3-GORBACHEV+Suniura,+Olivia

RESEARCH: SOVIET REFORM IN THE GORBACHEV ERA (WOMEN) Women’s increased participation within the Soviet economy started with measures such as the first Five Year Plan put forth by Stalin in 1928-32, where more than two thirds of the workers were women. Regardless, women were often accustomed to the discrepancy between the articles of the constitution guaranteeing equality for women, discrimination in politics and work, the abuse of women in prison, the conditions of maternity hospitals/abortion clinics/child care facilities, the increasing rate of rape, protesters against lesbianism, and the constant pressure to maintain work and domestic responsibility.
 * 1) **What was the situation for women before Gorbachev became Premier?**

As you can imagine, an air of excitement and optimism took over the USSR from the 1980's during the beginning of Glasnost era as women increasingly attempted to become a more prevalent part in society and became more open about their hardships and opinions. The question of a woman's position in society became a serious public discussion, debated with a frankness that was rarely seen within western media. The media regularly represented women as the cause of social evils in the Russian society such as; crime, drug taking, general spiritual malaise of the Russian society (family separations and child neglect). There was obvious widespread recognition that women have enormous difficulties juggling the demands of paid work and family responsibilities. There was also a conviction that the pressures women experience from attempting to maintain social and a home life generate serious social problems, and therefore social change must include improvements for women.

__Supporting document of USSR's 5 year work plan:__

"Russian Women in Politics and Society." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. < [|__http://books.google.com/books?id=ERinMjPym_gC&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=GORBACHEV+ERA++women&source=bl&ots=VTkZsqLQew&sig=wHRmx6e_G7Wn4MNIsgbRpsmLLWQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=d_kTU_hT6cTbBfmwgPAN&ved=0CCMQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=GORBACHEV%20ERA%20%20women&f=false__] >.

In the beginning of the Gorbachev era, women did not immediately react to the opportunities that were presented to them during the that era because the prevailing ideology or status quo did not encourage them to likewise. So naturally, women challenged the initial idea when propaganda surfaced claiming the Soviet regime's “emancipation” of women in the 1980’s. Emancipation for the typical Western socialist feminist, meant equal access to all social resources and equal say in how social life is arranged - something Soviet women lacked. Striving for emancipation, for liberation, often requires questioning the divisions in society which perpetuate women's subordination - the relations between biological sex differences and the social construction of certain biological characteristics into gender differences, the sexual division of labor, compulsory heterosexuality, the separation of subsistence from production of goods for exchange.
 * 1) **How did women interpret the application of those policies to them?**

__Supporting document for the information regarding women’s reaction:__ "Women's Activism in Contemporary Russia." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. < [|__http://books.google.com/books?id=1_hLXn6CbewC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=GORBACHEV+ERA++women&source=bl&ots=oE79-_C7EU&sig=v1jvH7sjRcsJelwtGikZnE4fl9k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IqsTU8vDN4Ki2wWV9YDoCQ&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=GORBACHEV%20ERA%20%20women&f=false__] >.

When Gorbachev came to power in the year 1985, he took a more active interest than any past leader and it was hoped that he would help women's lives become better and easier. There were many measures implemented to help women, mainly falling under the following categories: economically, familial, and 'socialism with a human face.' In Gorbachev's book Perestroika he infamously stated that women needed to return to their ‘purely womanly mission’ of housework, the upbringing of children in a familial atmosphere, which he felt was lacking due to the desire to make women equals to men. Gorbachev’s beliefs conflicted with the earlier ideas that women should be given opportunities to prove equal to men through education, career, and social life.
 * 1) **How did the Soviet state apply those policies to women, and what were the effects?**

So Gorbachev introduced the Zhensovety, which was a women's council. The women’s council was expected to accomplish a great deal in taking the initiative to solve "women's" problems, which for the most part consisted of looking after the family. Emancipation to Gorbachev meant that women were able to successfully fulfil this purely womanly mission. However, Zhensovety rather than forcing women to focus on familial duties, inspired an out break of smaller feminist seeking emancipation groups. Many were post Soviet organizations committed to bringing a new and better life to Russia women. One group in specific was called Gaia that took Russia by storm and fought to retrained women for better jobs and supported self help. The leaders of Gaia had a firm sense of women's equality and of the need to teach women very basic leadership skills. The Gaia organization was the bridge between Russofeminism (which accepted the premises of a more traditional Russian society) and other feminist groups that challenged the status quo.

__Supporting document out of Gorbachev’s book:__ "Studies in Political Economy." Overemancipation? Liberation?: Soviet Women in the Gorbachev Period. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. < [|__http://spe.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/spe/article/view/13043/9934__] >.

The history and experience of Russia, which included significant propaganda against independent feminist movements and women's activism, was a difficult legacy for women to overcome in a post soviet society. Antipathy to traditional feminism was ingrained deeply into the Russian psyche for many decades and movements openly accepting women's rights had difficulty being accepted. It The Bolshevik legacy, combined with the influence of traditional views of woman as mother and post soviet avoidance of political involvement, posed obstacles to the development of effective women's organizations and networks at the national level. The emergence of Russofeminism, which focused on advocacy of selected women's issues and consciousness raising through articles, books, broadcasts, and social activism, was a positive development during the Gorbachev era.
 * 1) **What was the significance of Gorbachev’s reforms as it pertained to women?**

Russofeminists sought to help women achieve quiet gains using strategies unlikely to challenge the powers that be. This reflected an accommodation to the unique circumstances of Russia, a country that developed its own course. Russofeminists tried to reconcile that course with developments in the rest of the world. Early post Soviet Russian society was characterized by the lack of clear direction in the social policies, periodic crises, and the persistent power struggle between the President and the parliament. Post Soviet Russian society faced many problems including: hyperinflation, escalating poverty, ethnic unrest, separatists movements, rising of crime, a health care crisis, and an overwhelming sense of uncertainty. All of these distracted from the attention of the women's issue. Women were among those most affected by the deteriorating quality of life in the Gorbachev era. But neither society nor the women themselves seemed able to find a solution and to effect significant improvement on their daily lives but it taught women to fight for their rights. Through the lack of help during the Gorbachev era women learned how to become their own leaders and soldiers as they erected many support groups and groups that fought for equality. It was an important lesson that changed the way women would fight for their rights then on.

__Supporting document for the information:__ "Soviet Social and Economic Policy concerning Women 1917-60." WU Hstry. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. < [|__http://spe.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/spe/article/view/13043/9934__] >.

Sources cited: "After Gorbachev." Cambridge, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. TwnNHATF4C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=gorbachev+women%27s+rights&source=bl&ots=qaKPs1pyn_&sig=KQjeey0oOrMQO4oX1sh-I4dVfrU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1dUUU7OLAsWC2wXXwYCYBQ&ved=0CFEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=gorbachev%20women's%20rights&f=false>.

Farenthold, Frances. "Women, Glasnot, and Gorbachev." N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. . Gorbachev, Mikhail. JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. .

"Russian Women in Politics and Society." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. <http://books.google.com/books?id=ERinMjPym_gC&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=GORBACHEV+ERA++women&source=bl&ots=VTkZsqLQew&sig=wHRmx6e_G7Wn4MNIsgbRpsmLLWQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=d_kTU_hT6cTbBfmwgPAN&ved=0CCMQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=GORBACHEV%20ERA%20%20women&f=false>.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Soviet Social and Economic Policy concerning Women 1917-60." WU Hstry. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. <http://wuhstry.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/soviet-social-and-economic-policy-concerning-women-1917-60/>. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Studies in Political Economy." Overemancipation? Liberation?: Soviet Women in the Gorbachev Period. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. <http://spe.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/spe/article/view/13043/9934>.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Women's Activism in Contemporary Russia." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. <http://books.google.com/books?id=1_hLXn6CbewC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=GORBACHEV+ERA++women&source=bl&ots=oE79-_C7EU&sig=v1jvH7sjRcsJelwtGikZnE4fl9k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IqsTU8vDN4Ki2wWV9YDoCQ&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=GORBACHEV%20ERA%20%20women&f=false>.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Women's Participation from Lenin to Gorbachev." Http://books.google.com/books?id=ERinMjPym_gC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=gorbachev+women%27s+rights&source=bl&ots=VTkZswIKfA&sig=2YSV3in6sNIPH3G59AKsj1YbnCM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1dUUU7OLAsWC2wXXwYCYBQ&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=gorbachev%20women's%20rights&f=false. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.


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