Good Research Paper On Women In Russia

History

The historical fate of women is not only difficult, but in many ways and tragic. The independent status of women, which she had in the days of matriarchy, it was lost in the transition to the patriarchal family.
During the first half of this 20th century in most industrialized countries of the West women without a revolution got civil rights and suffrage movement, reaching its goal, mostly ceased. Of course, formal equality is not yet complete alignment expresses the social position of the sexes. Backlog of women in the cultural, social, political and economic fields, in many cases is still ongoing. Obviously further struggle for equality and dignity of women in society will still continue, although perhaps in other forms.

The struggle for equal rights in Russia

In each country, the women's movement and the struggle for women's equality had its own peculiarities. In Russia, the women's movement can be divided into two main stages: the first stage - the movement before the revolution of 1905, when women sought equality only in the area of education, and the second stage - from the 1905 Revolution until the 1917 revolution, when women achieved equality not only in the field of education, but also in the political field.
Up to 1905, the monarchical absolutism ruled democratic elections in the national institutions and the relevant electoral rights of both men and women in Russia had not.
Women could not fight for their equal rights for women, as they were equally with men have no rights and in this sense, "equal rights." Politically active women took part in why a common political struggle with the men and entered the general political parties. They are the same as the men went for the freedom of his people in prison, exile and hard labor (eg., Sofia Perovskaya, Sophia Bardeen, Breshko Breshkovskaya Vera Figner and more. Al.). And in this struggle, women were on a par with men. The situation has changed the revolution of 1905. Already on February 18, 1905 was proclaimed the desirability of engaging in political activities "with dignity, confidence of the people in positions elected by the people of the people", and October 17, 1905 was published a manifesto prepared by Count Witte emperor Nicholas II, who had in mind "the unshakable foundations of civil liberties" and to convene the State Duma. But then followed the law on the procedure for elections to the Duma on 11 December 1905 gave voting rights only to men. Women's suffrage did not receive and was politically unequal. In this regard and in Russia there was a movement of women fighting for equal rights with men voting rights. Uniting women - "equality" addressed to Count Witte, the issue of women's suffrage. Count Witte said that "when issuing the manifesto of October 17 issue of women's suffrage was not discussed." Then the women made a petition to the newly elected members of the first State Duma.
The struggle of women for their equality continued to grow. In 1913, the women staged in St. Petersburg "Women's Day", and, on the women's meeting in the room Kalashnikov exchanges 2000 people attended. This shows the scale of spreading in the Russian struggle for women's equality. But a year later the First World War, and three years later, in February 1917, has taken place in the Russian democratic revolution. As a result of the February democratic revolution Russian women have equal voting rights with men.

The situation of women in the USSR

Democracy, won the February Revolution, lasted until October 1917, when there was a communist revolution in Russia. Hailed by the February Revolution the principle of equality of women received after the October Revolution, the Communist further development. It was proclaimed full equality for women. Women were legally equated with men in all civil rights. However, equality under the law is not always equality in life. Lenin said, for example, that equality under the law is only the first, but not a major step in the emancipation of women.

Female education in Russia

In the past, the position of women in society is determined mainly by marriage: a woman's place in society is determined by the place of her husband and the woman acted independently in society, and as a companion of her husband. However, in the 19th century, many Russian women began a struggle for individual education and spiritual development of his personality. Objectively, this struggle was also a struggle for their independent place in society, as education gave women a certain position, regardless of marriage. Some facts of this struggle, and we will stop briefly.
Despite the fact that some prominent leaders of public education were against female grammar schools, yet the girls' school, as public schools received in the era of the Great Reforms wide development. The era of great reforms, that is the end of the second half of the fifties and sixties the first half of the 19th century and can be considered the beginning of the average female education in Russia on a solid state basis.
Higher Education. By the era of great reforms are the first steps in the organization of higher education for women in Russia. In the 1861-62 school years, St. Petersburg University took first in the number of women students. But soon arose student unrest and the admission of women to the university was closed. Thereafter, in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev in private initiative were open general education courses for women.
Although they were not approved by the government regulations and did not give women the formal rights, but the insistence of women to higher education provides them a more or less normal life. In their pursuit of higher education, women find moral support in a number of works of fiction (works of Turgenev, Nekrasov, Chernyshevsky), as well as organizational support some public figures (Sleptcov et al.), Tries to arrange arrives in St. Petersburg girls in domestic and materially so that they can learn and live independently as possible.
Female education in the USSR. Before the revolution of 1917, the share of women in the Russian students was one of the highest in the world. However, in the Soviet Union, this fact is ignored. Soviet statistics of the last decades of this fact says nothing. All achievements in the field of women's education are attributed only to the Soviet government. But in 1930 the Leningrad executive committee issued a small number of copies is now "the forgotten" and has become a rarity "Statistical Handbook in Leningrad." This handbook we have and in part higher education for women consider it particularly interesting, so as St. Petersburg - Leningrad was then the largest center of higher education institutions, "university town" and the statistics of its students is indicative of the entire country.

Party statement of the women.

Before the revolution, women's place in society is determined, as we have said the situation of men, dependent on which she lived - his father before her marriage and her husband after marriage. In turn, the position of the man or privileges was determined by birth or wealth and prosperity of the yard, or his rank, position and earnings. After the revolution, all this has changed radically. All classes and class, all ranks and privileges, all capital and private wealth have been completely eliminated. Create a new society, a new pronounced class structure and a new concept of man's position in society. The ruling class of the new society was the Communist party, or rather, the leadership of the Communist Party, and this class defines mainly man's place in society, in accordance with his party and education. The transformation of the Communist Party as the ruling class was (in short) as follows.
At first, in the early years after the revolution, the party was replenished mainly by those who before the revolution were at the bottom of the social ladder, who is from the communist revolution that he won and who could therefore sincerely fight for the strengthening of the communist regime. These were primarily low-wage workers - proletarians, but by no means the only ones.

Professional Status of Women

In the USSR, all the "means of production" - steel mills and hairdressers, shipyards and newsstands, Academy of Sciences and beer, nuclear power plants and horses - all owned by the state. The state apparatus is not here political and technical apparatus, the apparatus operatively governing the entire economy of the country. Therefore, if the West stands at the head of state lawyers and public figures, the Soviet head of state are engineers and economists. The state is here the only company covering the whole country. All able-bodied population of the country is an army of workers of a single enterprise, called the state. Person's social position in the USSR is therefore determined, above all, his office or professional position in this "enterprise". If the higher professional position of the women then the higher its place in the public or social ladder.

Substantive provisions of Women

The situation in Russia. An important prerequisite for de facto equality of women is their financial independence. In pre-revolutionary Russia, women were materially dependent on men. But with the development of industry in Russia and the situation of women is gradually changing. Thus, for example, already "in 1911 women of all ages in the factories employed 638,277 people., ie 21.1% of all employed workers" .
For that time it was a big step forward. But that did not mean that he worked in the factories women were economically equal. For the same work as men, they are paid less than men. At that time it was considered "normal" for all industrialized countries.
Women everywhere had to overcome the inertia and environmental great difficulty. Nevertheless, the position of women in the "accursed tsarist regime," as referred to in the pre-revolutionary Soviet regime gradually and definitely improved. In particular, the Act of June 23, 1912 it was organized in Russia for a social security of women workers through the establishment of so-called health insurance companies.

But in 1914 the First World War, and in 1917 the Revolution broke out, and life has changed.

The situation in the USSR. Financial independence of women in the Soviet Union is an important prerequisite for equality. In the USSR completely eliminated capital and people have only three sources of livelihood - is their own earnings, earnings of other family members and state aid.
In the USSR women of working age from 20 to 55 years for the 1959 census was 57.4 million persons. Women who have an independent income, was, as we see, 56.7 million persons.
Of course, among these 56.7 million persons there was a small number of women over 55 years old and. then the appropriate number of able-bodied women had no independent earnings (housewives), but this, we repeat, a small number, so we can say that all or nearly all able-bodied women in the USSR work in the national economy and have an independent income.
But in reality the situation is not as favorable as it seems at first glance, and as they say in the USSR. And not just because women who work in the national economy, still working in the household and raising a new generation, that is, have a triple burden, but also because of their self-employment income in the national economy in general less than the income of men. Inequality is preserved and women, despite their high education, are in the worst financial situation than men. Women's wages are lower than men's, first, because in those sectors of the economy where the vast majority of the workforce are women, wages are set much lower than in other industries and, secondly, because, as it was mentioned above, in each sector of the economy over high official position is occupied, and hence higher wages get men and women occupy mainly low-paid positions.

Let us summarize the results

Despite the official propaganda that a woman must work in male-dominated sectors, women's employment was held in the early years of industrialization at a low level and centers the stake in female industries such as food processing, textile and garment industry. It was assumed that the reasons for the low employment rate are low professional competence and that not all women had to work outside the home. Official propaganda more intense urged women to participate in the construction of the new socialist state, as "a working woman is independent of men" and "non-working women is unpatriotic
Despite major changes, industrialization and collectivisation, the lives of many women have improved by the end of 1930. They got the chance to work alongside men in factories, farms and public bodies. New kindergartens were opened, and accessible to all health care system was established. Free time can be carried out at the resorts and children were sent to summer camp. Awards of this type contribute to the work and were incentives for employees.
During Stalin's regime women were at a disadvantage in relation to each other. Despite the fact that housewives are not valued and are not approved in the society, some women were in a unique position. Wives respected and best workers spent time care and well-being of their husbands. It was assumed that the diligence and success of men at work depended on how well women care about it. In addition to the wives of famous employees, the wife of the Soviet elite and army officers were able to not work. In addition to taking care of their husbands, disabled women participated in social activities.
The ideal woman of the 1930s and 1940s had many conflicting qualities. She was supposed to be independent, self-confident and knows her own worth, but these qualities were combined with traditional feminine traits. Evaluates the feminine qualities were good physical condition and ability to heroism. Women were supposed to participate in the construction of a new society with the same intensity as men.
Before World War II, women in the Red Army did not serve. But often "have served" on the border posts along with their husbands-border. The fates of these women with the advent of the war were tragic: most of them died, only a few were able to survive in those terrible days. By August 1941, it became clear that without women cannot do. The first service in the Red Army have taken up women-health professionals: medical battalions were deployed, mobile field hospitals, sanitary trains, which were very young nurses, doctors and nurses. Then the Red Army military commissars began calling telephone operators, radio operators. So much so, those nearly all anti-aircraft units were staffed by girls and young unmarried women aged 18 to 25 years. Began to form female air regiments. By 1943, the ninth year in the Red Army, he served at various times from 2 to 2.5 million girls and women.
Commissar called up for military the healthiest, most educated, the most beautiful girls and young women. All they showed themselves very well: they were brave, very persistent, durable, reliable soldiers and officers were awarded military orders and medals for bravery and gallantry in battle.

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