Soviet regime’s attempts to improve the status of women

• criteria


  significant would mean having an impact on not only the women in the cities but also countryside as the traditional values against women were deeply entrenched in these areas
• Intro

  the improvements to the status of women were mostly significant as it differed based on countryside against city or religion and culture.

  therefore each leader inevitably implored different ways in which women should be portrayed and act in sov society during their leadership, from the "natural need to nurture" view from Lenin to the women dominating professions under Brezhnev where the status of women had undoubtedly changed significantly.
• Para 1 Lenin


  - 1918 women equal under law

  - Civil war → women in workforce and 70,000 in red army, mils of women in factories HOWEVER just in workforce bc of lack of men, those in red army held lower ranks, long term when men returned women lost jobs

  - War and famine of 1921-22 many women homeless and prostitution increased

  - 1918 family code aborion legal and divorce easier abortions outnumbered live births 3:1

  - Before ww2 only 7 women were in central committee

  - Material well being increased esp in towns but traditional attitudes remained + influence in politics remained low as more men held high positions
• Para 2 Stalin


  - During great retreat abortion made illegal, pregnant women guaranteed job security

  - Women in workforce 3mil 1928 - 13 mil 1940

  - 1940 40% of engineering students female

  - Women made up high% of jobs in health and education

  - HOWEVER didnt offer high wages and top levels still dominated by men and there was a substantial divide between urban and rural Women
• Para 3 Khrushchev


  - 45% of industrial jobs went to women however restricted to ; work in light industry+heavy manual labour which was low skilled suggests that women were not suitable for hardcore jobs

  - 1st women in presidium ekaterina furtseva but career declined after khrushchev was dismissed

  - Women had double burden + abortion legalised
• Para 4 Brezhnev


  - Alcoholism incr to 18l of spirits a year and that was met w incr in domestic abuse against women

  - 1970s women made up: 70% of medical doctors, 75% of employees in uni's, 65% of ppl employed in art and culture

  - HOWEVER pay scales in these feminised industries were lower than male dominated factory management

  - Brezhnev's campaigns, working women were responsible for juvenile, delinquency, rising crime and family breakups. Campaign reaffirmed by the last three Soviet leaders.

  - Even worse for women in agriculture 'triple shift'

  - 1956-83, the proportion of women in the Party increased from 19.7% to 26%.
• Conclusion


  - not completely significant although some substantial changes

  - equal in theory but not in practice

  - improved as more in workforce but glass ceiling prevented them from ever reaching the point of men

  - definitely improved in terms of autonomy as they could divorce and abort and make own money but for city women this resulted in the double burden and for rural this was either triple shift or non existent as traditional values were deeply entrenched as well as in Muslim areas.