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The Ethnology Notebooks. 2024. № 4 (178), 854—864

UDK 930.2:[305-055.2:070.447](47+57)”1970/1980″

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/nz2024.04.854

THE SOCIOCULTURAL CONSTRUCT OF FEMININITY IN THE PUBLIC DISCOURSE OF THE USSR (1970S—1980S)

OMELIUKH Iryna

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7666-9030
  • Graduate Student,
  • Ivan Franko National University of Lviv,
  • Department of History of Central and Eastern Europe,
  • 1, Universytetska str., 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: ir98omeliukh@gmail.com

Abstract. Introduction.The concept of femininity in the public discourse of the USSR in the 1970s and 1980s did not have an unambiguous official interpretation and was not enshrined in any normative document, but was often circulated in mass and popular science literature that shaped and reflected the official discourse.

Statement of the problem.The ideas about women and femininity that prevail in society are typically associated with traditional stereotypes of femininity, based on established cultural ideas about gender, in complete opposition to traditional masculinity, which often leads to excessive simplifications and generalizations in the interpretation of the concept of femininity.

The purpose of the article is to show the creation of the concept of femininity in the official Soviet discourse of the 1970s and 1980s and the prevailing ideas about women and women’s identity.

The methodological basis is the principles of historicism, determinism, systematicity, systematization, and generalization.

Results. The revitalization of discussions about the role and status of women in society, which took place in the public sphere in the 1970s and 1980s, had a significant impact on the understanding of femininity in Soviet discourse. The growth of related topics in specialized pedagogical, psychological, and medical literature, as well as in the popular press, has shown an increased interest in the problem of femininity. However, the excessive simplifications and generalizations that characterize texts by Soviet authors have led to a rather one-sided interpretation of femininity, linked to traditional gender stereotypes and social expectations. The views of Soviet scientists were obviously shaped by the dominant party ideology, but their observations and conclusions on femininity also reflected the position of biological determinism.

Conclusions. Looking at femininity through the lens of biological determinism, Soviet scholars found many arguments in favor of one of the main ideological attitudes to femininity — the thesis of a woman’s «natural purpose». This «natural purpose» was motherhood and family. In general, the concept of femininity in the Soviet discourse was understood as a set of properties associated with female physiology, psyche, and behavior that were considered naturally determined and completely opposed to traditional masculinity, or male physiology, psyche, and behavior.

Keywords: femininity, concept of femininity, biological determinism, public discourse, USSR, 1970s—1980s.

Received 7.07.2024

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