Soviet woman in society and family

[AgentSonya]

Polenina S.V.

Soviet woman in society and family

1. The Great October Socialist Revolution brought all citizens of Russia, all nations and nationalities living on its territory, all men and women freedom from exploitation, from national oppression, classequality. Already a month after the revolution - in December 1917 - the laws of the Russian Empire were repealed, limiting the rights of women in the family in relation to children, property, and upon divorce.marriage. For the first time, women in Russia received the right to freely choose their profession, place of residence, and receive an education. A decree was issued introducing equal pay for equal work for men and women.Women's equality in political and civil rights was enshrined in the first Soviet Constitution, adopted in July 1918. In Art. 64 of this Constitution it was especially emphasized that “citizens of both sexes” enjoy the right to vote and be elected. For almost seventy years that have passed since then, all the constitutions in force in our country have invariably proclaimed the principleequality of women and men, and its implementation and specification in relation to individual spheres, areas of political, economic, cultural and social life was widely reflected in all Soviet legislation.

That is why the experience of solving the women's issue in the USSR - this social task of historical importance - achieving realThe equality of women with men is of particular importance, especially for developing countries, and its propaganda serves as an important stimulus for the struggle for women's rights throughout the world.

2. The concept of solving the women's issue under socialism is based on the fact that women perform three main social functions in society: citizens, workers, and mothers. It is in the implementation by women of each of these functions separately and all of them together that women’s contribution to the development of society lies. This determines the role of the state and society in resolving the women's issue, which consists of creating the necessary not only legal, but also social and material prerequisites for women to successfully combine the performance of each of these functions.

At the same time, the concept of solving the women's issue in the USSR (and in other European socialist countries) is based on the fact that the determining factorequality of women in society and family is their participation in social production, in socially productive labor [[Lenin V.I. Full collection cit., vol. 39, p. 201.]]. This is due to the fact that at different stages of the development of the Soviet state, specific issues related to the participation of women in state and public life, their work activities, and the improvement of general educational and professional levels were and are being solved as state tasks. Therefore, they were not only considered, but also implemented simultaneously with the implementation of other tasks facing society:industrialization of the country,collectivization of agriculture, liquidationunemployment, elimination of illiteracy, restoration of the national economy after the Great Patriotic Warwars of 1941-1945 and etc.

3. Althoughequality of women and men by law was established in Soviet Russia already in the first months of the existence of the new government, it did not yet mean themequality in life. This circumstance was repeatedly emphasized by the founder of the Soviet state V.I. Lenin[[Lenin V.I. Full collection cit., vol. 29, p. 396.]]. That is why, throughout its entire existence, the efforts of the Soviet state and society have been concentrated mainly on creating the social and material prerequisites for the actualequality of women with men.

Special mention should be made of the fact thatequality of women and men de jure has never been and is not considered in the Soviet state as the identity of their legalstatus. The Soviet concept of solving the women's issue is based on the fact that a simple equalization of the rights of women and men does not yet provide a genuineequality of women who, while performing the same functions in society as men, also carry out their own specific function - the functionmotherhood. It follows that genuineequality between women and men is possible only when women, having all the same rights as men, are also endowed with additional rights andbenefits. That's why ensuring implementationequal rights of women and men serve, according to Art. 35 of the USSR Constitution of 1977 , not only equal opportunities in obtaining education and professional training, in work, remuneration for it and promotion at work, in socio-political and cultural activities, but also special measures for labor protection and women’s health: conditions, allowing a woman to combine work withmotherhood; legal protection, material and moral supportmotherhood and childhood, including the provision of paid leave and otherbenefitspregnant women and mothers, a gradual reduction in working hours for women with young children.

Taking this circumstance into account is of paramount importance for the correct interpretation of the agreement signed by the Soviet UnionConvention of December 18, 1979 “On the Elimination of All Forms ofdiscrimination against women"[["Vedomosti of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR", 1982, No. 25, p. 464.]].

4. Women's participation in social production provides them not only with economic independence. It also serves as the basis for the formation of socially significant qualities in women: responsibility for their actions and for the affairs of the team, understanding of civic duty, a sense of unity with society, and social activity. All this shapes a woman as a person and strengthens her prestige in the family.

Under socialism, women widely use their right to work. There are 142 million women living in the USSR, which is more than 53% of the total population. As a general rule, women in our country do not limit their activities only to the family, but also work in public production or study on the job. Thus, women make up 51% of the total number of workers and employees. The role of women’s hands in the country’s agriculture is no less significant (47%). These figures have been stable for more than 10 years and have no tendency to decrease as the material well-being of Soviet people grows. As is known, sociological studies also indicate that the majority of women have not only material, but also moral and psychological interest in active professional and socio-political life. It is no coincidence that the number of women receiving government awards and honorary titles in the USSR for their work is so large.

An increase in the proportion of women employed in social production is typical in the USSR for all union republics, including those where previouslya woman’s life from birth to death was regulated by the provisions of adat (customary law) and sharia (Muslim law), which doomed her to the fate of a slave, who was considered asfather's property, and after marriage - ashusband's property. During the years of Soviet power, the percentage of women in the total number of workers and employees increased in the republics of Central Asia (from 1928 to 1981): in the Uzbek SSR from 18 to 43%, i.e. 2.5 times; in the Kirghiz SSR from 11 to 48%, i.e. 4 times; in the Tajik SSR from 7 to 39%, i.e. 5 times and in the Turkmen SSR from 25 to 41%, i.e. 1.5 times[["BulletinStatistics", 1979, No. 1, p. 72; 1982, No. 1, p. 69.]].

The quantitative increase in women's participation in social production is accompanied in the Soviet Union by profound qualitative changes in the professional structure of women's labor. Before the Great October Socialist Revolution, almost all working women were engaged in unskilled labor, as evidenced by the 1897 census data [["Women of the world in the struggle for social progress." M., 1972, p. 29.]]

While putting forward the task of involving women in social production, the Soviet state simultaneously implemented and is implementing a whole range of measures designed to raise the qualifications of women's labor. It is enough to mention that at present, women working in production, given their overall workload, including in the family, are given the opportunity to improve their skills outside of production.

The scientific and technological revolution has a significant impact on the nature of women's work. Mechanization and automation of production processes, increasing the scientific organization of labor contribute to expanding the boundaries of the use of female labor. Accordingly, the share of women in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, instrument making and other technically advanced industries is increasing.

As a result, now in the USSR every third engineer is a woman; For every 4 doctors there are 3 women. The total number of women engaged in scientific activities or who are members of creative unions is also growing.

At the same time, even today the call of V.I. Lenin to the point that “women workers should take more and more part in the management of public enterprises and in the management of the state. By managing, women will learn quickly and catch up with men” [[Lenin V.I. Full collection cit., vol. 42, p. 369.]]. Thus, of the total number of teachers in the USSR, women make up 71%. Women head 85% of primary schools. However, among the directors of eight-year schools there are only 38% of them, and among the directors of secondary schools - 34%[["Vestnikstatistics", 1982, No. 1, p. 71]. A similar trend is observed in other areas of the national economy and social life. This circumstance was especially noted at the XXVI Congress of the CPSU, which recognized that the opportunities for promoting women to responsible positions have not yet been realized fully and that this situation needs to be corrected [[Materials of the XXVI Congress of the CPSU. M., Politizdat, 1981, p. 72.]].

5. The social activity of Soviet women is largely due to the fact that they have unlimited access to education. In the USSR, the right to education is guaranteed both for men and women, both legislatively and financially. As a result, over the past 20 years, women have made up 59% of the total number of specialists with higher and secondary specialized education employed in the national economy in the USSR. In 1981, women made up 52% ​​of students in higher educational institutions and 56% of students in secondary specialized educational institutions[["Bulletinstatistics", 1982, No. 1, p. 72.]]. It follows that in terms of the level of general and special education, women in the USSR have achieved actualequality with men. This is another real guarantee of their equal right to work and pay.

At the same time, the implementation of the requirements of the XXVI Congress of the CPSU to eliminate shortcomings in the promotion of women to responsible positions makes it necessary to carry out a more targeted personnel policy in this matter, including in the selection of applicants to higher educational institutions, in the distribution of female university graduates and the formation of a contingent of students of higher educational institutions. party schools and educational institutions that train personnel for managing the national economy.

6. Actualequality of women with men in the world of work is to a large extent predetermined by legalthe status of a woman as a member of the workforce.

Soviet labor legislation widely takes into account the physiological and psychological characteristics of the female body, which is sometimes interpreted by our ideological opponents even as a kind of departure from the principleequality of men and women. It is prohibited to use women's labor in heavy and underground work, as well as in work that is harmful to the female body.working conditions (in some workshops of the chemical, printing, leather industries, etc.). Dismissal is not allowedpregnant women and women with children under one year of age. In order to create conditions for women workers, office workers and collective farmers to combine work in production withmaternity women are provided with paid leave forpregnancy andchildbirth lasting 112 calendar days and partially paid parental leave until the child reaches the age of one year, and without savingwages - and for the next six months of the child’s life. At the same time, the woman retains continuous work experience and work experience in her specialty, giving certainprivileges.

Pregnant women, in accordance with a doctor’s opinion, are transferred to easier work while maintaining their average earnings for their previous job; working women with children under one year of age are provided with paid breaks for feeding the child, etc. Measures are being taken to widely spread the practice of working part-time or part-time, convenient for many women, as well as working from home. All these rights are widely enjoyed by millions of Soviet women.

In the future, it seems necessary to continue the line of strengthening labor protection and health of working women, taking into account the characteristics of the female body. First of all, it is important to completely complete the liberation of women from performing heavy and other unfavorable work for health, providing them with qualified and, accordingly, no less paid work, to improve the mechanization of labor-intensive manual work, to reduce and then completely eliminate the work of women on night shifts.

Supervision and control over the observance of women's labor rights is carried out by local authorities, ministries and departments, prosecutors, trade unions, as well as specially authorized state bodies and inspectorates.

7. Soviet women are active not only in the industrial sphere, but also in the socio-political sphere. Women widely use the right granted to them by the Constitution of the USSR and the Constitutions of the union and autonomous republics to elect and be elected to all bodies of state power. In the 1980 elections, more than a million women were elected as deputies of local Councils of People's Deputies - 50% of the total number of deputies[["VestnikStatistics", 1982, No. 1, p. 68.]]. Thousands of women have been elected as chairmen and deputy chairmen of executive committees of local government bodies, head departments of local Soviets, and work in Soviet commissions. The number of women among deputies of the Supreme Soviets of the Union republics is constantly increasing. and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.Women deputies - workers, collective farmers, doctors, teachers, engineers, cultural and art workers, heads of institutions and enterprises - combine government activities with their production work.

Not only women elected to the Soviets actively participate in the social and political life of the country. Many women occupy important government positions, are deputy chairmen of the Councils of Ministers of the Union republics, are members of the government of these republics, occupy the position of heads of ministries and departments in the republics, and work in leadership positions in party, Komsomol and trade union bodies.

Before the Great October Socialist Revolution, Russian women were not allowed to administer justice at all. The Soviet government began to widely attract women to work in the courts, justice and prosecutor's offices. The participation of women in this area of ​​government activity testified not only to the emancipation of women, but was also the result of a breakdown and restructuring of the psychology of men who had not previously imagined, especially in the Central Asian republics, the possibility of administering justice by women. Now in the Tajik SSR the percentage of women among people's judges is 17.6% and among people's assessors - 45.1%. In the Kirghiz SSR these figures are 25% and 49%, respectively, and in the Latvian SSR - 53.3% and 57%. In the whole country there are now more than 3 thousand women people's judges, i.e. every third people's judge is a woman. Among people's assessors in the USSR as a whole, more than half are women[["VestnikStatistics", 1979, No. 1, p. 71.

]].

At the same time, it should be noted that at the All-Union scientific-coordination interdepartmental meeting of legal scholars and practical law enforcement officials, held in Moscow in November 1984 and dedicated to the connection between legal science and practice, a representative of the Sverdlovsk Law Institute specifically focused on the difficulties associated with the direction of female university graduates to work in law enforcement and Soviet bodies.

The active participation of women in political activity and in the leadership of society is a fact characteristic not only of the USSR, but also of other European socialist countries. It testifies to the growing interest of women in social issues and the expansion of their worldview. Women's participation in public life is not an end in itself, but one of the conditions for general progress. That is why the thought of V.I. is still relevant today. Lenin that “among working women and peasant women there are many times more organizational talents than we know, people who have the ability to organize practical work” [[Lenin V.I. Full collection cit., vol. 39, p. 24.]].

8. Recognizingmotherhood is an important social function of a woman; throughout its existence, the Soviet state pays great attention to legal protection, material and moral supportmotherhood and childhood. In the USSR, about 25 thousand antenatal clinics and children's clinics have been created, where medical care for children and mothers, as well as for the entire population, is provided free of charge[["Vestnikstatistics", 1982, No. 1, p.

]]. Society takes upon itself a considerable part of the care of children. In the USSR there are more than 120 thousand permanent preschool institutions, where over 14 million children are educated"[[Ibid., pp. 76-77.]].

At the same time, the possibility and need for further strengthening of protectionmotherhood and childhood are far from completely exhausted. It is necessary to gradually increase prenatal leave for working women. The quality of medical care needs to be significantly improvedpregnant women and newborns. It is necessary to achieve full satisfaction of the needs of the family in kindergartens and nurseries, which are an important link in the system of public and familyeducation of the younger generation, as well as significantly improve the organization of their work.

In the USSR, the network of pioneer camps is growing every year, where schoolchildren can relax during the holidays. However, it is necessary to significantly expand and encourage family recreation in holiday homes, boarding houses, and tourist centers, which helps not only to strengthen the health of family members, but also to deepen the spiritual ties between them and, ultimately, increase the social prestige of the family.

Significant contribution to protectionmotherhood and childhood of Soviet family legislation. The law proclaims that husband and wife have equal personal and property rights and, accordingly, bear equal responsibilities to the family, society and the state. At the same time, the law establishes a number of additional rights for a woman-mother. Thus, a husband cannot initiate a case against his wife without the consent of his wife.divorce duringpregnancy of the wife and within a year from the date of birth of the child (Article 14 of the Fundamentals of Legislation onmarriage and family). AtIn a divorce, the court can allocate the spouse with minor children (according to our judicial practice, they most often turn out to be the wife), most of the jointly acquired property, etc.

ConfessionMotherhood as a woman’s social function is also reflected in the fact that in the USSR a special honorary title “Mother Heroine” was established for mothers of large families and an order was established “Mother's Glory" and "Medalmotherhood." The honorary title "Heroine Mother", which is awarded to mothers who gave birth and raised ten children, was received by 324 thousand women from 1944 to 1980. During the same period, more than 4 million women were awarded the order "Maternal Glory", and over 10 million mothers - the medal "Medalmotherhood"[["BulletinStatistics", 1982, No. 1, p. 75.

]].

Recognizingmotherhood is a social function of women and, while accordingly protecting and encouraging it, the Soviet state at the same time does not in any way limit the right of each individual woman to decide at her own discretion this cardinal issue of her life. In Art. 38 of the Fundamentals of Health Care expressly states that “for the purpose ofprotection of a woman’s health, she is given the right to decide for herselfmotherhood", which once again confirms the focus of Soviet laws on the protection of human rights.

9. The active participation of women in social production and in socio-political life often comes into conflict with the performance of women’s functionsmotherhood and the traditional distribution of responsibilities in the family. That is why the family model under socialism, while presuming the participation of all adult family members in the professional and socio-political life of society, at the same time presupposes the indispensable presence of feedback - society's assistance to the family.

Such assistance is comprehensive in nature and covers measures related to improving the living conditions of families, a rational combination of public and familyraising children, reducing differences in the standard of living of families depending on the presence of children, creating favorable conditions for the life and everyday life of young families, etc. A clear example of this is, in particular, the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR of January 22, 1981 “On measures to strengthen state assistance to families with children” [[SP USSR, 1981, No. 13, p. 75.]].

Along with this, the state strives to free the family as much as possible from performing time-consuming routine mechanical and unproductive functions associated with serving its members. As a cardinal way to solve this issue, the creation of a consumer services and public catering industry, the widespread deployment of consumer services and public catering institutions, and the introduction into the homehousehold appliances not only in cities, but also in rural areas.

The family model under developed socialism presupposes a change in the nature of relationships within the family. Soviet legislation does not know the concept of the head of the family and obliges spouses to resolve all issues of family life andraising children together - by mutual agreement. This helps replace the authoritarian familyegalitarian. Sociological surveys indicate changes in the functions, tasks and forms of communication between family members. A manifestation of this is a more rational distribution of household chores throughout the country among all family members, including husband and children, and an increase in the prestige of women, including working mothers, in the family.

Research shows that as the educational level of both spouses increases, the husband's share of household chores increases; It is also more common in families of young spouses than of older ones. All this gives reason to talk about generally favorable development trends for women withinfamily relationships. However, throughout the country, women still spend more time looking after their families than men. That is why the state’s efforts aimed at transferring a number of family service functions to public welfare institutions are aimed primarily at reducing women’s domestic work so that the Soviet woman receives more and more opportunities forraising children, and for greater participation in public life, for recreation and study, for wider participation in the benefits of culture.

At the same time, it should be noted that state assistance to families is still far from being at the proper level; further development and significant qualitative improvement in the work of public service enterprises and trade enterprises are necessary;

the simplest and most convenient forms for the population to use the services of these institutions must be found while simultaneously reducing fees for them;

it is necessary to improve services to the population both at the place of residence and at the place of work, to expand such forms of service as parcel trading, etc.

Particular mention should be made of the need to further improve the housing and living conditions of families with children, as well as newlyweds, including through the expansion of individual and cooperative construction, the expansion of the practice of providing interest-free loans with a long repayment period, etc.

It seems relevant to further increase benefits provided to families in connection with the birth of children and caring for them, as well as benefits to single mothers.

At the same time, it is impossible not to note certain undesirable consequences that are entailed by the current trend of granting only the woman, and not one of the spouses, the right to a shortened working day, to receive a newsletter in case of illness of a child, leave until the child reaches the age of one and a half, and in perspective and two years and othersbenefits due to the need to take care of the home and care for children. It is necessary to quickly eliminate one-sidedness in resolving this fundamentally important for genuineequality of men and women issue, which already has a negative impact on the production and socio-political activity of women and does not contribute to the developmentegalitarian relationships in the family.

10. A new type of family, built on the voluntary union of a man and a woman based on a feeling of love and authenticityequality of spouses, their equal participation in caring for the home, children, mutual respect for each other’s personality, is one of the important achievements of socialism. That's whyan egalitarian family should be considered by society as a great social value, and the party, state, trade unions, Komsomol should contribute to the further development of new relationships in the family.

School, media, literature and art are called upon to actively promote a new type of family, to instill in young men and women a sense of duty towards the family, children, and the need for equal participation in the performance of family responsibilities by all family members.

Meanwhile, there are still many unresolved problems in this area. Thus, school lessons on labor and home economics do not provide for equal mastery of all necessary housework by both boys and girls. The professional specialization of schoolchildren is excessively gender-oriented. The efforts of family and school are insufficiently coordinated in preparing boys and girls for future family life.

In literature and especially in the media, there is a noticeable tendency, harmful to the creation of a new family, to idealize the image of a woman as a keeper of the home, a teacher of children, who supposedly has the responsibility to serve the family and care for her husband. The use of the term “head of the family” in relation to the husband has become common on the pages of newspapers and magazines, the rejection of which is one of the main achievements of Soviet family legislation in the matter of equalizing the rights of spouses.

It has been repeatedly noted in the specialized literature the need to replace advertising appeals “to help a woman ”, “for you - women ”, “everything for the housewife ” when selling food products, household chemicals, washing machines and other household goods with appeals “to help the family ”, "everything for the family"

Soviet sociologists, lawyers, economists, teachers, psychologists must combine their efforts to develop a scientifically based program of socio-political and ideological events aimed at developing and strengthening a new, trulyegalitarian type of family - an important link in the creation of the person of the future. It is advisable to consolidate its most important provisions in the new CPSU Program currently being developed.