Women and the Family Under Khrushchev Flashcards
What was re-emphasised in the years following Stalin’s death?
Women’s rights
Khrushchev focused on women’s rights. In what context?
In the context of traditional families
Khrushchev wanted women to continue to perform their traditional roles as wives and mothers - but he wanted to make these roles easier
How did the status of women change/transform under Khrushchev?
There were more workforce opportunities for women
How did the status of women not change/transform under Khrushchev?
The double burden: 49 per cent of women in workforce whilst having to maintain family responsibilities
When was abortion re-legalised?
1955
When was state paid maternity leave increased?
1956
How much did state paid maternity leave increase from?
77 days to 112 days
What did the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1956) state in relation to women workers?
It contained a commitment to “improve in every way the working and living conditions of women workers”
What were some of the national women’s magazines that were created by 1956?
- Women Worker
- Peasant Woman
- Women of the World
- Soviet Woman
Where was education widely available for women?
In cities
Education was widely available to women in cities. Provide evidence to support this claim.
By the 1960s women made up half of the Soviet Union’s graduates
By 1960 what per cent of the workforce were women?
49 per cent
Who was the first women in space? When?
Valentina Tereshkova (1963)
What is the Soviet propaganda poster featuring women called?
The Motherland is Calling (1967)
How did the Motherland is Calling present women?
It presented women as the symbol of the Russian nation and celebrated the vital work of women during the war
What were the Virgin Lands schemes?
Khrushchev’s plan to boost the Soviet Union’s agricultural production in order to alleviate the food shortages plaguing the Soviet populace
Why were women specifically targeted in the Virgin Lands Campaign?
To recruit volunteers to work in the Virgin Lands. They believed young women would entice men to move to the Virgin Lands
What were women required to do in the Virgin Lands?
Act as milkmaids, gardeners and to start families
Virgin Lands Campaign slogans
“Your caring hands are needed everywhere”
“Join us, girls, in the Virgin Lands”
Who was turned down for the Virgin Lands Campaign?
Single women over the age of 26 were turned down for the scheme, as were single mothers
What were female farm workers in the Virgin Lands often subjected to?
Sexual abuse and rape
What did the Seven-Year Plan aim to eliminate?
The double burden
How did the Seven-Year Plan aim to eliminate the double burden?
Through introducing convenience foods and mass-produced clothing - ending the need for women to cook and sew
Problems remained in spite of the changes Khrushchev introduced - outline these problems
- Contraception remained hard to acquire
- Letters to women-targeted magazines indicate that creches opened late and closed early so that women were still unable to work full days
- Some employers refused to recognise the new legal entitlements regarding maternity leave and maternity pay
