Stalins Policies on Women and Family - Assignment Example

How did official Soviet policy on women and the family change after Stalin came to power, and what were the effects of the Stalin yearson women and the family Jospeh Stalin, a renowned Russian leader has been of great interest to historians all over the world. Being a part of the Bolshevik government he introduced various policies to make Russia a strong socialist economic state. The new communist policies initially attracted the support of the Russian people. However, people could not bear the burden of the new policies of the Bolshevik government. Stalin ruled the people with fear and terror. Women, children and the institute of family were greatly affected by the policies of Stalin. Before the October 1917 revolution, Russian women like their counterparts in other countries were denied any right for their betterment. They lived in a bourgeoisie society where women were confined to the four walls of their houses and were denied any legal status. Under the patriarchal society, women lived as subordinates to men. Marx and Engles had always felt the need of women emancipation for the success of communism (Ack. 2005). Their writings showed their concern over the position of women in the society and the role women must play for the betterment of the society. They strongly believed that the liberation of society depended a lot on the liberation of women (Ack. 2005). Many critics are of the view that the teachings of Marx became the basis for the rise of feminism movement in Russia. Marx criticized the capitalist society, which viewed human beings as an instrument for production and women as an instrument for production and reproduction. Under bourgeois system, Marx viewed 1marriage as an act of prostitution where women were forced into marriage if they wanted any life outside church. Marx believed that women could be liberated only by the abolition of the private property, which belonged only to men, and the liberation of both men and women from the monogamous family (Ack. 2005). The October 1917 Revolution gave power to the Bolsheviks. Initially the focus was on women emancipation based on the teachings of Marx and Engles. As a step towards emancipating women, women were given the power to directly participate in the social and political activities. New policies related to maternity and health insurance were introduced. Public insurance funds were created that benefited women workers and male workers wives (Rossi, 2004). Another important step was to liberate women from the household bondage, which demanded transition from individual household responsibilities to large scale socialized domestic services (Schuster, 1971). The Bolsheviks had envisioned a socialist state where that word “family” would no longer exist. The family was viewed as a social institution. Socialism would create a society in which there will be community based dining halls, daycare centers and public laundries. This was an attempt to emancipate women from the unpaid housework (Goldman, 1993). Womens’ committee, 2Zhentodel was formed by Lenin that ensured the rights of women in all the fields (Rossi, 2004). Viewing the above achievements, one could imagine that there was no need for a separate women emancipation movement to uphold the rights of women. Initially the Bolshevik government worked tremendously to provide political basis for women emancipation. They followed the theories of Marx and Engles and achieved a lot during the initial years after the revolution. The leaders of the Bolshevik party were true followers and committed to Marxism. Their achievements, however, fell short due to the poor economic conditions that prevailed. In 1921, the New Economic Policy was introduced which badly affected the women since they were unskilled workers (Ack, 2005). Many women began to lose their jobs since the socialization of housework had stopped. This also led to the collapse of the tenants’ organization. Unemployment increased and 80% of the unemployed were women. Unemployment and poor economic conditions led to the rise of 3 prostitution (Rossi, 2004). Towards the end of 1920’s a new ruling party began to emerge under the leadership of Stalin. It is from this point one can see a visible change in the policies of the government. As a part of deliberate government policy, the achievements made by the women began to roll back. The main aim of the new ruling class was to become economically stable enough to compete with the west. This resulted in massive industrialization and a change in policy that gave emphasis to production instead of consumption. This meant the super exploitation of the working class and women. The maternity benefits and the legal rights of the women were taken away. The rapid industrialization increased the employment rate to a greater extent. In 1929, unemployment rate was 1.74 million, which dropped to 1.08 million in April 1930. It further dropped to one third of a million by October 1930 (Schrand, 1999). All this was done without giving any compensation to the women. Women had to work to earn a living and at the same time do the housework and take care of the children. Stalin would subordinate everything to make Russia a strong economic state that could compete with the west. Human and material resources were utilized to make a strong soviet industry without giving any social and educational benefits to the workers (Rossi, 2004). Stalin, like Lenin intended to utilize women power on farms and factories (Schuster, 1971). The Zhenotdel, which was created by Lenin to promote the rights of women, was abolished in 1930 under Stalin’s rule during the reorganization of the communist party. The Zhentodel had to be abolished in order to ensure recruitment of more women in heavy industry work. Stalin abolished it while declaring that the women emancipation had been achieved and that there was no need of it. Under the garb of equal rights, Stalin was definitely exploiting the women of his country in order to strengthen the Russian economy. Economy and progress were of more importance to Stalin than other issues in particular the women issues. Abolition of Zhentodel was a major step towards crushing the rights of women. Under Stalin’s rule, the Soviet government ensured full women’s participation in the economy. In the collective farms, Stalin promoted women to various administrative posts. He encouraged women to pursue professional happiness and success rather than matrimonial success (Manning, 1992). Initially women were employed in light industry. With the introduction of the first five-year plan, more women were employed in the heavy industry sector. The article 122 of the 1936 constitution gave equal rights and wages to women. During the Nazi Germany war, the USSR mobilized all of its forces to ensure victory. In such a situation, more women were employed in place of men to ensure the continuity of economy. With heavy casualties of men during the World War II, the Marxist theory of emancipation of sexes was further made effective with the employment of women in the iron and steel industry. In 1944, 40% of women were employed in the iron and steel industry. In the oil fields, women constituted 30-40% of the total work force. In some cases women worked in the pit mines and their percentage was greater than male miners. In the decade of 1930’s women were proudly presented as the miners, welders, street cleaners, construction workers and stokers (Schuster, 1971). In 1939, “wives of miners” were called to assist their husbands in their work (Reid, 1998). Childcare continued to exist not for the betterment of the women folk but for taking their maximum services (Ack, 2005). The only right that the women achieved during Stalin’s regime was working on equal basis with men as the other rights achieved by women under Zhenotdel were abolished (Schrand, 1999). Viewing the five-year plan analytically, one can say that it did create a number of job opportunities for the larger number of unemployed masses. Unemployment and low wages were a big problem in the 1920s, which led many women to accept low paid jobs to support their husbands’ income. However, the under lying brutality of the plan remained unnoticed. While more women were employed in the heavy industry sector, hardly any social services were provided to them. For example, in Leningrad 74,000 women started to work outside the family and only one nursery was available to them. The state canteens could guarantee meals for only 700 000 workers. The rest of the three million had to depend upon their wives to provide a meal to them (Rossi, 2004). With the condition of women deteriorating, there was no point to educate the women. Women often had to leave their lectures in order to complete the housework and take care of children. Women, who got employed under the first five-year plan were assigned low paid jobs because they were unskilled. In 1932, in Leningrad, women constituted 58.6% of the least qualified layer of laborers, 70% in Moscow and even higher in other cities (Rossi, 2004). Fine Arts had played a major role in promoting the First five-year plan. In the paintings, Stalin was portrayed as a father figure and the people as his loving and dutiful children. Women’s chances of education and recognition in the field of Fine Arts were diminished. Many 4women artists complained of their poor conditions. They had no place to work, no kindergarten and their income was not sufficient to hire a nanny. Many were held back from receiving art education (Reid, 1998). The Soviet art flourished during the 1920s. However, the reversal back to the old system served as a big blow to the artists. In 1937 Paris Exposition, only seven women were selected to represent Russian art before the world (Reid, 1998). Obviously one can understand that the low literacy rate among women goes against the socialist policy of women emancipation in which women were assigned legal, political and social status. However, in 1930s, this could not be done because Stalin had abolished the Zhentodel, which aimed at protecting the rights of women. The low literacy rate among women further reflects the bitter truth of Stalin’s policies and was one of the many reasons for their poor condition. In order to restore the shattered economy, the Bolsheviks began to restore some of the capitalist ideals. Contrary to the socialist ideals, women became more dependent on their men folk to overcome the economic burden. The mothers were unable to provide the basic necessities of life to the children. The number of women abandoned by their husbands increased. Women being unemployed, unskilled, uneducated with low wages, having insufficient daycare facilities and discriminatory hiring practices, often had to abandon their children on the streets. This led to the increase in the juvenile crime rate. Unable to control the situation, the government turned back to the adoption of the bourgeoisie system of family in which the family was viewed as the primary institution for bringing up the children at little cost to society. To overcome the problem of the increasing number of abandoned children, the Central Executive Committee reversed the 1918 abolition of adoption code. The 5 reversal further reaffirmed the establishment of the patriarchal household as the main unit of production. The increased number of 6divorce pitied peasant women against their men folk (Goldman, 1993). The number of workingwomen increased through compulsion without providing necessary training skills to ensure the quality of work. Though Lenin and Trotsky had committed to prevent women from double exploitation at work and at home, Stalin’ s bureaucracy was committed to exploit the women for greater economic gains. The Bolshevik ruling class had completely separated themselves from the people. They found it important to have a complete control over society. To do this they adopted the bourgeois family model. The model divided the working class into their family units with a need to seek from within the family what the state was unable to guarantee. The family would now be a place for a worker to sort out his economic problems by economizing, cutting down on the budget, enslaving the wife and children and keeping them within the family unit. It thus made women incapable of participating in the social and political activities (Rossi, 2004). One can understand that the 7 return to the bourgeois system and enslaving the women and children was not done for the betterment of the society. It rather is a reflection of the hypocrisy of the Bolshevik government under Stalin. Every move of Stalin’s government was based on the necessity to overcome the economic demands of the country. With the adoption of the bourgeois family system, other capitalist policies were also adopted. In 1934, the government 8imposed a ban on homosexuality and prostitution. In 1936 abortion became illegal and divorce methods became difficult and unaffordable for an ordinary worker. As the women continued to perform double duties, more people were needed to increase the production and economy of the country the way Stalin had wished. The Stalin government had already banned abortions. For that reason, other birth control methods were also not allowed. The government advocated large families since the Marxists believed that over population was not a problem and that there were plenty of resources available in USSR to feed a large population. Until mid thirties, induced abortions had been the only method of birth control. As Stalin decided to expand the work force, induced abortions were banned in 1936. However, due to the lack of other contraceptive facilities women continued with induced abortions that were often performed in poor conditions which led to other complications (Kon, Igor and Riordan, 1993). Banning of abortions increased to role of women in the family. Women now became responsible for the success of the husband and also for the social upbringing of the family. Women were given a double responsibility that put an end to the feminist dreams of emancipation (Evans, 1981). Stalin’s bureaucrats began to flood the media with praise for marriage, the wonders of child bearing and the family. In 1945, the Common Law Marriage was no longer recognized. The notion of the equality of sexes that had been prominent in the initial Bolshevik government was no longer in practice (Rossi, 2004). Special incentives were given to women bearing more children (Kon, Igor and Riordan, 1993). Like the first one, the second and third five-year plan had promised a better life for the citizens. However, the Soviet economy continued to sacrifice the citizens’ need to the interests of heavy industry and defense. 9Wives of workers the workers were given the task of a distinct social force (Reid, 1998). The soviet wife was expected to uphold the virtues of the nineteenth century bourgeois ideology. She was to devote herself, unpaid, to supporting husbands’ work by overseeing the standards of hygiene and decency in the work place. She had to support her husband and son’s public activities. A good wife had to possess the virtues of caregiver, educator and homemaker. This theme was also upheld in Stalin’s 10visual culture where women were identified with nature, spontaneity and emotions, agriculture, food preparation, consumption and reproduction (Reid, 1998). After the World War II, the Soviet economy highly depended on the women. Without their contribution, the economy would collapse. Great number of men had lost their lives in the war, which was evident from the fact, that in 1959 there were twenty million more women then men in Russia. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Stalin government increased the number of women in the heavy industry sector. Women contributed in the most strenuous kind of work. In 1954, 44% of the women worked in the machine building factories, 47% worked in the electrical engineering sector. 64% of women worked as machine operators, 70% as turret-lathe operators and 42% as locomotive and machine drivers (Schuster, 1971). Stalin who continued to focus his attention on nothing but production at all cost had converted Russian into an industry of socialism. The central authorities continued to launch campaigns encouraging more women to occupy traditionally male positions in order to speed up the economy and increase the industrial labour force. The return to the old methods that were initially discarded brought an end to the revolution with the condition of women worse than before. Stalin continued to fool the people with his slogan “life has become happier” and celebrated the success of socialist development. The slogan was used everywhere (Reid, 1998). Analyzing the theme of the status of women and family before and under Stalin’s rule, two approaches of the Bolshevik government can be clearly identified. The first approach suggests no particular effort was made to recognize the importance of women issues. The second approach lead to the deteriorating condition of women. It came with the adoption of the capitalists’ methods, which were in reality adopted to improve the economic condition of Russia. The revolution dramatically changed the role of sexes in Russia that was predominantly male dominated. The revolution consisted of two phases. The first phase constitutes the decade of 1920s in which women’s condition did not improve. The second phase consists of Stalin’s Russia where deliberate attempts were made to crush the emancipation of women. The totalitarian regime gave double responsibilities to women as labour army and as a traditional mother and wife. Anything that is allowed without any limits is bound to have negative effects. Maximum emancipation was given to women during the 1920s. Women had the right to abortion, divorce and marriage. However, the situation turned into a social chaos with increased number of prostitutes, juvenile criminals and abandoned women and children. An analysis of the Bolshevik policies gives us an insight of the Bolshevik mentality. All the policies were made with an attempt to improve and strengthen the Russian economy. The New Economic Policy was introduced to save the crushing economy. The five-year plans reduced the rate of unemployment. They, however, were aimed at strengthening the economy at exploiting the women folk. Women suffered the most at the hands of the Bolshevik policies. In a communist society where every thing was controlled by the government, the women lost their right over their own bodies. For their own vested interests, the government legalized abortions and then later put a ban on them. The retreat to the old laws and systems completed the circle and the revolution came back to where it started. In conclusion it can be said that the revolution failed to achieve its desired results. It began with providing maximum emancipation to women as their legal right. It ended up taking away that right from them and putting them back in the confines of the family. The revolution thus did nothing for the betterment of women and was a total failure. References Ack. Tess Lee. (2005): “The Marxist Tradition and Women Liberation, A Socialist Alternative Pamphlet”, Socialist Alternative, Melbourne, Australia. Pg 3-16 Evans, Janet (1981): “The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Women’s question: the Case of the 1936 Decree. ‘In Defense of Mother and Child’”. Journal of Contemporary History, 16:4, pg. 757-775 Goldman, Wendy Z. (1993): “Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917-1936.” Cambridge University Press. Pg. 50-170 Kon, Igor and Riordan, James. (1993): “Patterns of Birth Control”, eds. Sex and Russian Society, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Pg.45-63 Manning, Roberta. (1992): “Women in the Soviet Countryside on the Eve of World War II, 1935-1940”, in Beatrice Farnsworth and Lynne Viola, eds, Russian Peasant Women, (Oxford University Press; Oxford and New York). Pg.206-35. Reid, Susan E. (1998): “All Stalin’s Women: Gender and Power in Soviet Art of the 1930s” Slavic Review, Vol.57, No. 1, pp.133-173 Rossi, Elizabetta. (2004): “The Emancipation of Women in Russia before and After the Russian Rovolution,” published in issue no. 5 of In difesa del marxismo the theoretical magazine Of the Italian Marxist Journal FalceMartello. Retrieved on May 4, 2006 from http://www.marxist.com/women/woman_emancipation_russia_pt2.html Schuster, Alice. (July 1971): “Women’s Role in the Soviet Union: Ideology and Reality”, Russian Review , Vol.30, No. 3, pg. 260-67 Schrand, T.G. (Dec 1999): “The Five-Year Plan for Womens Labour: Constructig Socialism And the “Double Burden”, 1930-1932”. In Europe Asia Studies. Vol.51, No. 58. Pg. 1455-1478 (24) Schrand, Thomas. (1999). Soviet “Civic Minded Women” in the 1930’s: Gender, Class, and Industrialization in a Socialist Society. Journal of Women’s History. Volume 11, 126-150, Footnote References 1. Tess Lee Ack, The Marxist Tradition and Women Liberation, Socialist Alternative, Melbourne, 2005. p. 5. 2. Rossi, Elizabetta. “The Emancipation of Women in Russia before and After the Russian Rovolution,” published in issue no. 5 of In difesa del marxismo the theoretical magazine of the Italian Marxist Journal FalceMartello. 2004, Part 2, paragraph no. 20 3. Rossi, Elizabetta. “The Emancipation of Women in Russia before and After the Russian Rovolution,” published in issue no. 5 of In difesa del marxismo the theoretical magazine of the Italian Marxist Journal FalceMartello. 2004, Part 2, paragraph no. 15 4. Reid, Susan E. “All Stalin’s Women: Gender and Power in Soviet Art of the 1930s” Slavic Review, Vol.57, No. 1, 1998, pp. 160. 5. Reid, Susan E. “All Stalin’s Women: Gender and Power in Soviet Art of the 1930s” Slavic Review, Vol.57, No. 1,1998, pp.167. 6. Goldman, Wendy Z. “Women, the State and Revolution: Soviet Family Policy and Social Life, 1917-1936.” Cambridge University Press. 1993. Pp. 163. 7. Rossi, Elizabetta. “The Emancipation of Women in Russia before and After the Russian Rovolution,” published in issue no. 5 of In difesa del marxismo the theoretical magazine of the Italian Marxist Journal FalceMartello. 2004, Part 2, paragraph no. 24 8. Rossi, Elizabetta. “The Emancipation of Women in Russia before and After the Russian Rovolution,” published in issue no. 5 of In difesa del marxismo the theoretical magazine of the Italian Marxist Journal FalceMartello. 2004, Part 2, paragraph no. 25 9. Reid, Susan E.“All Stalin’s Women: Gender and Power in Soviet Art of the 1930s” Slavic Review, Vol.57, No. 1, 1998. pp.154 10. Reid, Susan E.“All Stalin’s Women: Gender and Power in Soviet Art of the 1930s” Slavic Review, Vol.57, No. 1, 1998. pp.136 Read More