1. WOMEN DURING THE STALIN ERA

2.  Great suffering as well as great achievement  Reinforcement of traditional gender differences + creation of new ones  Emphasis on the “feminine”  Reinforcement of patriarchy with Stalin as great “father” EFFECTS OF THE STALIN REVOLUTION

3. WOMEN DURING THE STALIN ERA  Industrialization  Women recruited into workforce in large numbers  But women’s labor segregated & undervalued  Party abandoned efforts to emancipate women  But some women given opportunities for advancement EFFECTS OF THE STALIN REVOLUTION

4. WOMEN DURING THE STALIN ERA EFFECTS OF THE STALIN REVOLUTION  Collectivization  Completely disrupted of traditional peasant life  Most peasant women opposed collectivization  Some women gained opportunities for advancement  But vast majority of peasant women suffered deprivation & hardship, arduous labor

5. WOMEN DURING THE STALIN ERA EFFECTS OF THE STALIN REVOLUTION  The “Double Burden”  Women responsible for all household work  Often prevented career advancement  Party promoted women’s work outside home  But also insisted roles at home were equally important

6. WOMEN DURING THE STALIN ERA EFFECTS OF THE STALIN REVOLUTION  Women and the Family  Increasing conservatism in matters of sex, women & family  Promotion of motherhood & reproduction  Abortion made illegal, divorce difficult  State did not provide enough social services

7. WOMEN DURING THE STALIN ERA EFFECTS OF THE STALIN REVOLUTION  The “New Soviet Woman”  Women = models of upright citizenship & clean living  Supportive to husbands  Housework now took on positive dimension  Loyalty & devotion to state  Domestic virtues celebrated “We serve the people!”

8. WOMEN DURING THE STALIN ERA WOMEN DURING WORLD WAR II  Most women suffered terrible privations & loss  Millions went to work in war industries  Kept nation fed  Suffered atrocities at hands of Germans

9. WOMEN DURING THE STALIN ERA WOMEN DURING WORLD WAR II  Hundreds of thousands entered fighting  Became partisans  Joined underground resistance  800,000 in armed forces Served as medical & auxiliary personnel Many also served in combat

10. WOMEN DURING THE STALIN ERA WOMEN DURING WORLD WAR II  Female image used as powerful propaganda tool  “Motherland”  Women presented in supportive roles  Men were to defend women The Motherland Calls You! You’ve returned life to us!

11. WOMEN DURING THE STALIN ERA POST-WAR WOMANHOOD  Old gender distinctions restored & institutionalized  New family code of 1944  Cult of Motherhood reached new heights  Emphasis on domesticity intensified  Women’s contribution to war effort downplayed, even disparaged