Alexander V. Zhidchenko

PhD in Historical Sciences, Senior Researcher

Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences

(Moscow, Russia)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2024-1-18-31

Abstract. The article is devoted to the reconstruction of the ideal model of women's urban everyday life in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. based on articles and notes from the magazine “Soviet Woman,” one of the leading all-Union periodicals on women’s topics. The relevance of the research topic is set by the framework of modern transformations in the field of ideas about motherhood and childhood, globalization and digitalization trends that reject traditional models of family and marriage relations and everyday gender roles. The proposed interdisciplinary research is at the intersection of women's history, everyday history and urban anthropology. The main source is periodical press materials; A frontal review of all issues of the magazine “Soviet Woman” was carried out for the period from 1951 to 1960. for the purpose of analyzing articles and notes devoted to changes in the urban sociocultural space, as well as women’s everyday life and life during this period. Among the main conclusions - ideological rhetoric and specific publications and reports indicated the leveling of the role of the housewife and the increasing responsibility of the working and production role of the Soviet woman. In specific publications, the husband and children became assistants, but not full owners of the domestic sphere of the home. Their obligatory participation in household chores is the key to freeing up a woman’s time for her own affairs and maintaining a friendly climate in the family. In cases where a woman had to raise children alone (without a husband), the responsibilities of helping her with housekeeping and education (in the ideal model) were taken on by the collective. The sociocultural dynamics of the development of the Soviet city (the creation of a service sector, social and cultural infrastructure) contributed to the liberation of Soviet women from the shackles of household duties, in order to spend time for professional growth, self-development, socially significant activities and leisure.
Keywords: everyday life, women's history, urban anthropology, Soviet city, periodicals.

Full text of the article (PDF)

For citation: Zhidchenko, AV 2024, ‘The Ideal Model of Women's Urban Everyday Life in the USSR in the 1950s. (Based on Materials from the Magazine “Soviet Woman”)’, Tula Scientific Bulletin. History. Linguistics, issue 1 (17), pp. 18–31, http://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2024-1-18-31 (in Russ.)

References

1. Belova, AV 2013, ‘Zhenskaya povsednevnost' kak predmet istorii povsednevnosti: istoriograficheskiy i metodologicheskiy aspekty’ (Women's Everyday as a Subject of the History of Everyday Life), Rossiyskaya povsednevnost' v zerkale gendernykh otnosheniy (Russian everyday life in the mirror of gender relations), Novoye literaturnoye obozreniye publ, Moscow, pp. 25–67. (In Russ.)
2. ‘Bigudi’ (Curlers) 1960, Soviet Woman, no. 2, p. 31. (In Russ.)
3. Bolotova, EV 2020, ‘«Rabotnitsam — boevuyu podgotovku»: militarizatsiya obraza sovetskoy zhenshchiny v 1930-e gg. (na materiale zhurnala «Rabotnitsa»)’ (“Military training for working women”: the militarization of the Soviet woman’s image in the 1930s (on the “Rabotnitsa” magazine’s material)), Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, no. 3, pp. 230–238. (In Russ.)
4. Bogdashina, IV 2023, ‘Khozyaystvenno-bytovyye zaboty kak vazhnaya chast' povsednevnoy zhizni zhenshchiny-vracha v g. Stalingrade (Volgograde): po svedeniyam dnevnikovykh zapisey 1950 – 1960-kh gg.’ (Household and domestic concernsas an important part of a woman physician's daily life in Stalingrad (Volgograd): according to the diary records of the 1950s and 1960s), Tula Scientific Bulletin. History. Linguistics, no. 2 (14), pp. 31–41. (In Russ.)
5. Buzhkevich, M 1957, ‘Ural, Magnitnaya gora: Na pravom beregu’ (Urals, Magnitnaya Gora: On the right bank), Rabotnitsa (The Woman Worker), no 1, p. 4. (In Russ.)
6. ‘V gostyakh u Khokhlovykh’ (Visiting the Khokhlovs) 1953, Soviet Woman, no. 2, p. 14. (In Russ.)
7. ‘V minuvshem godu…’ (Last year...) 1952, Soviet Woman, no. 1, p. 14. (In Russ.)
8. Vetrov, A, Gankin, M & Zel'ma, G 1957, ‘Na okrainakh Moskvy’ (On the outskirts of Moscow), Soviet Woman, no. 9, pp. 8–9. (In Russ.)
9. ‘Vecher v rabochey semye’ (An evening in a working family) 1959, Soviet Woman, no.9, pp. 38–39. (In Russ.)
10. ‘Vkusnaya pechka’ (Delicious stove) 1957, Soviet Woman, no. 3, p. 14. (In Russ.)
11. Volk, I & Porter, L 1957, ‘V gostyakh u Khudovekovykh’ (Visiting the Khudovekovs), Soviet Woman, no. 10, p. 22. (In Russ.)
12. Delle, V 1957, ‘Zanaveski na oknakh’ (Curtains on the windows), Soviet Woman, no. 6, p. 46. (In Russ.)
13. Druzhinina, G 1957, ‘Vlyublennyye v svoyu professiyu’ (Those in love with their profession), Soviet Woman, no.11, p. 39. (In Russ.)
14. ‘Zhenshchiny-doktora nauk’ (Female Doctors of Science) 1957, Soviet Woman, no. 2, p. 15. (In Russ.)
15. Zdravomyslova, EA & Tyomkina, AA 2003, ‘Gosudarstvennoye konstruirovaniye gendera v sovetskom obshchestve’ (The public construction of gender in soviet society), The journal of social policy studies, vol. 1, no.3/4, pp. 299–321. (In Russ.)
16. Zoltner, OV & Gornostayeva, DS 2021, ‘Tipologiya naimenovaniya zhenshchin v sovetskom proizvodstvennom diskurse (na materiale zhurnalov «Rabotnitsa» i «Krestyanka»)’ (Typology of the names of women in the Soviet industrial discourse (based on the material of the magazines "Rabotnitsa" and "Krestyanka")), The scientific heritage, no. 2, pp. 28–35. (In Russ.)
17. Izmaylova, R 1960, ‘Klub interesnykh vstrech’ (Club of interesting meetings), Soviet Woman, no. 9, pp. 23–26. (In Russ.)
18. ‘Itogi syezda’ (Results of the meeting) 1953, Soviet Woman, no.1, p. 8. (In Russ.)
19. ‘K prazdnichnomu stolu’ (To the festive table) 1957, Soviet Woman, no.4, p. 47. (In Russ.)
20. Kropivnitskiy, L 1957, ‘Khochetsya posovetovat' khozyaykam’ (I would like to advise housewives), Soviet Woman, no. 4, p. 45. (In Russ.)
21. Latysheva, MS 2020, ‘Obraz sovetskoy zhenshchiny v zhurnale «Rabotnitsa» (1923 – 1937 gg.) (The image of a Soviet woman in the "Worker" magazine (1923-1937))’, Etnodialogi, no. 1, pp. 95–120. (In Russ.)
22. Lüdtke, A 2010, Istoriya povsednevnosti v Germanii: Novyye podkhody k izucheniyu truda, voyny i vlasti (The History of Everyday Life: Reconstructing Historical Experiences and Ways of Life), trans. K. A. Levinson, ed. S. V. Zhuravlev, ROSSPEN publ, Moscow. (In Russ.)
23. ‘Mody’ (Fashion) 1952, Soviet Woman, no. 1, p. 62. (In Russ.)
24. ‘Karim Mustay. Nosyashchiy imya revolyutsii’ (Karim Mustai. Bearing the name of the revolution) 1967, Ogonyok, no. 45 (November). (In Russ.)
25. ‘Myasnye blyuda’ (Meat dishes) 1957, Soviet Woman, no.5, p. 47. (In Russ.)
26. Olshanov, N 1952, ‘Stroim dlya mira’ (Building for the world), Soviet Woman, no.3, p. 18. (In Russ.)
27. Pavlova, L 1960, ‘105 000 novykh magazinov’ (105,000 new stores), Soviet Woman, no. 11, pp. 26–27. (In Russ.)
28. Pushkareva, NL & Bitokova, TV 2021, ‘Zhenskaya gorodskaya povsednevnost' vtoroy poloviny 1950‐kh – nachala 1960‐kh gg. v sovetskoy i postsovetskoy istoriografii’ (The daily lives of urban women during the Khrushchev thaw in Soviet and post-Soviet scholarship), RUDN Journal of Russian History, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 305–320. (In Russ.)
29. Pushkaryova, NL & Bogdashina, IV 2020, Povsednevnyye praktiki materey provintsialnogo sovetskogo goroda v 1950-60-e gg. (Everyday practice of mothers in a provincial Soviet city in the 1950-60s), Vestnik of Kostroma State university, no. 2, pp. 42–46. (In Russ.)
30. Reyd, SE 2004, Byt – ne chastnoye delo: vnedreniye sovremennogo vkusa v semeynuyu zhizn' (Domesticity is not a private matter: introducing modern taste into family life), Semeynyye uzy. Modeli dlya sborki (Family Ties. Models for assembly), ed. S.A. Ushakin, NLO publ, Moscow, pp. 360–391. (In Russ.)
31. Savostkina, R 2019, ‘Bytovaya reorganizatsiya sovetskogo goroda v diskurse zhurnala «Rabotnitsa» v pervoy polovine 1930-kh gg.’ (Household reorganization of the Soviet city in the discourse of the magazine "Rabotnica" in the first half of the 1930s), RGGU Bulletin Series “Political Science. History. International Relations”, no 1, pp. 34–37. (In Russ.)
32. Smirnova, VYu 2016, ‘Konstruirovaniye vozrasta v zhurnale «Rabotnitsa» v sovetskoye vremya’ (Construction of age in the magazine “Rabotnitsa” during the Soviet time), Journal «Woman in Russian Society», no. 1, pp. 92–102. (In Russ.)
33. Sotnikova, AN 1952, ‘Novogodniy tost’ (New Year's toast), Soviet Woman, no. 1, p. 3. (In Russ.)
34. ‘Trud svobodnyy, tvorcheskiy, ravnopravnyy’ (Free, creative, and equal labor) 1952, Soviet Woman, no. 20, p. 7. (In Russ.)
35. ‘U khoroshey khozyayki nichego ne propadayet: Devyat' sposobov ispol'zovaniya otkhodov pishchevykh produktov’ (A good housewife never wastes anything: 9 ways to use food waste) 1957, Soviet Woman, no. 2, p. 42. (In Russ.)
36. Khmel'nitskaya, A 1957, ‘Tayga otstupaet’ (Taiga retreats), Soviet Woman, no. 10, p. 27. (In Russ.)
37. Shamenkova, L 1960, ‘Semya Tretyakovykh’ (Tretyakov family), Soviet Woman, no. 11, pp. 7–10. (In Russ.)
38. ‘Eto budet!’ (It will be!) 1953, Soviet Woman, no. 2, p. 9. (In Russ.)