male, such as a pilot and a sailor.
The female organism cannot do certain jobs. There is a definite limit to her abilities. The idea persists that men can do everything, but women cannot” (Buckley 1986: 32).
Lenin [‘the father’ of the Soviet ideology] was a big supporter of women’s liberation from domestic duties and their greater involvement in public and political activities of the state.
But her role was still to be subordinated to men – to be a leader in the role of the ‘helper’ to men-thinkers and revolutionists. He wrote: “In the Soviet Republic political activities are now being open to women-workers. Their main role will be to help a man with her managerial and creative skills” (Shabatura 2005: 49).
Picture 3.
“LONG LIVE EQUAL WOMEN OF THE USSR! Women enjoy the right to vote and to be elected equally to men. Article 137 of the Constitution of the USSR” (Davno.ru 2008)
23
Reflecting on the theme of women’s liberation, Maria says:
“During Soviet times everyone was equalized: all were given shovels, exactly the same
shovels, and were sent to dig... And perhaps, that was a moment when a woman was loaded
with all responsibilities and still carries them on. ... No, they were not equals, because muzhik
[a male] thought of himself that if he is a man – he is the boss and is the best... All were
equalized in terms of loading a woman with lots of responsibilities. She was loaded as a
mule...” (Maria 2008).
The ideas of Soviet leaders influenced perceptions and discourses of the general public. Some common attitudes towards women’s roles in political life can be illustrated by opinions of a
Soviet male sociologist: “...the family role is the main role. In politics women cannot be leaders because inequalities exist. The unique role of women rests in the family because politics and economics can exist without her, but the family cannot...” (Buckley 1986: 33).
A great deal of research focuses on the so called ‘double burden’ experienced by women who were expected to continue taking responsibility for raising children and doing household tasks in addition to working in full-time paid jobs (Buckley 1986; Gorsuch 1996; Schwartz
1979). Some scholars even point out the ‘triple burden’, adding to Soviet women’s responsibilities their compulsory political and public participation (Huland 2001). As
Valentina put it:
“Soviet period was a perversion... equal rights that were supposedly proclaimed by Soviet
regime... When a woman had to sweat by a manufacturing machine, as crazy, then, she had to
work hard at home, again as crazy. If a woman wanted to stay home and be a housewife, to
take care of her husband and children, it would be considered by them as a perversion...”
(2008).
24
In addition to being an equal breadwinner, a Soviet woman was also expected to perform most household and childcare responsibilities (Huland 2001; Remennick 1999). Larisa reflects on gender equality in the USSR:
“In general, women were subordinated, sat at home and went to work, but men had a privilege
to do whatever they wanted... There were no equal rights of women with men... Women had a
role of a service staff, to put it simply, as a servant” (2008).
The primary role for women continued to be seen as that of mothers and wives (Buckley
1986; Schwartz 1979). For example, during the Stalinist era medals for women’s special achievements in motherhood were instituted, such as the Mother Heroine award to women who gave birth to ten children (Johnson 2007).
Soviet Fantasies about Gender Order
“We must maintain the differences between the sexes and keep feminine charm... The masculinisation of women is something negative” (A Soviet male sociologist cited in Buckley 1986: 31, 32)
The socialist/communist regime had in a sense imposed a liberal identity on Soviet women.
As a result, women had little opportunity to define themselves, or their roles in various spheres of life19. The ideologically approved role of women after the Revolution was the role of ‘new woman’ as a worker, who is equal by social status and role in public production with a man. As Vika described it:
“Men and women were presented as sexless creatures, which go to work, start stamping
something... it was a party ideology” (2008).
The Soviet system also favoured women as public activists, who devoted themselves to the
19 See Lisa Rofel (2007) for comparison with China. 25 goals of the Communist Party. The development of the image of the ‘new woman’ was a part of the bigger project of the ‘new Soviet man’. In order to create new identities for the population of the USSR, strong ideology was deployed to shift existing perceptions of gender order and the roles of men and women in public and private life (Shabatura 2005; Voronina
1994).
The state ideology used not only legislation in order to direct women on their way to identity formation. Heavy artillery of ideological constructs was fired through cultural images, mass media and literature. Such magazines appeared on the market of Soviet ideology as
Rabotnitsa [Worker-ness], Batrachka [Day-Labourer-ness], Delegatka [Delegate-ness],
Krestyanka [Peasant-ness], Krasnaya Sibiryachka [Red Siberian]. Linguistically all the names of those magazines were female [in grammatical gender], so it was obvious that they targeted women, moreover, women of different social and public status. All publications were educational and instructive in nature. They recommended models of behaviour, ways of thinking and even suggested topics for discussions. Reading such magazines became one of the main visible manifestations of the ‘new Soviet woman’. It bestowed upon women the image of being ‘ideologically reliable’ (McAndrew 1985; Shabatura 2005; Stites 1978;
Zakharov 2005).
Visualisation of Soviet ideology through political advertisements was a dominant strategy for interpreting and promoting new socialist/communist ideas. The ‘poster’ was the visual tool, most commonly considered especially effective for educating the public. Even those who were illiterate were able to read visual images, which promoted main messages of the state’s ideology. The posters conveyed the principal components of the Soviet ideas - collectivism, equality, public activity, the union of peoples of the USSR, the collaboration of workers and
26 peasants (Shabatura 2005).
Women’s emancipation and equality was embodied through images of women wearing hardhats, driving tractors, and working in factories. Occupational achievements of female pilots, directors and diplomats were also promoted (Johnson 2007; Remennick 1999;
Schwartz 1979).
Picture 4.
“LONG LIVE THE FIRST WOMAN - ASTRONAUT!” (Sovietposters.ru 2008)
Valentina Tereshkova is shown on this poster. She was the first woman-astronaut in the world. She was also the chairperson of the Soviet Women’s Committee.
The tendency to represent women in the role of ‘helper’ was widespread in posters. Often in the Soviet posters women would be a part of the building of collective communist future, for example, participating in a demonstration, where she was shown in a secondary role – a man is carrying a flag and a woman walks by that man (Shabatura 2005).
Another notion of this creative Soviet ideology was to show women as ‘men in skirts’.
Women were painted/drawn as physically similar to men in figure, complexion and clothes.
Women on the posters usually wore colourless clothes [black or grey suits], wore no make- up, and were not smiling. Women could be differentiated from men by hair cuts, head- scarves or skirts (Remennick 1999; Shabatura 2005).
27
During Stalin’s rule, ideologists realised that emancipated women might become a serious political power to voice specific women’s interests and rights. This realisation prompted to slow down the promotion of the ‘new woman’ and the common stereotype of a Soviet woman as a worker and activist, was augmented by the role of a successful mother. This new image was widely promoted through the communist press (Shabatura 2005; Zakharov 2005), and attempts to transgress or transcend those prescribed roles were dealt with harshly. For example, in 1979 a group of women from Leningrad founded an independent journal Woman and Russia, in which they tried to raise issues of discrimination against women in employment, politics, and family life; poor conditions at maternity hospitals and the lack of contraception for Soviet women. Such an experiment did not go unnoticed by the KGB. The journal was closed and its founders were exiled from the Soviet Union (Mamonova 1989,
1994; Sperling 1996; Zakharov 2005).
Thus, Soviet times contained a host of contradictory attitudes towards women. On the one hand, women were demanded to be workers, activists of communist ideology and examples of high achievements in building the common good of the USSR. On the other hand, they were urged to remain subordinate to men and focus on being successful mothers and wives.
Rita remembers these times in this way:
“There was a stereotype that you have to stay home during weekends, cook food, raise
children, do washing and clean the house, but also you have to earn money” (2008).
‘Proper’ roles for women and the ‘natural/biological’ difference between men and women were voiced in mass media (Gray 1990; Mamonova 1989). Equality before the law was distinguished from the general notions of civil equality, allowing for the attribution of special characteristics to each sex. Women’s special function of childbirth became the key
28 legitimating of the impossibility of gender equality (Buckley 1986; Gray 1990; Johnson
2007)20.
Picture 5.
“REARING [cultivating] FOR HAPPINESS AND PEACE!” (1953) (Sovietposters.ru 2008)21
The two key roles for Soviet women, as workers and mothers, were not separate. They were considered complementary. A mother would gain more respect from members of her family if she was involved in the labour force (Buckley 1986; Lapidus 1993).
“- Who, in your opinion, is or was a good example of a socialist woman?
- Tereshkova has achieved politically what men have achieved. But it is hard for me to put her
20 Some studies show that in the 1970s the ideas that pregnancy and child birth were essential for a woman’s organism; that women looked younger, were healthier and more energetic if they had children; that a woman was successful and lived life more fully if she had given a birth. It has been promoted that women can be fully integrated into the Soviet society if they were married and had children (Johnson 2007).
21 This poster shows the image of a Soviet woman as a harmonious combination of a mother and a worker. To rear and to cultivate has the same linguistic meaning and is one word for both meanings in Russian. Thus, linguistically and with the support of visual images of a child and a field of wheat, it was underlined that woman’s role was to be a mother and a worker.
29
name forward as a good example of a socialist woman because I have no idea what her private
family life is like” (Buckley 1986: 33).
The cited above opinion of a Soviet sociologist provides a clear illustration of dualist expectations from women in the Soviet Union. Soviet men did not face such requirements. I cannot imagine hearing: “We cannot be sure if he is an example of a great Soviet person because we are not sure about his family life...” as a comment, for example, in a description of Yuri Gagarin, who was the first ever male astronaut. By making public his flight to the space, presenting his successes, the Soviet Union gained additional super-power as a nation that explored space. And no one expected him to prove that he was also excellent in his family life.
As it was shown in Chapter one, the state ideology and power was used by the Communist party to control gender identities and gender roles of the Soviet people. Thus, the Soviet
Union created the world known image for Soviet women as equal citizens of the social society. Unfortunately, despite changes in law and widespread visual images of brave and strong Soviet women, who were able to enjoy their equality in Soviet Russia, traditional gender roles have remained largely unchanged. Even as workers and active builders of the
‘communist future’, women were often viewed primarily as agents of human reproduction while men were expected to be the main decision-makers and agents of political power
(Chaterjee 2002; Gorsuch 1996; Haavio-Mannila and Rotkirch 1996; Mamonova 1989;
Buckley 1986).
30
Chapter Two: PERESTROIKA, GLASNOST AND OPPORTUNITIES WITH GENDER SPECIFICS. FROM SPACE FLIGHTS TO BEAUTY SHOWS
“Nowadays there are much more opportunities. I think that if a person wants to reach a goal, it does not matter if you are a man or a woman, it could be done. There are such opportunities now” (Tamara 2008).
Perestroika is characterised by a public language of opportunities. This is reflected in some of the common comments that the women made during my research. They think that after the breakdown of the Soviet Union, the situation in Russia has become better and provided greater opportunities for women. In this chapter I explore the types of opportunities and their gender specificity that appeared for women during perestroika and period of transformation in the Russian Federation. The analysis focuses on several spheres where some of these opportunities might be found for women: politics and Russian contemporary policies towards women; women’s employment and career prospects; gender roles in modern Russia, attitudes of the society towards women and their roles in public and private spheres. It is important to understand that all these factors have their impact on gender identities and perceptions of
‘being a woman’ in Russia.
After the launch of perestroika, gender issues have emerged and became discussed in Russian society. On the one hand, it is true because topics of motherhood, family life, sexual culture, and beauty contests are very popular in Russia. For example, the year 2008 is called “The
Year of the Family in the Russian Federation”. This initiative took its start under the ex-
President Vladimir Putin and was continued by the current Russian President Dmitriy
Medvedev (Kremlin.ru 2007; Vladimirov 2007). Such actions are often met with irony. For instance, Dasha (2008) made a comment about Russian politics in the sphere of family issues.
31
“On the state level there are no clear policies about family nowadays. All that is happening is
mostly connected to demographic problems, that there are more people dying than are being
born. And they suddenly remembered about the family...” (Dasha 2008).
For Yevgenia current family policies of Russian government are not only a way of stimulating birth rates, but also an easier way for the government to deal with economic problems:
“It was cultivated for ages that a family is the main cell of the society. Individual people do
not exist for our state. The state looks for ways to economize. If people are organised as
families, it is easier for the state to deal with problems and save on expenses” (2008).
On the other hand, true ‘gender’ and ‘women’s issues’ still remain invisible. This includes22 sexual and domestic violence, discrimination at work place, sexual harassment, lack of sexual education, lack of women in politics, ‘double burden’, and so on. Perestroika failed to meet various hopes for changes that women held. The ideas of democratisation and transformation have not been extended to challenge the male power and gender hierarchy in Russia (Haavio-
Mannila and Rotkirch 1996; Lipovskaia 1992). “These days beauty shows have become the new image of Russia, not the space flights of Valentina Tereshkova or Svetlana Savitskaya...”
(Mamonova 1994: 162).
Pictures 6 and 7: Beauty contest “Miss Russia 2007” (MissRussia.ru 2008)
22 but not limited to this list. 32
It should be admitted that in spite of all difficulties and sexist attitudes towards women, new opportunities were opened for women in Russia. For instance, women were allowed to work abroad as journalists and form associations. They were allowed to participate in women’s movement and collaborate with international organisations. After the breakdown of the
Soviet Union a large number of women’s organisations appeared on the public arena. A few were feminist organisation, most of them were of social goals, tackling such problems as women’s health, prevention of violence, helping unemployed women and so on (Hemment
2007; Johnson 2004; Lapidus 1993; Mamonova 1994; Noonan and Nechemias 2001).
Opportunities Through Political and Public Prisms
After the end of the USSR, it was common to claim the equality of the sexes. On the one hand, there was an emphasis on women being in the workforce and, on the other hand, there were openly sexist talks about new opportunities that encouraged women to stay or return home (Klimenkova 1996; Posadskaya 1993; Rimashevskaia 1992; Sperling 1996). The importance of ‘natural’ functions of women [like motherhood and bringing up children] was brought back to the attention by Gorbachev and picked up by conservative parties, organisations, writers and Russian Orthodox Church who lauded ‘lets-send-women-home’ slogans (Aivazova 2001; Johnson 2007; Kuehnast and Nechemias 2004; Klimenkova 1996;
Lipovskaia 1992; Lissyutkina 1999). Such attitudes, along with socio-cultural grounds, were tied closely to economic processes. For example, in the middle of the economic crisis and mass unemployment the Russian Minister of Labour said at a press conference: “Why do we have to give work to women when there are men unemployed?” (Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta 1996:
7). Some widespread attitudes towards current politics of the Russian state on ‘women’s question’ are reflected in words of Larisa and Dasha:
33
“The state level... we are turned into, not even turned into... we have always been considered
in our Russian state that we would become mothers and wives with cooking pots...” (Larisa
2008).
“Someone should feed the pensioners, pay taxes and work; there should be enough of work
force and therefore there should be reproduction. The state calculates all of that and tells us:
‘Give birth, ladies!’” (Dasha 2008).
Personal attitudes of politicians also reflect and affect public perceptions about women.
“Never, I am boss!” was the response of Boris Yeltsin to a question about whether he discusses some issues with his wife Naina (Mamonova 1994, xiv). Sexist attitudes of main
Russian politicians were noticed by women during interviews:
“Today there is a cult of Russian presidents. They are heroes... athletic. At least Putin’s wife
was shown sometimes on TV, but Medvedev’s wife is not mentioned anywhere at all”
(Yevgenia 2008).
Pictures 8, 9, 10: Vladimir Putin, the ex-President of the Russian Federation, current Prime- Minister of Russia (TIME 2007)23
23 Such images promote Russian leaders as strong and powerful ‘real men’ [promoting hegemonic masculinity]. In contrast images of women (pictures 6,7) present women as beautiful objects to be looked at. 34
“Perhaps, because of Putin there is such an attitude to women. As I understand, in his family
is not everything well, because they did not show his wife anywhere. Possibly that is why
women’s issues were never discussed by the government... Everyone’s opinions derive from
the family” (Dasha 2008).
The strong divide between social and political spheres, where social is considered to be female/feminine and political to be male/masculine activities, has been borrowed from the
Soviet past (Aivazova 2001; Mamonova 1994)24. Despite the fact that there are many active and successful women in social movements, human rights NGOs and women’s organisations, there are only a few successful women [with all respect to their achievements] in politics and business. Such occupation of social sphere by women could be explained in terms of gender hierarchy: women-activists continue to perform ‘mothering’ and caring functions for those in need and trouble through public activities (Hemment 2007; Levinson 2000; Popkova 2004;
Salmenniemi 2005).
At the beginning of 1990s it was a usual thing to hear that politics was not a ‘women’s business’ on radio or TV programs. This is how women in my study reacted on the discriminative opinions of Russian politicians:
“These words are said by men who are afraid of clever, successful, and active women. In
general, they are afraid that women would overcome that man’s line and will take over their
positions” (Tamara 2008).
“The Soviet Union was based on the authoritarian principles... The one, who was stronger,
24 In 2003-2004 elections of the governor of St. Petersburg one of the candidates used a sexist slogan “Governor is a male job” for his campaign (UN Gender Theme Group in the Russian Federation 2005: 37). Today the situation has changed completely for St. Petersburg. One of the successful women politicians Valentina Matvienko is now the Governor of the city.
35
ruled the others. Possibly men were stronger, so women took the secondary position, sort of
voluntarily, saying: “Yes, yes, just don’t hit.” I believe that everything in Russia is still built
on the same authoritarian principles... Take a look at how many women were at the top level.
All high and responsible positions are occupied by men. This is a sign that a woman is
considered as something worse then a man, that a woman is dumber than a man” (Rita 2008).
“There are only men in politics. This is just the way it is. Women were not allowed there for a
long time because all women are ‘chickens’25 – stupid. No one says it exactly that way, but it
is in the air” (Maria 2008).
Another set of sexist attitudes towards women is expressed through views about feminism, feminists and women’s movement. In 1993 one of the members of Russian government said that “we should fight against some public movements like fascism, feminism...” In his speech, feminism was compared to fascism, as something to be afraid of, and to fight against
(Klimenkova 1996: Ch.226). Possibly, it was said because the politician did not know much about feminism, or maybe because feminism, indeed, represented some real danger to existing distribution of gender power27.
25 Maria refers to a common Russian saying “A chicken is not a bird; a woman is not a man/human”. 26 A book A Woman as a Phenomenon of Culture: A Glance from Russia by Tatiana Klimenkova (1996) was accessed on-line. Due to this fact it is impossible to refer to exact page number of the material (see References). 27 Indeed, there are highly negative attitudes towards feminism among politicians and Russian population in general. Some scholars link these viewpoints to the Soviet past: women’s liberation and emancipation according Party ideology was based on overall employment of women. It lead to understanding equality as exploitation and created pseudo-emancipation. This created feelings of hostility and rejection of feminism. Women got tired of being exploited and do not want to be associated with feminism (Hemment 2007; Lipovskaya 1992; Lissyutikina 1999; Mamonova 1994). Today along with state political enmity against West and Western NGOs [as well as Russian NGOs] there is a strong negativity towards feminism as Western concept (Hemment 2007). Despite that, some scholars point at the long history of Russian feminism (Aivazova 2001; Kon 1995; Stites 1978; Vowles 1993).
36
Opportunities Through Employment, Career and Business Prisms
Economists, politicians, scientists talk about feminisation of poverty, and while perestroika was not merciful to all Russian population and many people lost their jobs, women were struck more heavily than men. During several economic crises of this period industries where mostly women were involved were hit hardest, leaving thousands of women to look for new opportunities for survival (Lapidus 1993; Mamonova 1994; Sperling 1996)28. Being put in such a situation, women became the less demanding labour force. Women agreed to take jobs that men did not want to take: with lower wages, dangerous conditions, delays in pay, not corresponding to their education and training (Domanov 1999; Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta 1996;
Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta and Poretzkina 1999; Mamonova 1994). Marina talked about women being pushed to the low-skilled and low paid jobs after the perestroika. Some ‘forcibly – voluntarily’29 have chosen to stay at homes because they could not find a good job that matched their qualifications. This was a compulsory decision but was made to appear as voluntary.
“You will work, if you have such an opportunity. Unfortunately, nowadays girls with higher
degrees in engineering, chemistry or biology start working as a sales person in any place they
can only find...” (Marina 2008).
In some scholar’s opinions, Russian women got accustomed to bad treatment within a patriarchal society. They have learned it under the communist rule and now take it as a norm, thus, accepting unskilled jobs, being exploited at work, having low wages is a ‘normal’ tendency among Russian women. Reflecting the reality of the situation, they think of men
28 The World Bank reported an increase of the share of women among the poor in 2000 (UN Gender Theme Group in the Russian Federation 2005: 22). 29 ‘Dobrovol’no-prinuditel’no’ [‘forcibly-voluntarily’] is one of popular sayings among Russians. It reflects the situation of the Soviet regime when restrictions were put on the people ‘from the above’ with a general ‘message’ that these restrictions were norms to follow as ‘natural’ order of the things and, thus, they should be performed by people voluntarily. This saying was used by several interviewed women in the relation to gender order and gender identities construction in Russia. 37
[and men think of themselves], as of privileged members of the society, allowing them to occupy well paid jobs and freeing them from all domestic responsibilities (Gray 1990;
Lipovskaia 1992; Mamonova 1994). Vika (2008) voiced her concern about discriminative attitudes of men towards women in Russia.
“Majority of men in Russia are brought up with slighting attitudes towards women. For
example, I used to argue with my step-father because during discussion he would say:
“Molchi, zhenschina!”30 He meant that a woman does not understand the matter of discussion
and knows nothing - the attitude that a woman is lower than him, the second sort” (Vika
2008).
A woman’s job choices are often influenced by the needs of her family. For example, women often choose to work as a carer or a teacher in a kindergarten, if they have small kids, because this would give them an opportunity to keep their children in a kindergarten. Such a sacrifice on behalf of women in their career or education is a common practice. But it is usually is not a rule among men (Domanov 1999; Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta and Poretzkina 1999; Lapidus
1993).
In theory, women have the equal rights with men, they are guaranteed by the Russian
Constitution and laws. In reality, a positive-discriminative labour legislation concerning women’s employment, maternity leaves and benefits, makes women the less favourable workforce. The legislation that was meant for protection of women, in reality put an additional obstacle on women (Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta and Poretzkina 1999; Mamonova 1994;
Posadskaya 1993). This is how Zoya evaluated women’s chances for employment in Russia:
“Most CEOs are men, and they, as men, choose men into their team.... because a woman can
30 “Molchi, zhenschina!” means “A woman, keep silent [read shut up]!” 38
have a child, then, have another child, then, one more... Bosses want to have an employer at
work, but not on a maternity leave...” (Zoya 2008).
The same opinion was expressed by Dasha:
“A man has more chances. Any director will choose a man because a woman will have a
family. This would mean a maternity leave, sick leaves when a kid gets sick, because women
do the most care for their children” (Dasha 2008).
Nina shared with her experience when she was not accepted for a job because she was a female and she was openly told so, though the legislation prohibits such practices:
“I remember how after graduating from the university I tried to find a job. Everything seemed
to be perfect – the Red Diploma [with high honours], a young specialist full of ideas and
energy for work. But I was told: “No, we are not taking a girl – she will have children, take a
maternity leave... No, only boys”... I was refused only because I was a girl...” (Nina 2008)
Many scholars point out that job advertisements openly demonstrate discrimination on the basis of sex and age. Such advertisements not only ask for a certain sex of a potential employer, but also list a number of requirements for women to be accepted to a job. Such requirements may include the qualities as being slim, young, attractive and not married
(Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta and Poretzkina 1999; Klimenkova 2001; Mamonova 1994; Sperling
1996)31. A half of the interviewed women confessed that they had experienced gender discrimination while trying to find a job. For example Marina said:
“Firstly, somehow there is an age limit for all jobs. Secondly, they pay attention to how you
look... not on the experience... well, it is a long way for women to scramble out of this trap...”
31 A research (1998-2001) demonstrated that up to 30% of advertised vacancies were not gender neutral. Despite the fact that Russian legislation forbids gender discrimination in employment, in 2001-2005 this number increased by 40% (UN Gender Theme Group in the Russian Federation 2005: 18). 39
(2008)
Larisa also had an experience of her own:
“When I was looking for a job, I was told: “If you were a man, you would suit us.” I asked
what difference it would make, because my education and work experience suited them. And I
heard back: “No, we need a man for this position”... Look at the labour market! What types of
vacancies are available for men and for women: “Yes, you work equally with men, but they
would pay men more”...” (Larisa 2008)
All women, except one, thought that in spite of the rhetoric of more opportunities, and greater choice in labour, it is much easier for a man than for a woman to pursue a career, find a job and be successful at work nowadays.
“It is much harder for a woman to reach a good position. She has to put much more effort in
it, to prove that she is the best, that she is smarter. For a man it would be rather easy. He has
to be a ‘man’ and have a degree, and even sometimes no degree, just his will to pursue career”
(Yevgenia 2008).
“In our company it [sex] does not make any difference to be accepted for a job. If we look on
gender distribution of those whom we hire, there is no discrimination. I would say that more
girls are being accepted for positions because they are more successful and know a foreign
language better. But if we talk about the development of the career... I talked with my boss
about my intention to apply for a higher position. He answered: “It is a ‘boys club’.” He said
that I could try to knock at that door... A girl can reach a middle management position, but to
go higher... There is so called ‘glass ceiling’ above which you will not be allowed” (Tamara
2008).
Only a Muscovite Maria believes that gender discrimination at work was true for the Soviet times. She thinks that sex nowadays does not matter for finding jobs or for a career growth:
40
“I think that now we have more opportunities for implementing our dreams and desires. If I
want to develop my career – why not?” (Maria 2008).
There are a few successful women in business. It is noted that after the breakdown of the
USSR, most of the leading positions were occupied by men. This gave them certain privileges over women to start their own business. Moreover, the language of Russian business is absolutely masculinist, patriarchal and sexist. It promotes and supports interests of men (Aivazova 2001; Klimenkova 1996). Yulia and Valentina shared with their experiences of running their own business:
“When we were trying to open our business, we were 24 then. We had to go through all of it...
when a landlord treated us as absolutely ‘nobody’... They also looked at our age and looked at
us as women. Men look at you and use you for their purposes – they want to party with you,
they want to chill out with you... It suits them because there is a consumerist attitude – to have
fun... They would say: “It is not your business, don’t put you nose into this matter....” (Yulia
2008).
“We have always had a male country. If we take our city, as an example, not a single woman
became rich and entered business if she did not have a sponsor or a lover. I am the only one...
To make a way into big business is totally impossible. Men simply do not let women there.
Why? Because they have disregarding attitudes towards women. A woman for them is just a
decoration...” (Valentina 2008).
41
Opportunities in Gender Roles in Contemporary Russian Society
In today’s Russia women are required to be twice as professional as men: at work and at home. After full time employment outside home, they face another hours of domestic duties.
This ‘double burden’ was inherited from the Soviet times. Women continued to be expected to work and at the same time to be responsible for housekeeping, raising children, supporting positive psychological climate in the family (Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta and Poretzkina 1999;
Klingman 1996; Sperling 1996)32. There is a common belief that it is women’s job to be a
‘keeper of the family hearth’. This opinion is reflected in Zoya’s and Yulia’s comments.
“It is not men’s business to keep the comfort at home, he has to provide financially... In
Russia, and maybe around the world, it is the rule that women are ‘keepers of home hearth’,
and because she is a keeper, all house duties lie on her. I took after my parents. My mother
was a keeper of the family hearth. ... If all domestic chores would be put on a man? Perhaps, I
would not respect that man [laughing]. Why this man is needed then? He has to be a provider.
...” (Zoya 2008).
“What a woman should do is household duties... A man should bear the main financial
responsibility and a woman should help him, be a spiritual support to him” (Yulia 2008).
Russian feminist scholar Klimenkova (1996) points out that discussion around certain
‘matriarchy’ at home and women’s power over their families do not represent the reality of women’s status at home. In real life work done by women at home is unpaid and is not respected in the same way as paid labour. It is taken for granted and puts additional pressure on Russian women. For example, Larisa shared with her view on women’s situation in the
32 In the report “Gender Equality and Extension of Women Rights in Russia in the Context of UN the Millennium Development Goals” a study (1994-1998) about time distribution was mentioned, which concluded that “women weekly spend on the average 30.3 hours on household chores, men – 14.0 hours” (UN Gender Theme Group in the Russian Federation 2005: 20). 42 family:
“A woman is a workhorse, on whom there is a big responsibility for the family... A woman is
[described by a saying] “I am both a horse and an ox; I am both a woman and a man.” It
comes from Soviet times when women used to carry sacks along with men” (Larisa 2008).
Dasha also admits that the main burden of household duties is placed on women:
“A woman is ubiquitous. She has to do this and that, she has to find time to do everything
around the house, and she has to find time for everything. At the same time she has to look
good, have shining eyes and be happy... This is a forced situation, voluntarily-forced. It seems
that no one pushes you, but you can not do without it” (Dasha 2008).
Moreover, such overload with work and responsibilities wears women out (Gray 1990;
Haavio-Mannila and Rotkirch 1996). In the interview Maria confessed that she feels tired from over-responsibility and duties that she carries:
“You know, unfortunately, I can not always be her [a woman], because ... I load myself with
lots of responsibilities: the burden of family relationships, responsibility in personal relations,
housekeeping, and earning money, because my husband did not have luck with work for a
long time. It looks like I carry everything myself. Sometimes I wish I could relax, don’t think
about anything, so someone else would think and do it for me. Probably this situation lasts so
long that some tiredness has been accumulated” (Maria 2008).
‘Double burden’ along with difficulties in economic and social lives of women make women question the need of a man for their families and their personal lives. Such patriarchal gender order hurt not only women, but men too (Aivazova 2001; Klimenkova 2001; Levinson 2000).
Reflecting on these burdens before leaving Russia, Vika says:
“I think that a woman does everything today. Maybe I am wrong... but with such degradation
in our society, with degradation of men, their lack of responsibility and alcoholism... A
43
woman was forcefully loaded with everything... While I was in Russia, I used to think a lot:
“Why do I need him [a man], if I do everything?!”... Really, in Russia he is practically not
needed, especially if he is an alcoholic, you work, earn money and at the same time do the
washing for him. Why do you need him? Why?” (Vika 2008).
In this chapter I have highlighted some of the existing practices in politics, business, employment and social sphere that influence on the construction of gender identities in contemporary Russia. As it was shown by experiences of women, who participated in my study, these practices often take forms of gender discrimination. A narrative that addresses the same kinds of sexist practices is created by feminists who argue that discriminative patriarchal everyday practices and attitudes towards women as ‘others’ or ‘defective’ force women to follow prescribed traditional gender roles and identities in order to meet certain expectations of men and the society. This leads to a feeling of pseudo-emancipation and pseudo-free will to choose gender identities (De Beauvoir 1949; Klimenkova 1996; Rinehart
1992). Very often this situation creates a wall of silence around the issues of discrimination against women in Russia. Russian people, including women, try to pretend that this discrimination does not exist. It seems that they are being afraid that their secret will be discovered and women will find themselves out of the comfort zone of thinking that they are equals with men and have a rather high status in the society (Aivazova 2001; Klimenkova
1996; Popkova 2004). Further discussion of the ways, in which gender identities of Russian women are being constructed, I continue in Chapter three. In the next section I shift the focus from politics and economics to representations of gender and attitudes towards women in mass media, family and personal life.
44
Chapter Three: PERESTROIKA, GLASNOST AND FREEDOM IN
GENDER SOUCE
“It is a crazy propaganda of this style of life... Money have absorbed everything – dignity, mind, intellect - everything” (Valentina 2008).
A sense of freedom came along with perestroika and glasnost. People became free of the old communist regime; they started to enjoy freedom of speech, sexual freedom, freedom of movement and lots of other freedoms, of which Russian people were denied for decades. But this sense and understanding of freedom has to be understood in the Russian social context. It created chaos and denial of everything ‘old’, connected to the Soviet times. The search for new ideas, ideals, and freedoms went to some extremes. Another set of freedoms and opportunities for women was voiced through the opened borders. This allowed globalisation processes to extend in political, economic, cultural and social layers of Russia. Some argue that Western influence also had its impact on the creation of a new psychology of the state. A denial of old morals and ethics of collective devotion to building the bright Soviet future occupied Russian people’s minds. New politics and principles of open market, democratization and consumerism claimed the top of priorities. Managerial rules of business spread to new areas – science, social welfare, public institutions, and culture. Money has become the highest value of today’s life. Freedom started to be interpreted as a lack of restraint. This created substitution of values and promoted the same patriarchal cultural regime that was engaged by the Soviet Union (Gray 1990; Klimenkova 1996; 2001; Kon
1995; Lissyutkina 1999; Mamonova 1994). In the third chapter I argue that change of ideological regimes from socialist/communist to modern/Russian and globalisation in complex with Soviet past had their impacts on gender identities of Russian women. The influence was felt through mass media, public attitudes, state policies and personal opinions.
Despite of boundaries of ‘traditionalism’ in contemporary Russia, modern women learn to 45 manipulate with these ‘traditional’ gender images and roles in their public and private life.
The Wind from the West, Globalisation, and Freedom
New terminology, borrowed from West started to occupy everyday language of ordinary people: instead of Russian ‘Privet!’ now people use ‘Hi!’, instead of ‘uvazhau’ young people often use ‘respect’; and instead of Russian ‘Oi!’ or ‘Ogo!’ even little kids know how to say
‘Wow!’ nowadays. As Klimenkova puts it, modernism and its cultural values took over the socialist ideology and, therefore, modernism is in a way to blame for ‘moral degradation’ of the nation during and after perestroika. She calls the situation in Russia a “postmodernist performance” (Klimenkova 1996: Ch.2). It is argued that after the end of the Cold War and ideological isolation, and opening Russian borders, Western images and global economic institutions played a big role in shaping Russia’s past and present situation in political, social and cultural spaces, as well as influenced gender relationships and perceptions (Gal and
Kligman 2000). Transformations of perestroika left Russian population confused and created contradictory attitudes. On the one hand, people expressed a sense of nostalgia for the Soviet past, with its high collective moral standards; and a sense of frustration about current politics and continuous crises.
“During past fifteen years behaviour of a Russian has degraded. We cannot talk about love,
respect and help to a close one any more... This perestroika threw women out and left them to
scramble out on their own. For this period of time we could think of nothing but how to feed
ourselves and survive... Before, a woman felt secure and was sure that she would have a job
and her children would have a place to live in. Unfortunately, now this belief is lost” (Marina
2008).
46
“I think that nowadays there is genocide of Russian people. All those policies that, as they
say, are devoted to families and women are a total delusion and fiction. I think that there is a
purposeful conversion of clever and intelligent nation into a non-educated and obeying mass
of people, who would drink vodka and follow the orders. Thus, it is the same about women.
They say nice words – help to women, money for childbearing, but in practice nothing is
implemented” (Tamara 2008).
On the other hand, perestroika gave Russian women a feeling of having more opportunities and freedom. It created a hope for the best. More then half of the women, who participated in my research, are convinced that life for women in contemporary Russia has become “better”,
“easier”, “a lot better”. No one believes that there could be a turn back in political regimes.
“It has, indeed, become better for living, better in material terms and not that dangerous. But
the question is: has it become better because it could not go any worse? ... I think that life has
improved because West is open to us and people want to live like in developed countries.
Russia has become part of the global civilized society and a lot of influence comes from
there... and plus oil is getting more expensive (laughs) that makes life in Russia better” (Rita
2008).
Globalisation and gender are interconnected (Bergeron 2001; Marchand and Runyan 2000).
This interaction between gender and globalisation creates a struggle between different gendered interests and shifts social constructions of masculinity and femininity. Such constructs operate at the levels of ideology, social relationships, and physical images of male and female bodies (Eschle 2004; Hooper 2001; Marchand and Runyan 2000). Marchand and
Runyan argue that globalisation and gendered identities have mutual influence on each other.
On the one hand, the processes of globalisation are being fed by the existing gender images and discourses, which are considered as natural, acceptable and customary. On the other
47 hand, globalisation through shifting meanings of ‘local-global’ and ‘private -public’, brings transformations of gender constructs, and restructures boundaries between perceptions of femininity and masculinity (2000).
It is argued that the gendered character of globalisation can be recognised in the general language of globalisation discourse. Globalisation operates through gendered metaphors and symbols, which represent, construct and sustain masculinist approaches to globalisation. This naturalises gender hierarchies between men and women (Eschle 2004). It is also pointed out that the language of globalisation is full of sexualised expressions, metaphors and meanings.
It has ‘irresistible’ masculinist force, that once it is set as masculinist, it becomes irresistible and normalized (Bergeron 2001; Hooper 2001; Marchand and Runyan 2000).
In Russia gender identities, language and globalisation are inter-connected by the sense of freedom. This dish of freedom is simply cooked with the feeling that people can say anything, anywhere, spiced with a feeling of being free to talk about sex and women with no limits. I conducted a little experiment in search for a proof for these ideas. I spent six hours listening to Russkoe Radio [‘Russian Radio’], one of the most popular among Russians radio stations.
What struck me the most was the prevalence of three types of jokes – openly sexist towards women; about sex/sexy/erotized; and about Russian problem of alcoholism. Also there was the same gender discriminative tendency in various advertisements of goods, TV-programs, etc. Below some of the jokes are given as an example33.
“A wife is a happiness that with age becomes b-i-i-i-g [read: fat]!” (Russkoe Radio 2008).
33 For more details see Appendix 3.
48
“I want for a dobrii molodets [a young guy = kind, good] to burst into my bedroom and act as
a zloi [angry, bad – as on opposition to kind]” (Russkoe Radio 2008).
“I have begotten a daughter... In short, I do not see any reason for building the house and
planting a tree...” [This joke refers to a common saying that “A man during his lifetime should
beget a son, build a house and plant a tree”] (Russkoe Radio 2008).
An advertisement of a new TV-series starts: “Alla has breasts of size four and blue eyes,
Sveta has good grades and a ponytail...” or another advertisement of some facial gel that used sexualised language: “To be a grey mouse or to be charming and seductive...” (Russkoe
Radio 2008). Widespread discriminative jokes, stories, fairy-tales, and attitudes in Russian culture are also described in a number of works as a practice of contemporary society (Kelly
1993; Kirilina and Tomskaya 2005; Klimenkova 1996; Kon 1995; Lissyutkina 1999;
Mamonova 1994; Savkina 2005) 34.
Freedom of Gendered Images in Mass Culture
When the Soviet era was over, a strong stream of sex, erotica and porno-information washed away ‘old’ images of middle-aged Soviet women activists. New popular images of women as young and beautiful sex-objects covered magazines, newspapers, and screens. Women’s bodies were placed everywhere from plastic bags, tire ads, and posters to cards and towels.
Women started to be presented through masculinist views and heterosexual erotic images were promoted for male audiences (Costlow, Sandler, and Vowles 1993; Lipovskaia 1992;
Uljura 2007; Zakharov 2005). A woman’s body became a “commodity” (Posadskaya 1993:
164). As it is shown on the pictures 11 and 12 below, the use of the naked female body
34 For more details see Appendix 4.
49 became a very common tendency in advertisement industry from erotic pictures on billboards to naked ‘live ads’.
Picture 11
“These are MUSEs [music] of MAXIMUM” (www.adme.ru 2008)35.
Picture 12
“You can call FOR FREE to any country in the world” (www.adme.ru 2008).
An advertisement of a Russian mobile company is presented on the picture 12. Woman’s body is used as a display for services that the company has to offer. Such types of advertisements, in my opinion, promote comodification of female bodies and the idea that one [a man] can have these bodies for free.
This is how Vika reacted on the images of women promoted by mass media and in various advertisements:
35 This is the new face of another popular Russian radio station Maximum.
50
“This is just killing me! A woman is naked or half-dressed everywhere. Everywhere! I name it
as disrespect for a woman. It promotes sex and presents women as goods. Outrageous! The
main message of it, as one man told me back in Russia: “A place for a woman is in bed and in
the kitchen.” I think that mass media support these attitudes” (Vika 2008).
Verbalized and visualized sexuality and sex have become a part of newly gained freedom of speech in the 1990s (Uljura 2007). Some spoke of the “eroticization of the entire country”
(Costlow, Sandler, and Vowles 1993: 27) and the beginning of the sex revolution in Russia
(Kon 1995; Lissyutkina 1999). After being over-fed with porno images, the Russian population seems to have lost some interest in looking at naked women’s bodies and sexual acts. The process of ‘sex-info-chaos’ has slowed down, though it has not removed women’s bodies from mass media and advertisements. As one woman noticed:
“Unfortunately, by looking at those glossy magazines, one might think that we do not need to
work. That all we need is to go into prostitution and put a bikini on... Our generation sees low
morality in it. Just open any magazine or newspaper – sex, sex, sex...” (Marina 2008).
Mass media has always played a crucial role in the process of shaping gender images, public attitudes and in creating information space. During the Soviet times mass media were mostly used by the state to control ideology in the country. Nowadays they are mostly used to regulate perceptions, thoughts and emotions of population. Mass media is a powerful tool for manipulating images of masculinity and femininity, gender roles and identities, and the ways men and women think about themselves and others. They present and promote certain gender images, which are consumed by people and then experienced as their own.
“Big responsibilities and high standards are set for women by mass media to follow. It is
51
hard... certain standards in family, education, clothing, looks... All that is imposed on us...
This pressure is so strong that it seems that men are being born with the ideas that a woman
must meet these standards” (Dasha 2008).
Russian media images are often based on the biological differences between men and women, and perceptions of femininity and masculinity are explained by biology as well. Mass media promotes traditional understandings of sexual differences and gender roles and also supports a patriarchal cultural regime. We are being presented with a rather simple formula of what it means to be a woman and a man. A ‘real man’ is presented through hegemonic masculinity as a creative, professional, knowledgeable and active person, who can act and take decisions for himself and others. He changes the surrounding world. A ‘real woman’ is supposed to follow her hero and represent a certain prize for his victories. She is usually portrayed as dependant on a man, good looking and slim. Her main goal is to be beautiful and find a man who will be a provider (Klimenkova 2001; 1996; Kon 2001). Such images are also promoted, for example, by advertisements shown on pictures 13 and 14 below.
Picture 13 Picture 14
“Everyone rides on us and we are happy!” “He eats so MUCH!!!” (www.adme.ru 2008) (www.friends-partners.org 2008)
52
These pictures can be analysed as an example the use of hegemonic masculinity discourse in advertisements. An advertisement of a car dealer is shown on the first picture and an advertisement of kitchen furniture on the second picture. On both pictures men are dressed into business suits, look confident and as leaders. Women are shown as a background for the main actor in the play – a man. The first advertisement shows sexy woman’s legs that sends a message of biological beauty of a woman, about her sexual role and role of a decoration for a man. The second advertisement shows a woman in an apron and with a cooking pot in her hand. This reminds about ‘traditional’ gender roles division within the family: a man is a provider and a woman is a helper, she cooks and makes sure her man is satisfied.
The lack of positive images of women in mass media was mentioned by Tamara. She said that there are a few examples when a woman is shown as a businesswoman, as a leader or as a successor:
“I don’t have time to read magazines, but from what I have seen on the planes, usually these
are men, who are presented. Successful, with their heads held high, in suits and with an
interview. I do not remember seeing women. Only in specialized professional human
resources magazines women can be shown as successful in career. But if we talk about mass
media in general ... again this is a ‘Boy’s Club’” (Tamara 2008).
Sexist attitudes and images play their negative role in the process of construction of gender identities of Russian women and in creating discriminative attitudes towards women and their roles in contemporary Russian society.
53
‘Traditional’ Gender Images of Russian Women with a New Gloss
Russian women face a reality full of stereotypes and pressure from society through the language of politics, information, culture and public attitudes. Gender order and stereotypes of femininity and masculinity in Russia paint a picture of ‘traditionalism’ for women. The importance of marriage and motherhood dominate among such traditional stereotypes. This stands in agreement with Nancy Chodorow’s argument that “the reproduction of mothering” is a key component of gender identity that is constructed in social and psychological spaces
(1978: 7). Most of the interviewed women place their family at the top of their priorities.
They believe that the main role of a woman is to be a mother and a wife. But at the same time, some women stress the importance of work for them too. They try to keep balance between family and work.
“The main role of a woman is to be a mother, motherhood... and the rest also important –
family and work” (Marina 2008).
“In my opinion... in spite that today many women are involved in business... I think that it is
not good. Perhaps, I have conservative views, but I think that a woman should be first of all a
mother, a wife, and only afterwards she is a professional, a business woman” (Nina 2008).
Because of the importance of family values and traditional views that women can be only happy when they are married, women find themselves under much pressure from society and relatives. The status of a married woman is considered to be higher then of a single one, especially if a woman has children. Women are constantly reminded that they should be married, that a young girl reaching a certain age should find a husband, and by a certain age have children (Alexandrova 1984; Johnson 2007; Mamonova 1994). As it was argued by
Alexandrova, “... women need this stamp for their own psychological sense of well-being, for 54 their self-affirmation. ... Without this stamp, ... [she] feels incomplete” (Alexandrova 1984:
32). Further Alexandrova highlights that this desire of Russian women for marriage, finding a husband, and having children is actively supported by the authorities through policies and state programs (1984: 34)36. For example, Maria expressed her frustration on the pressure from her relatives and friends who keep telling her that she is of certain age when she must have children:
“A lot of people put pressure on me that it is time to have children. But I have my own
opinion about it. Somehow, everyone thinks that it is necessary to remind me about it... it
started when I was 23-25...” (Maria 2008).
Very often the mother is the main (and often the only) parent in the family37. In Russian families the main burden for brining up children traditionally rests with women. High divorce rates, [often initiated by women], the problem of men’s drunkenness, irresponsibility, domestic violence are among the causes of single motherhood. According to various studies,
Russian men feel less responsible for brining up children and provide almost no financial support after leaving his family (Haavio-Mannila and Rotkirch 1996; Johnson 2007;
Jyrkinen-Pakksvirta and Poretzkina 1999; Mamonova 1994). All women, who participated in my research, agreed that their mothers did the majority of duties related to raising children.
Fathers were either absent in their narratives or mentioned only a few times.
“Women are overloaded with responsibilities today... And what about men? They leave a
woman with children and do not pay alimony. They say: “You, yourself, gave birth, so you,
36 The proclamation of the year 2008 as “The Year of the Family in the Russian Federation” may serve as an illustration of this tendency of Russian government to promote the necessity of creating family and getting married. 37 According to the 1994 micro-census, among incomplete families with one parent there were 90% of maternal incomplete families (UN Gender Theme Group in the Russian Federation 2005: 23). 55
yourself, feed them.” This model of behaviour is also true for mothers-in-law, who, even
though her son abandoned the family, would support her son and say... “No one asked you to
give birth, you were told to have an abortion, but you didn’t want to do so, so now it is your
responsibility.” That is how it works. Her son got divorced, then, met another woman, and
you are being left with children and with an attitude that you gave birth to them, now it is your
responsibility. Whatever a woman does today, she is responsible for it” (Valentina 2008).
Some research points at statistical inequality [in Russia there are more women then men] as the main cause of male irresponsibility and sexist attitudes towards women. Men were killed during various wars that occurred inside and outside of Russia; they were and are being killed by stress and alcohol now. The life expectancy for men today is only 57-59 years
(Klimenkova 1996; Kon 1995)38,39. Such a situation puts women into competition for such a rare prize that is called ‘The Man’. This puts an additional pressure to look good and follow the proposed traditional gender roles (Johnson 2007; Lissyutkina 1999).
“A woman, in contrast to a man, should find time to be a woman: she should look good and
pretty. There is no such requirement towards men. In Russia there are fewer men than women,
so they are like gold... I have seen women from other countries. They are confident that they
will be in demand and they will find a man for themselves. It is just the opposite in Russia”
(Nina 2008).
“Women in Russia dress to seduce, they feel as sexual objects... I think they have no other
choice. She somehow should find her place in that society. It is taken as a norm to come to
work in a mini-dress and wearing heels... Also they follow the stereotypes of the society – to
look good, have make-up, be on heels – they look like everyone else. If, for example, I will be
38 To compare these figures to the life expectancy in the USSR in 1989: for men it was 64.8 years and for women – 74 years (Posadskaya 1993: 168). 39 Life expectancy for men is 12-13 years shorter than for women. According to 2003 data, life expectancy for women was 72 years (UN Gender Theme Group in the Russian Federation 2005: 26-27). 56
dressed like here some Australian women dress into torn pants, I will look odd in Russia”
(Rita 2008).
Despite of ‘traditional’ gender limits imposed on women, modern Russian women have learnt to manipulate the existing gender order and use common stereotypes of Russian culture to their advantage. In the search for a man they agree to follow those traditional stereotypes.
They try to look good and attract men by showing that they can be on the second position, by distancing themselves from feminism [as something hostile and foreign]. But afterwards some men find themselves surprised that after marriage their soft and feminine wives continue their careers, do not want to sit at home, and want to share domestic responsibilities on equal bases. More and more women involve their men in upbringing their children
(Johnson 2007; Lissyutkina 1999). This is how Larisa explained how she manipulates with some of the stereotypes about women:
“Man can simply bring money into the family, but afterwards a woman decides what to do
with this money... I do not feel myself as a weak sex. I use this stereotype to my advantage.
When someone tells me that I am wrong, I can say: “I am a woman; I am allowed to make
mistakes. I am blonde; I have the right to be stupid.”... Yes, there are division of roles within
the family. And sometimes, in spite that we [women] are strong and equals, I want to relax, let
all things go and feel myself weak and being taken care of... That is, by the way, the reason
why we need men. But to put someone as a head of the family, to say that a man is the head of
the family, it is stupid” (Larisa 2008).
In this chapter I tried to address in some detail the situation of women in Russia in terms of existing opportunities, freedoms and practices of constructing and practicing their gender identities. It is argued that Russian women live under many gendered restrictions that take forms of gender stereotypes, sexist attitudes and discriminative practices. Often women are
57 required to fulfil contradictory requirements. On the one hand, women should be mothers and wives and follow images of femininity, motherhood and traditional gender roles in the family. On the other hand, women should try to be sexually attractive objects in order to find a man, so after she can fulfil her main role – to be a mother. Such gender identities are being promoted through current politics, culture, religion, mass media and social order in the
Russian Federation. In spite of such limits, Russian women try to adjust stereotypical images to modern situation. They learn how to manipulate the existing gender order and how to use it to their advantage. Thus, challenging ‘traditional’ gender norms and stereotypes. The stereotypes have also been challenged by global and modern ideas, images and identities that became available after the breakdown of the Soviet Union and opening of its borders for globalisation and Westernisation. At the same time there is a remaining [from the Soviet past] construct of the gender identity as a ‘worker’. Although women tend to say that they support and follow traditional gender roles and images, they are not ready to dismiss their involvement in paid labour. Despite the fact that women place families, children and their husbands at the top of their priorities, more and more women challenge ‘traditional’ gender ideas by promoting partnership relations in their families and sharing responsibilities for bringing up children and domestic chores.
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CONCLUSION
In my thesis I have analysed some ways of how Russian women understand and construct their meanings of gender identities, gender roles, and concept ‘to be a woman’. The current situation of women has been analysed through historically inherited gender order of the
Soviet past. Throughout the Soviet period women were seen by the state ideology as workers and as mothers. They were exploited by the USSR under slogans of emancipation and liberation. The Communist Party also promoted ‘traditional’ approaches to understanding gender roles through privileging men over women in private and public spheres.
Despite of notions of renovation and modernisation, some argue that perestroika remained a solely ‘male project’ that kept old Soviet principles of gender order and applied them on
Russian citizens (Klimenkova 1996; Mamonova 1994; Voronina 1994). Thus, the same
‘traditional’ gender identities were suggested to women: to be a mother, a wife, and a worker, though this time with a lesser stress on the necessity to work40. Another particularity of the current Russian situation is a widespread tendency of Russian people, including women, to reject the existence of gender discrimination41. This tendency can be explained partly by hostility to feminism due to ignorance and particular state policies, by misconceptions about what discrimination is and how it affects lives of women (Aivazova 2001; Klimenkova 1996;
Popkova 2004).
40 As it is noticed by some scholars, Russian women today have problems of finding common goals with Western feminists because of their different starting points in demanding their rights. To put it simply, Western feminists are thought of by Russian women to be fighting for opportunities to work. But Russian women got tired of pseudo-emancipation and over-exploitation [proclaimed Soviet equality] that they are fighting for rights not to work (Hemment 2007; Johnson 2007; Klimenkova 1996; Lipovskaia 1992). 41 Though this was not significantly supported by the results of my research, most of the women talked openly about discrimination and sexist attitudes towards them. Only Maria did not believe that nowadays there is gender discrimination and Marina did not use terms of gender discrimination, while discussing it she mostly used a term ‘problems’. 59
In chapters two and three I have argued that gender identity of Russian women cannot be viewed in vacuum or taken as a static element. Self-perceptions of women exist in, and reflect upon the social space, which is influenced by many factors, such as state politics, legislation, history, ideology, and attitudes of the society. In describing women in Russia today there should be paid close attention to their Soviet past and gender policies of the
USSR. Also I have briefly touched on the ways how ‘traditional’ images and gender roles held by and prescribed for Russian women, have many faces, layers and variations. Though holding ‘traditional’ views on gender roles, interviewed women in contemporary Russia started to learn how to employ practices of manipulating and modernising ‘traditional’ gender constructs. This suggests that contemporary gender identities of Russian women are not static and may be modified and modernised by women themselves in accordance with their interests, believes, situations, and perceptions.
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Appendix 1: Research Participants
12 women were interviewed: - 7 women in Barnaul; - 3 women in Moscow; - 2 women in Melbourne. Age range of participants: - 8 women of ages – 27-37 y.o. - 2 women – 40 and 45 y.o. - 2 women – 55 and 59 y.o. Children: 3 out of 12 women had no children. Marital Status: - 7 women are married (1 – civil marriage; 2 women are in their second marriage); - 1 woman is a widow; - 4 women were single (3 out of them are divorced). Ages of the first marriage: - 18, 19, 20, 21 – 7 women; - 23, 25, 26 – 4 women. Ages of having their first child - 19, 20 – 2 women; - 24, 26 - 3 women; - 29, 31 – 3 women. Education: - 9 women have higher education; - 3 women have professional training. Religion: - 8 women are Russian Orthodox; - 4 women – atheists. Nationality: - All women are Russian by nationality.
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Appendix 2: INTERVIEW INFORMATION
The Research was approved by the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee. Written informed consent was obtained from all interview participants. On average, interviews lasted 1-2 hours (the longest was 3.5 hours) and were conducted in Russian. For the interviews were used open-ended questions and free-flowing inquiries. This methodology allows discovering rich information about one's life, attitudes, experiences, social relationships. Taking in to the account the specifics of in-depth interviews, there was no definite set of questions that I used for all interviews. Questions listed below were mostly used to start the interview process and to keep it going.
− Tell me about your typical day?
− What does it mean for you to 'be a woman'?
− What does it include?
− How can you tell the difference if one is a 'woman' and another one not?
− What experiences do follow from this meaning of 'being a woman'?
− How does Russian culture make its impact on understanding of 'being a woman'?
− Does the society expect anything from women?
− How do you differentiate a successful and not successful woman?
− What qualities/characteristics should a woman have?
− How do you understand 'womanhood'/ 'femininity'?
− What is the difference between a 'woman' and a 'man'?
− Does the society treat different sexes the same or differently?
− What are advantages of 'being a woman'?
− What are disadvantages of 'being a woman'?
− What were the perceptions of womanhood in the Soviet Union? Have they changed since the breakdown of the USSR?
− What roles women play in contemporary Russia?
− Are women being prescribed certain roles in nowadays Russia?
− How do you see your future as a woman?
− Do you feel that you have enough of equality/chances/opportunities to pursue your plans/dreams/ideas...?
− Is there anything else you would like to contribute to this research?
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Appendix 3: About Russkoe Radio and Sexist/Discriminatory Jokes
Russkoe Radio Online: http:www.rusradio/online/ (accessed on 17.09.08 at 2pm by Melbourne time)
I spent six hours listening to Russkoe Radio [‘Russian Radio’], one of the most popular among Russians radio stations. Observation started with a radio-show called Russkie Pertsi [Russian Peppers]. The show was hosted by three radio-presenters: 2 males and 1 female (very famous and popular persons in Russia). What struck me the most was the prevalence of three types of jokes – openly sexist towards women; about sex/sexy/erotized; and about Russian problem of alcoholism. Also there was the same gender discriminative tendency in various advertisements of goods, TV-programs, etc. Below I list the jokes.
1. News about Kathmandu: it was announced that there was a strike of strippers because striptease was prohibited at night clubs of Nepal. The presenters started making jokes about strippers, striptease with sexualised comments and laughter. 2. Advertisement of ads on radio: “What I really like about her is otkrovennost [nakedness, frankness, uncoveredness] - Advertisements on Russian Radio.” It was said with erotic meaning by male voice. The hidden message could be found in the language: ‘advertisement’ in Russian has feminine sex - that could be read that the announcer likes a woman because of her characteristic of nakedness, etc. That may be related to women’s body. 3. A Joke: “Let’s decide beforehand: Are we drinking merrily or with women?” – This joke reflects the use of women as symbols related to partying, drinking. 5. There were some intolerant/rude jokes about men with untraditional sexual orientation. 6. News Announcement: “In Israeli university sexual relations between teachers/lectures and students were prohibited, even if there was a consent”. A comment from a male host: “I think that it is not good. Just imaging, a wise and experienced man and a young unexperienced girl... What can her teens teach her?!” 8. A Joke: “A way to women’s heart should not lay” – with a meaning that a woman is associated with laying position, sex 9. A Joke: “Erotic zones have their own authorities” 10. An advertisement of a facial gel: “To be a grey mouse or to be charming and seductive...”
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- used sexualised language 11. A Joke: “It is not the Russian tank you should be afraid of, but of its drunk crew” – jokes about problems of Russian society with alcoholism. 12. Twice was aired the advertisement of a new TV-series “Uni”. The ad starts: “Alla has breasts of size four and blue eyes, Sveta has good grades and a ponytail. Perhaps, Alla would never notice Steva if they did not happen to live in the same dormitory.” Then, Alla says to Sveta: “He constantly harasses me; he constantly stares at my boobs...” 13. An announcement of beach volleyball tournament in Sochi: “The most erotic type of sport”. 14. A Joke: “50 more grams of investments and I will be nedvizimost’ [property = immobile]”- again a joke about alcoholism 15. A Joke: “I don’t know whom I want; whom I know I don’t want” – a joke about sex 16. A Joke: “I want for a dobrii molodets [a young guy = kind, good] to burst into my bedroom and act as a zloi [angry, bad – as on opposition to kind]” - the meaning is “I want to be raped”. 17. A Joke: “A wife is a happiness that with age becomes b-i-i-i-g [read: fat]!” 18. A Joke: “I have begotten a daughter... In short, I do not see any reason for building the house and planting a tree...” [This joke refers to a common saying that “A man during his lifetime should beget a son, build a house and plant a tree”]
My comment: One may find nothing suspicious about jokes above. Another may think that the jokes are funny or just the opposite not funny at all. I, personally, find some of them funny. But what worries me, is the overwhelming sexist and sexualised talks that go on and on. This jokes, advertisements, announcements are being listened by millions of audience, by adults and children. In my point of view, the language and nature of these ‘naive’ jokes is sexist and promotes discriminative attitudes towards women.
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Appendix 4: A Brief Comment about Russian Culture of Jokes
By various scholars it was noticed that Russian people like to joke about their problems, violence, sex, discriminatory attitudes in a rather open manner. Widespread discriminative jokes, stories, fairy-tales, and attitudes in Russian culture can be described as a normative practice of contemporary society (Kelly 1993; Kirilina and Tomskaya 2005; Klimenkova 1996; Kon 1995; Lissyutkina 1999; Mamonova 1994; Savkina 2005) For example, Lissyutkina in her analysis provides an example of a Russian joke about women (1999). “What do women in different countries say if their husband catches them with a lover? The French woman says, 'Is that you Jean? This is Paul. Hop into bed and make up a threesome.' The English woman says, 'John, I expect you to behave like a gentleman.' The American woman says, 'John, get out of my way when I'm doing business.' The Spanish woman says, 'Kill me.' The German woman says, 'Hans, it's only three minutes to six.' The Jewish woman says, 'Is that you Abraham? Then I am sorry but who is this next to me?' And the Russian woman says, 'Vanya, hit me wherever you like, only not in the face, Patya's already done that” (Lissyutkina 1999: 186).
Another study on Russian jokes was done by Kelly (1993). She analysed representations of women and women's sexuality in Petrushka, an orally transmitted Russian dramatic tradition. She noticed that many jokes used by Petrushka were violent and gender discriminative. At the same time her observation was that women laughed at these jokes. She found the answers such as: “Well, everyone laughs at jokes against themselves, don't they?” But such answers are by no means self-evident: they are underpinned by a belief in overall social consensus. They reflect no sense of the volatility of street interchanges, the mechanism by which a humorous insult can become a dangerous piece of provocation. The use of “everyone” also denies the possibility that women might be, in any circumstances, a socially marginal group; it fails to recognize that socially marginal groups, and socially dominant groups, might have different reactions to social interactions, such as laughter” (Kelly 1993: 82).
This is just a brief example on the topic.
65
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