Wow! Your video has brought back so many memories of our family dynamic as I grew up in Australia ( Ukrainian mother and Russian father who came as refugees after WW2). My father had a small fire wood-cutting business - he'd cut down the trees and then cut them into blocks. My mother would load them on to the truck ( a 7-ton truck). Back in town, my father and I would do the deliveries and mother would cook, wash clothes , scrub floors etc late into the night. father would read the newspaper.
Thank you for sharing your story. These personal, real-life stories is probably the thing I love the most about reading the comments under my videos! :) As a story-teller, these are invaluable to me.
History is truly shocking, sometimes I think that society is only hanging by a thread, even today. For most if history there was terrible hardship and worse. That's why peace should be treasured and prayed for and we shouldn't be wasteful and appreciate everything we have. Another great video Elvira, thank you.
I have long paid attention to these issues (from a distance, of course) and to the parallels (and unparallels) in the United States. You discussed several factors that nobody else had brought to my attention.
Dear Elvira, Thank you for another well developed and informative piece. What I found interesting was how the traditional familial based cultures became changed by the "artificial" nature of both the CCCP and the USA. America is not a true culture per se, meaning that traditional and historical cultures were always familial based and supporting the tribe, the village, and the kingdom, the core unit of the sociocultural environment was ( and is in many, many places in the world ), the family. In the CCCP the state defined or applied a patina of demands upon the familial norms, but in the America it was something else. In the CCCP the center of social focus was an artificial Cult Of the Soviet Man, in America it became a Cult Of The Individual. Families who immigrated to America saw their traditional norms, beliefs, habits, and patterns slowly taken apart with each succeeding generation, and not by any state apparatus, it was by something much stronger and more insidious. The center of focus in the CCCP may have been "...the workers world revolution....", but in the US the center of focus became "....the every man as individual...". America created its own "artificial" society, it was designed to never again force an individual to be under the control of any King, Despot, Potentate, Decree, or Religion. This artificial creation allowed the individual to be freed ( by law ) from religious, social, political, and cultural norms, and even familial constraints or expectations. From the position of the traditional families, this refocusing was in some ways as destructive ( or more so ) than any demands of the CCCP State. While America is considered a nation of religions and churches, what it represents is greatly feared in other nations comprised of more ancient societies more so than the godless CCCP ever was.
Thanks for watching and your comment. You bring up a very interesting point about the who or what defined culture in USSR vs USA. What effect did Protestantism have on creating the individualistic American culture you mentioned? I always considered Protestants as having more private relationship with God, vs the Catholics, thus contributing to this individualistic effect you mentioned.
Your voice is so pleasant. If you had a better mic, and switched and alternated a little bit between left and right channel, this could be an ASMR channel. The only problem is that your listeners would probably fall asleep then :)
Your videos are lovely. The content is very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Could look into making the transitions smoother? The sliced chapters give a rigid tone to your communication. It's a bit irritating even if it helps to drive the point.
@@elvirabary You are a superb storyteller. Keep the good work. From my narrow perspective, visual fluidity will further enhance your work. As already said, the path is known but the walk is yours
Elvira is the editor, and she gets to decide the communication format. The short chapter format is very well adapted to a question answer type of communication. Once that said, the systematic back to back use of the chapter format seems a bit rigid; maybe soviet minded. Elvira seems talented enough to go beyond a boxed communication. To clarify my perspective, It's like seeing a great novelist producing only short stories. They are superb but one knows more is possible. But easy said. It takes time and energy.
Very interesting content with focus on womens history, please continue! Also, thank you for moderating "the paus tone", this piano is so much softer och very nice to listen to😊❤
Thank you for watching and your support! I'm still very new at this "RUclips" thing, so any advice from my audience is invaluable. Glad you like these transitions better. :)
The Soviet system produced some truly impressive women. For starters, the welders in the shipyards were predominantly women; welding steel plates from swings high in the air. They had the dexterity to produce superior welds. Then there is Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Natalya Kovshova, Mariya Polivanova and Rosa Shanina who retired more than 650 men. Pavlichenko went to Washington as a model of what the system could produce. The fighter Ace Lydia Litvyak.
Thank you! It was a pleasure to hear you "talking the men's case". Sometimes women forget that men also are victims of supressors. I've never given drunken Russian men much thought before - except for from the women's view 😒 Somehow I never got to the question: Why do Russian men drink so much? And this despite "Why does Jeppe drink?" being a very commen saying in Denmark. It references to a play from 1772 by Holberg. Thank you for "awakening me". Peace and love from Denmark.
You mentioned how abortion was forbidden and then allowed. But how was the situation around the contraception pill in the USSR? Was it available and what impact did it have? Thanks for many fascinating historic details, these inspire me and give depth to the real and untold situation of women in the USSR.
There were no contraception pills at all, they only appeared after the break up of the Soviet Union. Condoms were made in the Soviet Union, but there were a few and between with poor quality. The majority of people used the pull-out method and when that didn't work - abortions were the last resort.
Dear Elvira, Thank you for insights of womans life in soviet union. I still missed the point: why do russian woman allow their sons and husbands to join this war? Why on earth they allow to leave for money? I would give my son a passport, all the money I have and all i can borrow on earth and tell him not to come back, never. Where are the the memories of starvation, hunger, the loss of husbands, sons in the wars of last century? 20 mio. Deads by Hitler another 20 mio. by Stalin and there's no conclusion? Why do they back this insanity? Disappointed greetings from Germany.
Thank you for your question. I don't think there is a clear cut answer to it for every situation. Every situation is different. What I can say however is the anyone who volunteers to fight in Ukraine signs a contract, gets a lot of money upfront, a large salary, and a payout upon death, or a payout if the person gets injured. For a typical Russian man outside of big cities (and that's where primarily where recruitment happens), this opportunity represents a lot of money, probably more than he can make at his job. So, now imagine an unhappy unloving family life, where the wife is talking care of the kids, the household and the husband who's half-drunk all of the time and barely makes any money. I can totally see why the wife would not only let, but encourage her husband to sign up and fight. He is pretty worthless to her now, this way, there is a good salary and if he dies, there is a big payout to set her and her children up for a long time, so no big loss. In some cases - that's the unfortunate truth. But again, I'm generalizing quite a bit, I'm sure there are other cases where wives are totally against this idea, but the husband wants to fight, or the cases where both agree because they have been so patriotically inspired.
@@elvirabary Divorce - next level. ;) It may also be seen as a way to get out of debt, just as many have used it as a way to get out of prison? Along with the Russian: "What could possibly go wrong?" We don't know and at the moment I won't make a judgement.
Great way of putting it - totally the "next level", since divorce carries a certain stigma, while a death in war gives them a status of a "War widow of a hero".
"The USSR begun to resemble a budget version of the Russian Empire" - well said. Catchy. I wonder how nowadays Russia compares both with the USSR and the Russian Empire in your view.
Thanks for watching! Russia is definitely richer than USSR and Russian Empire, but the wealth is also highly concentrated even more so than in USSR. That concentration of wealth (and by extension Power) is the reason why the ruling class is out of touch with ordinary Russians and the rest of the world. I would go as far as to you say that Russian political elites are richer than any of the political elites in the West.
A fascinating historical outlook on Russia. In the progressive west; women have been liberated to find work in various industries; earning enough to maintain a household. So much of their material needs are met that some of them have taken on the task of 'having' children single handedly. What is to become of these children (especially the boys) growing up in these family environments/ dynamics ?
Interestingly enough, in my next video I'm going to talk about how Russian propaganda works, and how the traditional value theme is being pushed by the regime, which in reality has very little to do with the culture itself. Stay tuned! :)
You mentioned that female authors were looked down upon, but in modern day, most of the popular Young Adult and Fantasy authors are women, like JK Rowling, Sarah j Mass, Leigh Bardugo, Marissa Meyer, Madeline Miller, Suzanne Clarke and many others. Male authors tend to write epic fantasy with many battles, and Science fiction.
Thanks for your comment. You're absolutely correct, female authors have come a long way in our modern times. In the video, I was talking about Soviet female authors specifically. Soviet era ended around 1991.
Regrettably, the acoustics on your videos is bad, making them difficult to understand. There is echo and the high frequencies are too dominant. Maybe look at more sound absorbing materials and get a better microphone.
Thanks for your comment, I'm playing around with my audio, I believe this audio is an improvement over my previous ones. Sound absorption might be the culprit, but I will into different microphones as well.
I think in Russia nowadays it's "back to the kitchen" until it becomes "we need you to go and fight in the SMO." However this will only apply to the poor Russian women, of whom there is no shortage.
So far, not too many Russian women have been observed to be on the frontlines in Ukraine and they have mostly served as medics not combatants. To be honest I don't know if Russian men's' misogynistic tendencies would allowed women to fight side by side.
@@elvirabary I take your point but Russia is desperate enough to send injured and wounded men back to The Front and is prepared to use completely ineffective North Korean troops as "meat." Given the vaunted history of Soviet female combatants it is not much of a step to send women into the meat grinder, unaccompanied if necessary, to waste Ukrainian ammunition. Women are otherwise economically and demographically next to useless, surplus to requirements, from the point of view of the government given the high casualties of men. Women are presently manly kept for domestic duties, not factory work. I think this is ghastly and horrific but I can see the Kremlin weighing up the options.
Women are actually the most important element when it comes to demographics. They are the ones who chose whether to have children or not. Right now, given how dire the demographic situation is in Russia, the government is courting Russian women to have more children with various economic and cultural incentives.
Although, i would agree with most of the statements. The narrative feels in an "absolute" sense ( looking from today's perspective). Better comparisons could be made in relation to other societies. In the US, arguably, emancipation of women didn't happen till 60-70ies.
In many ways Soviet Union had to emancipate women, as it's male demographic was always under threat, either from wars, diseases or alcoholism, so they had to invite women into the workforce as there weren't many other options available.
Did you say that rural soviet mothers would simply stop feeding their babies if they felt they couldn't afford it? So they would just watch their babies slowly starve to death?
This practice wasn’t unique to Russia; it was common across all cultures. Take, for example, Charles Perrault’s Hop-o’-My-Thumb en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hop-o%27-My-Thumb For much of history, hunger was a constant companion. Adults frequently prioritized teenagers over babies, as infant mortality rates were extraordinarily high - up to 50% of babies died due to disease and injury.
@elvirabary I have seen some very poor parts of the world and very bad family planning. Except in cases of famine, even very large poor families seem to find a way to feed themselves at least enough to survive, albeit stunted. I guess you may have been referring to situations of famine.
In an environment with less abundance survival is less taken for granted. I would guess this is the reason for the current stability of the Russian leadership. People in the countryside doesn't necessarily have the means to support themselves. They won't bite the hand that feeds them.
Thank you for your comment. Women generally were less repressed by the Stalin's regime than men, but it still happened quite a lot. For example few of the wives of the prominent Soviet leaders got arrested, while their husbands did not. Also, if the woman's powerful benefactor (lover) got arrested, she could get swept up as well.
When you initiated the three videos on Russian women, I immediately thought of this Vlad Vexler video on the subject. Vexler is, as always, nuanced and empathetic in his perception of the common man and woman of Russia, the victims of the toxic reign of the Soviet experiment. So, I am interested in your own response to this video. ruclips.net/video/rjKt4es1-Zo/видео.htmlsi=D0wXAC7QE38aQ_i1 The intercepted phone conversation was utterly shocking, odious and baffling to people in the West. It begs for explanation.
Interesting, thanks for the link. I remember that the recording he's talking about. My take is that some people are just stupid, evil or both, so the wife in the recording is probably just that. I wouldn't extrapolate it to all the Russian women. I will note two things: 1. The majority of the men who are fighting in Ukraine, got recruited from small towns and cities and are generally not well educated, with some of them even doing time in prison. 2. Their wives are probably of the same caliber and their family live matches their lifestyle and what they know and experience. So, while it's shocking to hear, these actions are probably not too far from what they experience regularly in Russia.
Some part of protecting boys from the harsh reality of life was understandable and highly justified : The USSR after 1960 was not a backward third world society , and had many similarities in common with highly developed economies : 50 -60 % of Western living standards , infrastructure , transport , televisions, telephones , education , science , technology , medical care . Conversely , while European countries abolished National Service and the army ... USSR put all 18 year olds into the army , where life was unbearably horrific ... or - as with Afghanistan 1979-89 fatal or very dangerous. Against this background , parents wanted to avoid their children being conscripted and therefore shielded them .
Marrying a Russian woman could be culturally difficult for us as well , because we in the West were brought up with ideas of western equality and feminism , which would be thought alien in the Russia of the 1980s/90s Russia , as all the social value systems were different and came from different cultural roots ... Russia's " equality " was much less based on a progressive humanistic philosophy at furthering the individual and him-hers emotional happiness .... but rather coming from a tragic history : A messy mixture of 1920s socialism / Stalinism's counter- reaction to those radical politics / and also ultra-traditional patriarchal gender roles , underlaid by the Orthodox Church and CENTURIES of non-western culture . The West went through the Enlightenment ( " I Think Therefore I Am " ) and the gradual development of individualism , capitalism and eventually - Human Rights . . . . . Russia was suddenly catapulted from a feudal slave society 1861 into a scientific marxism which goes horribly wrong . What endured was collectivism , fatalism , tolerance and an understanding that I WILL SUFFER , I ENJOY SUFFERING ; AND WILL IMPOSE SUFFERING ON OTHERS . ( Hence in the 70s- 90s , sometimes women were desperate to get out of that incarcerated prison-state which Russia had become ) . Anecdotal accounts of the 1970-80s were that some Soviets were so fascinated by contact with Westerners that men would allow sex with their wives .... if it enabled friendship and contact with Americans and Europeans from this mesmerising world on the outside
Interesting point, thanks for your comment. Wouldn't it have the opposite of the desired effect? If a boy was shielded all his life all of a sudden found himself in Soviet Military, I doubt he'd be well prepared to handle it psychologically.
I am referring to дедовщина .... That level of hierarchy , violence and torture in the Red Army in the 70s/ 80s / 90s was extreme , and knows no parralel in wealthy countries ... Some recruits died from it , or committed suicide . Better connected Soviet families or those with resources could often delay or prevent their sons being recruited into the army . Despite what совок s and the current tidal wave of nostalgic Russian nationalists might tell us , the hopelessness of some lives in the USSR would place the Soviet Union closer to being the Middle Ages than post-enlightenment Europe . The quality of life and society were even worse in the asian republics than in comfortable Moscow . My girlfriend , Vera in 1994 recounted numerous stories of struggling through life in the late 70s and 80s : rape was often a girl's first experience .... , abortions as many as eight over 10 years etc etc . The underbelly of life for some women in the USSR could be a society plagued by deprivation and oppression .
Oh ok, I understand now, I'm well aware of дедовщина. I believe this exact system of torture and violence in the Soviet Army is what screwed up my cousin's life. From what I remember Daniil was a pretty normal young man, but I suspect that he incurred some brain damage while in the army, because he came back a totally different person, unable and unwilling to take care of his responsibilities. He is on disability to this day, living with elderly mother (my mom's sister), who takes care of all of the bills.
See the Premier of my latest video "Inside Russia's Propaganda Machine" here: ruclips.net/video/kyXfbM-kTP8/видео.html
Wow! Your video has brought back so many memories of our family dynamic as I grew up in Australia ( Ukrainian mother and Russian father who came as refugees after WW2). My father had a small fire wood-cutting business - he'd cut down the trees and then cut them into blocks. My mother would load them on to the truck ( a 7-ton truck). Back in town, my father and I would do the deliveries and mother would cook, wash clothes , scrub floors etc late into the night. father would read the newspaper.
Thank you for sharing your story. These personal, real-life stories is probably the thing I love the most about reading the comments under my videos! :) As a story-teller, these are invaluable to me.
Fascinating video as always!
Thank you for watching!
- couldn't agree more.
History is truly shocking, sometimes I think that society is only hanging by a thread, even today. For most if history there was terrible hardship and worse. That's why peace should be treasured and prayed for and we shouldn't be wasteful and appreciate everything we have. Another great video Elvira, thank you.
Thank you for watching and your support!
Interesting video Elvira. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your support!
A very great video, your energy though out is inspiring. Great work, thank you.
Thank you for watching!
I have long paid attention to these issues (from a distance, of course) and to the parallels (and unparallels) in the United States. You discussed several factors that nobody else had brought to my attention.
Thank you for your support!
Dear Elvira, Thank you for another well developed and informative piece. What I found interesting was how the traditional familial based cultures became changed by the "artificial" nature of both the CCCP and the USA.
America is not a true culture per se, meaning that traditional and historical cultures were always familial based and supporting the tribe, the village, and the kingdom, the core unit of the sociocultural environment was ( and is in many, many places in the world ), the family.
In the CCCP the state defined or applied a patina of demands upon the familial norms, but in the America it was something else. In the CCCP the center of social focus was an artificial Cult Of the Soviet Man, in America it became a Cult Of The Individual. Families who immigrated to America saw their traditional norms, beliefs, habits, and patterns slowly taken apart with each succeeding generation, and not by any state apparatus, it was by something much stronger and more insidious.
The center of focus in the CCCP may have been "...the workers world revolution....", but in the US the center of focus became "....the every man as individual...". America created its own "artificial" society, it was designed to never again force an individual to be under the control of any King, Despot, Potentate, Decree, or Religion.
This artificial creation allowed the individual to be freed ( by law ) from religious, social, political, and cultural norms, and even familial constraints or expectations. From the position of the traditional families, this refocusing was in some ways as destructive ( or more so ) than any demands of the CCCP State. While America is considered a nation of religions and churches, what it represents is greatly feared in other nations comprised of more ancient societies more so than the godless CCCP ever was.
Thanks for watching and your comment. You bring up a very interesting point about the who or what defined culture in USSR vs USA. What effect did Protestantism have on creating the individualistic American culture you mentioned? I always considered Protestants as having more private relationship with God, vs the Catholics, thus contributing to this individualistic effect you mentioned.
HAPPY OLD NEW YEAR ❤❤❤
Thank you and Happy New Year and best wishes to you!
I enjoyed this video.
Thank you for watching!
Tremendous video, sorry it took me so long to find time to watch it. 🥴
Thank you so much for your support!
Your voice is so pleasant. If you had a better mic, and switched and alternated a little bit between left and right channel, this could be an ASMR channel. The only problem is that your listeners would probably fall asleep then :)
Thanks for watching. I'm working on making my audio better, however I don't think it'll ever turn into ASMR :)
@@elvirabary Haha, yes ASMR is a bit cheesy. I will keep on listening no matter what.
A fascinating narrative and insight. Many thanks.
Thank you
Thanks for your support!
Your videos are lovely. The content is very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Could look into making the transitions smoother? The sliced chapters give a rigid tone to your communication. It's a bit irritating even if it helps to drive the point.
Thank you for your feedback, I will definitely look into it. As an unexperienced RUclipsr I'm still learning the editing tools. :)
@@elvirabary You are a superb storyteller. Keep the good work. From my narrow perspective, visual fluidity will further enhance your work. As already said, the path is known but the walk is yours
I think that breaking it up into chapters is sensible and aids the story.
@@Daytona2 - agree, so please keep the format.
Elvira is the editor, and she gets to decide the communication format. The short chapter format is very well adapted to a question answer type of communication. Once that said, the systematic back to back use of the chapter format seems a bit rigid; maybe soviet minded. Elvira seems talented enough to go beyond a boxed communication. To clarify my perspective, It's like seeing a great novelist producing only short stories. They are superb but one knows more is possible. But easy said. It takes time and energy.
Elvira, you're improving my life quality 🥰 - and I'm Danish 😂
That's a hard thing to do! I always read about how Nordic countries score highest on happiness index! :)
@@elvirabary Yep! You can be proud 🤩
Elvira, come for a visit to Vancouver BC.
I've been to Vancouver before, we enjoyed it very much, it's a very green city. Next two Canadian cities to visit on my list are Montreal and Toronto.
@@elvirabary Elvira, as a Canadian Ukrainian, it really warms my heart when I meet one as yourself. God bless!
Very interesting content with focus on womens history, please continue!
Also, thank you for moderating "the paus tone", this piano is so much softer och very nice to listen to😊❤
Thank you for watching and your support! I'm still very new at this "RUclips" thing, so any advice from my audience is invaluable. Glad you like these transitions better. :)
Thanks for your energy and Humanism which survives and brings resolution and salvation over time
Thank you for watching and your support!
I worked in IT and made many friends among the Russians who came to the USA in the 1990s & 2000s.
Thanks for watching! I know that many Russians tend to gravitate towards STEM jobs (such as IT) due to their strong math educational foundation.
Always good, so I return to these videos.
Thank you for your support!
The Soviet system produced some truly impressive women.
For starters, the welders in the shipyards were predominantly women; welding steel plates from swings high in the air. They had the dexterity to produce superior welds.
Then there is Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Natalya Kovshova, Mariya Polivanova and Rosa Shanina who retired more than 650 men. Pavlichenko went to Washington as a model of what the system could produce.
The fighter Ace Lydia Litvyak.
Thanks for watching and your comment.
Thank you!
It was a pleasure to hear you "talking the men's case". Sometimes women forget that men also are victims of supressors.
I've never given drunken Russian men much thought before - except for from the women's view 😒 Somehow I never got to the question: Why do Russian men drink so much?
And this despite "Why does Jeppe drink?" being a very commen saying in Denmark. It references to a play from 1772 by Holberg.
Thank you for "awakening me". Peace and love from Denmark.
Thanks for watching!
I read “An Unwomanly Way of War”
Interesting, but sad - especially the last part. Lovelife should continue in all life stages, is so important part of being human 😊
You mentioned how abortion was forbidden and then allowed. But how was the situation around the contraception pill in the USSR? Was it available and what impact did it have?
Thanks for many fascinating historic details, these inspire me and give depth to the real and untold situation of women in the USSR.
There were no contraception pills at all, they only appeared after the break up of the Soviet Union. Condoms were made in the Soviet Union, but there were a few and between with poor quality. The majority of people used the pull-out method and when that didn't work - abortions were the last resort.
Dear Elvira,
Thank you for insights of womans life in soviet union.
I still missed the point: why do russian woman allow their sons and husbands to join this war?
Why on earth they allow to leave for money?
I would give my son a passport, all the money I have and all i can borrow on earth and tell him not to come back, never.
Where are the the memories of starvation, hunger, the loss of husbands, sons in the wars of last century? 20 mio. Deads by Hitler another 20 mio. by Stalin and there's no conclusion? Why do they back this insanity?
Disappointed greetings from Germany.
Thank you for your question. I don't think there is a clear cut answer to it for every situation. Every situation is different. What I can say however is the anyone who volunteers to fight in Ukraine signs a contract, gets a lot of money upfront, a large salary, and a payout upon death, or a payout if the person gets injured. For a typical Russian man outside of big cities (and that's where primarily where recruitment happens), this opportunity represents a lot of money, probably more than he can make at his job.
So, now imagine an unhappy unloving family life, where the wife is talking care of the kids, the household and the husband who's half-drunk all of the time and barely makes any money. I can totally see why the wife would not only let, but encourage her husband to sign up and fight. He is pretty worthless to her now, this way, there is a good salary and if he dies, there is a big payout to set her and her children up for a long time, so no big loss. In some cases - that's the unfortunate truth.
But again, I'm generalizing quite a bit, I'm sure there are other cases where wives are totally against this idea, but the husband wants to fight, or the cases where both agree because they have been so patriotically inspired.
@@elvirabary Divorce - next level. ;)
It may also be seen as a way to get out of debt, just as many have used it as a way to get out of prison? Along with the Russian: "What could possibly go wrong?"
We don't know and at the moment I won't make a judgement.
Great way of putting it - totally the "next level", since divorce carries a certain stigma, while a death in war gives them a status of a "War widow of a hero".
@@elvirabaryI think the first illustration is the more likely.
"The USSR begun to resemble a budget version of the Russian Empire" - well said. Catchy.
I wonder how nowadays Russia compares both with the USSR and the Russian Empire in your view.
Thanks for watching! Russia is definitely richer than USSR and Russian Empire, but the wealth is also highly concentrated even more so than in USSR. That concentration of wealth (and by extension Power) is the reason why the ruling class is out of touch with ordinary Russians and the rest of the world. I would go as far as to you say that Russian political elites are richer than any of the political elites in the West.
Ljudmila Ulitskaja, Politkovskaja, Jelena Tsizova- best modern novelists from Russia with wonderful male Sentsin!
@@jmespoo All of them bloomed after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
@ Great video again!
Sad story that of Russia and the Russians
A fascinating historical outlook on Russia. In the progressive west; women have been liberated to find work in various industries; earning enough to maintain a household. So much of their material needs are met that some of them have taken on the task of 'having' children single handedly. What is to become of these children (especially the boys) growing up in these family environments/ dynamics ?
Well, we are observing the results now in Russia - docile and passive population who are unlike for stand up for their rights.
@@elvirabary Kind of a shame. I thought Russia had managed to navigate away from these ill effects. (With the traditional values themes).
Interestingly enough, in my next video I'm going to talk about how Russian propaganda works, and how the traditional value theme is being pushed by the regime, which in reality has very little to do with the culture itself. Stay tuned! :)
You mentioned that female authors were looked down upon, but in modern day, most of the popular Young Adult and Fantasy authors are women, like JK Rowling, Sarah j Mass, Leigh Bardugo, Marissa Meyer, Madeline Miller, Suzanne Clarke and many others. Male authors tend to write epic fantasy with many battles, and Science fiction.
Thanks for your comment. You're absolutely correct, female authors have come a long way in our modern times. In the video, I was talking about Soviet female authors specifically. Soviet era ended around 1991.
Regrettably, the acoustics on your videos is bad, making them difficult to understand. There is echo and the high frequencies are too dominant. Maybe look at more sound absorbing materials and get a better microphone.
Thanks for your comment, I'm playing around with my audio, I believe this audio is an improvement over my previous ones. Sound absorption might be the culprit, but I will into different microphones as well.
You are such a nice lady
I think in Russia nowadays it's "back to the kitchen" until it becomes "we need you to go and fight in the SMO." However this will only apply to the poor Russian women, of whom there is no shortage.
So far, not too many Russian women have been observed to be on the frontlines in Ukraine and they have mostly served as medics not combatants. To be honest I don't know if Russian men's' misogynistic tendencies would allowed women to fight side by side.
@@elvirabary I take your point but Russia is desperate enough to send injured and wounded men back to The Front and is prepared to use completely ineffective North Korean troops as "meat." Given the vaunted history of Soviet female combatants it is not much of a step to send women into the meat grinder, unaccompanied if necessary, to waste Ukrainian ammunition.
Women are otherwise economically and demographically next to useless, surplus to requirements, from the point of view of the government given the high casualties of men. Women are presently manly kept for domestic duties, not factory work. I think this is ghastly and horrific but I can see the Kremlin weighing up the options.
Women are actually the most important element when it comes to demographics. They are the ones who chose whether to have children or not. Right now, given how dire the demographic situation is in Russia, the government is courting Russian women to have more children with various economic and cultural incentives.
👍🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳
Although, i would agree with most of the statements. The narrative feels in an "absolute" sense ( looking from today's perspective). Better comparisons could be made in relation to other societies. In the US, arguably, emancipation of women didn't happen till 60-70ies.
In many ways Soviet Union had to emancipate women, as it's male demographic was always under threat, either from wars, diseases or alcoholism, so they had to invite women into the workforce as there weren't many other options available.
So "Udarnik" is how to perform egalitarianism without actually bothering with egalitarianism
E. Europe was always matriarchical, you can easily see it in the folklore - take "The fisherman and the gold fish" for example.
That's true, there are lots of Russian folklore tales where females are the dominant ones in the story.
Did you say that rural soviet mothers would simply stop feeding their babies if they felt they couldn't afford it? So they would just watch their babies slowly starve to death?
This practice wasn’t unique to Russia; it was common across all cultures. Take, for example, Charles Perrault’s Hop-o’-My-Thumb en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hop-o%27-My-Thumb
For much of history, hunger was a constant companion. Adults frequently prioritized teenagers over babies, as infant mortality rates were extraordinarily high - up to 50% of babies died due to disease and injury.
@elvirabary I have seen some very poor parts of the world and very bad family planning. Except in cases of famine, even very large poor families seem to find a way to feed themselves at least enough to survive, albeit stunted. I guess you may have been referring to situations of famine.
Yes, the situation would have to extreme for this to happen. Life-or-Death kind of a thing.
In an environment with less abundance survival is less taken for granted. I would guess this is the reason for the current stability of the Russian leadership. People in the countryside doesn't necessarily have the means to support themselves. They won't bite the hand that feeds them.
I think that so many Russian and Eastern European are so beautiful is because beautiful women were largely spared during Stalin's purges..
Thank you for your comment. Women generally were less repressed by the Stalin's regime than men, but it still happened quite a lot. For example few of the wives of the prominent Soviet leaders got arrested, while their husbands did not. Also, if the woman's powerful benefactor (lover) got arrested, she could get swept up as well.
When you initiated the three videos on Russian women, I immediately thought of this Vlad Vexler video on the subject. Vexler is, as always, nuanced and empathetic in his perception of the common man and woman of Russia, the victims of the toxic reign of the Soviet experiment. So, I am interested in your own response to this video.
ruclips.net/video/rjKt4es1-Zo/видео.htmlsi=D0wXAC7QE38aQ_i1
The intercepted phone conversation was utterly shocking, odious and baffling to people in the West. It begs for explanation.
Interesting, thanks for the link. I remember that the recording he's talking about. My take is that some people are just stupid, evil or both, so the wife in the recording is probably just that. I wouldn't extrapolate it to all the Russian women. I will note two things:
1. The majority of the men who are fighting in Ukraine, got recruited from small towns and cities and are generally not well educated, with some of them even doing time in prison.
2. Their wives are probably of the same caliber and their family live matches their lifestyle and what they know and experience.
So, while it's shocking to hear, these actions are probably not too far from what they experience regularly in Russia.
:))
What's your age?
- that piece of info is given in the video.
49
Some part of protecting boys from the harsh reality of life was understandable and highly justified : The USSR after 1960 was not a backward third world society , and had many similarities in common with highly developed economies : 50 -60 % of Western living standards , infrastructure , transport , televisions, telephones , education , science , technology , medical care . Conversely , while European countries abolished National Service and the army ... USSR put all 18 year olds into the army , where life was unbearably horrific ... or - as with Afghanistan 1979-89 fatal or very dangerous. Against this background , parents wanted to avoid their children being conscripted and therefore shielded them .
Marrying a Russian woman could be culturally difficult for us as well , because we in the West were brought up with ideas of western equality and feminism , which would be thought alien in the Russia of the 1980s/90s Russia , as all the social value systems were different and came from different cultural roots ... Russia's " equality " was much less based on a progressive humanistic philosophy at furthering the individual and him-hers emotional happiness .... but rather coming from a tragic history : A messy mixture of 1920s socialism / Stalinism's counter- reaction to those radical politics / and also ultra-traditional patriarchal gender roles , underlaid by the Orthodox Church and CENTURIES of non-western culture . The West went through the Enlightenment ( " I Think Therefore I Am " ) and the gradual development of individualism , capitalism and eventually - Human Rights . . . . . Russia was suddenly catapulted from a feudal slave society 1861 into a scientific marxism which goes horribly wrong . What endured was collectivism , fatalism , tolerance and an understanding that I WILL SUFFER , I ENJOY SUFFERING ; AND WILL IMPOSE SUFFERING ON OTHERS . ( Hence in the 70s- 90s , sometimes women were desperate to get out of that incarcerated prison-state which Russia had become ) . Anecdotal accounts of the 1970-80s were that some Soviets were so fascinated by contact with Westerners that men would allow sex with their wives .... if it enabled friendship and contact with Americans and Europeans from this mesmerising world on the outside
Interesting point, thanks for your comment. Wouldn't it have the opposite of the desired effect? If a boy was shielded all his life all of a sudden found himself in Soviet Military, I doubt he'd be well prepared to handle it psychologically.
@@elvirabary
you miss my point
I am referring to дедовщина .... That level of hierarchy , violence and torture in the Red Army in the 70s/ 80s / 90s was extreme , and knows no parralel in wealthy countries ... Some recruits died from it , or committed suicide . Better connected Soviet families or those with resources could often delay or prevent their sons being recruited into the army . Despite what совок s and the current tidal wave of nostalgic Russian nationalists might tell us , the hopelessness of some lives in the USSR would place the Soviet Union closer to being the Middle Ages than post-enlightenment Europe . The quality of life and society were even worse in the asian republics than in comfortable Moscow . My girlfriend , Vera in 1994 recounted numerous stories of struggling through life in the late 70s and 80s : rape was often a girl's first experience .... , abortions as many as eight over 10 years etc etc . The underbelly of life for some women in the USSR could be a society plagued by deprivation and oppression .
Oh ok, I understand now, I'm well aware of дедовщина. I believe this exact system of torture and violence in the Soviet Army is what screwed up my cousin's life. From what I remember Daniil was a pretty normal young man, but I suspect that he incurred some brain damage while in the army, because he came back a totally different person, unable and unwilling to take care of his responsibilities. He is on disability to this day, living with elderly mother (my mom's sister), who takes care of all of the bills.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Kaplan