Russia Sophia Cansigno

Gender Roles in Russia

       In Russian society, gender roles play a strong part in a division of labor and authority. Russian men are considered to be the more capable and authoritative sex, while the women are gentle and valued for their intuition. Russia is basically a conservative nation and their views of the social system are patriarchal.

        The Russian men are seen as the provider or breadwinner for the family and the women are the care takers of the family. During the Soviet-era, the Russian women have to bear the double burden which is having a job and family-raising responsibilities.

         Interestingly, Russians do not refer to women as “the weaker sex”—nor do they think women are weak at all—but instead women are “the prettier sex.” As such, women do everything they can to live up to that idea. 

        Whenever they are out in public, Russian women dress pristine, always in high heels, regardless of the weather. Even now that it is starting to get colder and winter is settling in, women continue this custom with high heeled boots. It would be a social scandal to wear sweatpants or running shoes unless one is on their way to the gym.

          Men generally act in a way that Americans would describe as “gentleman-like.” They give up their seats on the metro, hold out a hand to help you off a bus, and hold doors open for women, even if they are strangers.

          It is ingrained in their minds that if a woman is in their presence, they, as men, should be on their best, most polite behavior. While these ideas of chivalry have been discouraged in the US—due in part to extreme feminism—the gender roles of men in Russia have nothing to do with the idea of women needing their help. On the contrary, men help women because they are women.

The most shocking part of Russian gender roles for Americans is the idea that love always outweighs work. That means that the majority of Russian women devote their efforts to finding a husband, and then caring for their children. That is not to say that women don’t receive educations or have careers here, because they most certainly do.

In general, though, most set aside their career until their children are of grade school age, meaning that they leave behind a job they might have had prior to having a child. They are completely devoted to their family and the love within it.

"These gender roles are by no means an absolute, but more a general idea in Russian culture."

MASCULINITY:

  "society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner- a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organizational behavior" (high score)

FEMININITY:

 "The dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. A feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable" (low score)

Fundamental issue is what motivates people, wanting to be the best *masculine* or liking what you do *feminine*