著者
河本 和子
出版者
JAPAN ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
雑誌
国際政治 (ISSN:04542215)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.2008, no.152, pp.19-35,L6, 2008-03-15 (Released:2010-09-01)
参考文献数
57

This study illustrates the gender norms embedded in the socio-political orders in the Soviet Union in the past and in the Russian Federation in the present days, and also sketches how they differ each other and why. For this purpose the author examines following two aspects: the basic principles on women's role and the actual circumstances of women in the society.In the Soviet ideological principles, all the people, including women as well as men had to work. They thought that wage work would make women economically independent so that they would eventually be emancipated. The Soviet government actually encouraged women to find employment and in later period the number of female workers even slightly exceeded that of male, though female wages in general remained lower.This line of thought appears to exclude the existence of the gender notion. There was, however, another line. The Soviet government not only encouraged women to work but also expected them to bear children and take care of families as mothers. Women then had to do most of housework other than their daily jobs. This so-called “double burden” was mitigated to some extent by the state support in order that female workers could meet their responsibility at work and at home. In other words, family life was not simply a private matter but a matter of the state's concern.In spite of the heavy burden, women seemed to generally accept their gendered role with lower-wage work and housework duties, particularly if their husbands earned more. However, some soviet writers insisted especially in the period of Perestroika that women would prefer to stay home if possible economically.After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there have been no definite governmental principles on women's role as in the Soviet period. However, political and economic liberalism, which the new Russian government has adopted at least theoretically, has a certain influence on the women's position. Political liberalism draws a line between public and private affairs and this newly introduced ideology, combined with the severe economic crisis, has led to the cut-off of the state support to family. Economic liberalism justifies the dismissal of female workers for they are more expensive than male.Under these circumstances the number of female workers was drastically reduced. However, many women are still working and they represent almost half of the entire number of workers. Several researches show that women in Russia want to work rather than stay home even if possible economically. Same researches also demonstrate that women think that they should take the responsibility of doing housework and indeed they do so. Women's “double burden” and their attitude toward it survived the regime change at the present moment.

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