During Mikhail Gorbatchev’s Perestroika period during the 80’s biological determinist claims were only getting stronger and public claims were made for women to have a more traditional role in the society. For example, in his 1988 book Perestroika and the new way of thinking Mikhail Gorbatchev first explains the importance of the newly developed Zhensovety (an organism similar to the 1920’s Zhenotdely that dealt with women issues), talks about the importance of
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women emancipation and the equality that the Soviet Union has achieved in comparison with the Western countries, however, he also mentions the
“specifics of the needs of women related to their role as mothers and housewives” and the fact that the State should do something to solve this issue, as women who are working full-time cannot take proper care of their family and this results in negative effects on : “the behavior of children and youngsters, moral issues, culture and the fall of the traditional family, because of the devaluation of the spousal obligation” (Gorbatchev, 1988). Women are therefore made responsible for societal issues in the Soviet society, in the same way as it was done in earlier years when the “masculinization” of women was said to lead to alcoholism and a fall of birth-rate in the Union (Attwood, 1990).
After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, Russia had started its transition from a socialist system to a capitalist one. Western specialists from the USA and the IMF strongly advised to employ a “Shock Therapy”, ignoring the advice of Russian scholars and expecting a “market revolution” (Stiglitz, 2002). The results, as we know now, were disastrous for the country, and most of all, for its people.
Implementing a so-called free-market system based on the principles of liberalization, privatization and stabilization began the Russian neoliberal experiment. Boris Yeltsin, who had very poor knowledge of the actual capitalist history, accepted fully the neoliberal theory and followed its prescriptions “to the letter” (Kotz, 1999). Despite warnings from Russian and international critics about the danger of simply dismantling the soviet planned economy and hoping for an effective capitalist system to arise, no action was taken in order to implement an active state guidance and assistance that could nurture productive capitalist enterprises. The results of such politics were disastrous for the population, and as usual, affected women much more than men.
Unemployment, inflation, a decline in wages and a general economic insecurity (Harper, 1999 cited by Lafont, 2001) affected the population heavily. Women were also starting to lose some of the benefits they had had under socialism
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(Poolos, 1999 cited by Lafont, 2001). Women’s unemployment was rising to rates much higher than that of men because women were mainly concentrated in the light industry, government employment and social services- sectors that had been the first victims of the neoliberal economic reforms (Occhipinti, 1996).
Furthermore, this economical crisis had forced many Russian women in to prostitution in order to survive, and human-traffic mafias quickly developed their business by luring women and selling children in prostitution nets (Alalehto, 2002), later, this was followed by the surrogacy mother business (Weis, 2019).
In is in this socio-economic climate that post, or anti-feminism had arisen in Russia.
It takes its origins in the Soviet determinist approach and a strong rejection of any feminist claims or ethics as being paradoxically too Soviet (masculinization of women/ feminization of men in the name of equality) as well as too Western (contrary to Russian traditions and cultural beliefs, and therefore dangerous for the stability of the Russian society).
Imagery of the traditional wife and mother started to appear in public discourse and media, but despite this most women had to continue working in order to support their family, as wages went down and state support for working women had been eroding (Occhipinti, 1996).
Occhipinti (1996) states than in the 90’s post-soviet countries : “women who are out of work because of the poor job market may prefer to identify themselves as full-time housewives, gaining a degree of legitimacy and status that is generally denied to men who are involuntarily unemployed. Often, the people I spoke with believed the idea of a 'househusband' was amusing; expectations for men to contribute to household labour seemed virtually non-existent” (Occhipinti, 1996).
The societal pressure on women to “return” home and be a good mother and housewife further on created more issues for Russian women, as women who continued working and placed their children in State-run child-care institutions were considered as “bad” mothers , whereas women who had to juggle between their job and their family were also considered as “bad” and less desirable
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workers because their role as a mother would affect their working performance (Neme´nyi, 1995 cited by Lafont, 2001).
The rejection of the socialist past also included criticism of the “genderless”
“Homo Sovieticus” (Riabova, A; Riabov, 2002). Russian men were therefore considered to be stripped of their masculinity by the Soviet regime while the women were “unfeminine”. The heavy physical work of Russian women was often mentioned as antinatural, and a “normalization” which implied a return to
“natural” models of femininity and masculinity as well as a revival of traditional family attitudes was propagandized (Riabova, A; Riabov, 2002). Therefore, the installation of neoliberal capitalism in the former Soviet Union has been accompanied by a revival and reassertion of dominating masculinity and worsening social position of women (Connell 2000, 51 cited by Riabova, A;
Riabov).
The new life style propagandized through the media combined adherence to new democratic values, anti-communism and sexuality (Riabova, A; Riabov, 2002). Women objectification was seen as something new and modern, and people who opposed it were considered as boring, old and communist.
After the fall on the Soviet Union, some feminist movements had appeared in early Russian democracy, under Boris Yeltsin’s rule. For example, in 1991 and 1992 the Independ Women’s Forum was organized in Dubna, and more than 70 womens organisations had participated (Aristova, 2017). Women organizations had been created around the country and they were trying to enter in communication with the government; in 1993 a new political party, “Women of Russia” had balloted in the government Douma elections and won 8.13% of the electors voices. Furtheron, more women were entering political parties and ecofeminist groups had started to organize congresses and Forums in major Russian cities, while the first women crisis centers, for women and children victims of gender violence were being created in 1995 (Aristova, 2017).
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Unfortunately, most of these centrers and groups had to cease their activity shortly after the acension to power of Vladimir Putin in 1999.
9. Vladimir Putin’s regime and current situation of women in Russia