March 20, 2024

Progress and Regression


Progress and Regression
The Motherland is calling, and Russian women are answering, on a Soviet postage stamp. Irakli Toidze, Public domain

While women are not eligible for Russian army mobilizations that continue to ensnare men (potentially up to age 70), societal expectations have changed for them at home

Women have been expected to fill in vacancies in the labor market after the departures of conscripted men, and while women have put themselves forward for higher-paid jobs, they still ask for far less in terms of salaries than their male counterparts. The difference is reportedly an average of R22,0000 ($238) less per month, in a country where the average monthly wage is R94,900 ($1,130).

The demographic shift has also led to amendments in the Russian Ministry of Labor's list of professions prohibited for women. For example, women can now work as airplane pilots and in aircraft maintenance, although they still cannot work as aircraft mechanics.

Another complication comes from the fact that men who volunteer to join the army can escape responsibilities such as paying alimony. As long as a man stays at the front, he cannot be arraigned for owing alimony or child support. 

It has also fallen on women to improve Russia's currently low birth rate in the face of high losses at the front. One result of the efforts to improve the birth rate has been a decline in the number of clinics performing abortions. In regions such as Crimea, Tatarstan, and Mordovia, the majority of clinics refuse to perform abortions. Conversely, the number of women looking for contraceptives is at a peak. 

You Might Also Like

The Women with the White Scarves
  • January 08, 2024

The Women with the White Scarves

Family members of drafted soldiers picketed solo in Moscow demanding the return of their loved ones from the war in Ukraine.
Beware the Wives and Mothers
  • November 28, 2023

Beware the Wives and Mothers

Russian regional officials have been called upon to cope with the discontent of the wives and mothers of the mobilized.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955