Victorian or Amazon?
The Russian Woman Under
the First Five-Year Plan
Abbye Needham

(* The original paper included photos, which regretably were not reprintable.-- Editors)

            The Soviet Union underwent many changes beginning in 1928 with the adoption of Stalin’s First Five-Year Plan. The goal of this plan was to industrialize the motherland in a short amount of time. Drastic measures were taken to fulfill the plan’s goal, and the result was an industrialized Russia in only a few years. The First and Second Five-Year Plans affected all aspects of the Soviet Union. Not only did it affect the economy and agriculture, but it also brought drastic changes to social life. A sector of society, which by no means escaped the effects of Stalin’s economic plans, was the Russian woman. The everyday Russian woman was faced with her own dilemma: how to balance becoming a worker with keeping her femininity.

            It must first be established exactly what the First and Second Five Year Plans were intended to do. Both economic plans were established in order to industrialize the Soviet Union in a timely fashion. In fact, the industrialization was so fast-paced that extreme goals were set for the country to reach. The First Five-Year Plan called for the quick building of factories, collective farms and the like to aid in the rapid pace of industrialization. The First Five-Year Plan also brought with it several limitations and restrictions. It was hard to gain access to Western goods, for special permits were required to purchase such imported items. In addition, those embracing any type of Western "luxury" were viewed as traitors to Stalin’s Communist ideal. Compounded with this restriction on purchases was the fact that living conditions were terrible: living space was cramped and cold at best, food was scarce and workers often worked consecutive shifts.

            However, by the end of the First Five-Year Plan and the installation of the Second, conditions began to improve. The Soviet Union had made a firm foundation for industrialization, so restrictions were lifted to an extent. Starting in the early 1930s, it was easier for Soviets to gain access to Western goods: "the reign of the [First] Five Year Plan has loosened and the people are thinking earnestly about luxuries.¹" At the same time, living conditions as well as the economy were improving, thus aiding in the diminishing of the restrictions. As described in John Scott’s book Behind the Urals, the realization of industry marked an improvement in the conditions of workers and a broadening of the freedoms offered. Scott’s description of a factory town, Sverdlovsk, illustrates this point extremely well:

The city was surrounded by villages and farms which furnished vegetables and dairy products . . . There were theatres, and even ballet performances . . . Most families lived in houses or apartments, while many of the people of Magnitogorsk lived in either tents or barracks.²

            In the book, Sverdlovsk is an established industrial town. As might be expected, the overall conditions there are much better than Scott’s own city, one still struggling with the task of building factories.

            For the Soviet women, the Five-Year Plans allowed them freedoms that they had never been offered. The economic programs offered women a chance to enter the workforce and thus experience a small amount of equality with their male counterparts. The Soviet women under these plans, however, did not participate solely to gain equality, but rather viewed their labor as a chance to aid in the formation of a Soviet state. Since Stalin’s emphasis was on industrialization, "Russia’s main need is for workers, it follows that when she comes to look at her women it is as workers.³" Soviet women were working to advance the great industrial program of which they felt a part.’’ Though one might argue that the women had reason to resent the restrictions of the Plans, this supposition can quickly be put to rest. In the early years of the Five-Year Plan, Western luxuries were viewed as essentially "evil" by all Soviets, even women. The women would rather dress as men than wear the latest fashions and risk being considered traitors.⁵ In addition, the Soviet women were dedicated to the establishment of an industrial state. Decidedly patriotic, these women desired to aid in the formation of an industrialized Soviet state. In fact, their role became that of industrial workers who would in time build a great nation. As can be seen in the pictures in Appendix A, the women are proud to be a part of the Soviet workforce. They come home wearing huge smiles, their steps are confident and they seem to revel in their freedom to work in the same jobs as their male coworkers, the measure of equality that women in other countries during this era were still fighting for. The Soviet women saw their equality in the fact that they had the right to share all professions and opportunities as men.⁶ During the economic programs women were allowed to participate in all fields of work. Women became factory workers, coal miners, and even donned the uniforms of the army, navy and airforce. Women also made an appearance in the professional fields such as medicine and law. Basically there was no field that women did not or could not enter, and they did it all for the benefit of the "mother land."

            Several pictures depict Soviet women at work and returning from work with smiles. They loved their work and the freedom that came with it. No longer was woman’s place only in the home, but now she could enter any walk of life without a qualm. Now, she could actually be viewed as a human, something she was not seen as during the czarist years, which boasted proverbs such as "a chicken is not a bird and a woman is not a human being.⁷" Stalin’s Five Year Plan gave women the chance to become an integral part of the economy. With this came a number of privileges. She could work alongside men, participate in politics and even hope to achieve full equality on a collective farm.⁸

            Despite the fact that the Soviet woman’s focus was on work, she never forgot her femininity. The new privileges and responsibilities did not stop the Soviet women from desiring certain female commodities. In fact, her desires for beauty and fashion throve despite her manly labor and characteristics.

A new mental cast is developing in Russia and a new woman is the product of this period of evolution. She is characterized not so much by beauty as by sturdiness, self-reliance. Yet her femininity is asserting itself more and more.⁹

            Time and time again a rough looking woman in shabby clothes with the hard features of a man could be seen staring at exquisite Western fashions displayed in decorated window fronts (Appendix B). The young Soviet female worker still desired to be beautiful, despite her status as an industrial worker. The Soviet woman might see her purpose in the economy, "yet, the factory girl in Moscow is just as eager to adorn herself and to enhance her attractiveness as is the lady of Park Avenue.¹⁰" The Soviet woman became a worker, but she did not forget her femininity. Although in the early years of the Five Year Plan the Soviet women could be seen dressed in men’s clothing and nearly indistinguishable from male workers, the last days of this Plan presented women desiring to personify their female counterparts in the West. Daily the Soviet women displayed the typical Victorian attitude, "it is not that the Russia tovarisch is more amazon than feminine. Love of children and of a family are strong in Russia.¹¹" She might have become an important member of the workforce, but at night she returned home to her husband and sometimes children. The Soviet woman also sought to improve herself physically as well as mentally. If she could ever get her hands on a Western fashion magazine, she would pore over the pages hungrily to simply look at the illustrations.¹² Her desires for fine clothes, perfumes and even a family prove the fact that Soviet women desire to keep their femininity while they participate in the formation of an industrialized "motherland."

            During the later part of the First Five-Year Plan the Stalin government allowed women more freedoms. Not only were they allowed to enter the workforce, but also were allowed to divorce, marry and raise children with the state’s help. Despite the freedoms offered by the government, however, "Russian women still struggle for rights which Soviet law gives them, but which old-fashioned husbands and backward officials seek to ignore.¹³" Since the government called for women to enter the workforce, and since the women responded eagerly for the chance at participating in the building of a great nation, the freedoms and equality which came with their decisions were not significantly seen by the Soviet women.

The Russian woman does not look on her job as an escape from domesticity or as an attempt to assert herself in a work of men. She is never conscious of a conflict between her career and her personal life.¹⁴

            For the Soviet women the chance at being viewed as equal with their male counterparts was just an added bonus to the fact that the women had an opportunity to industrialize mother Russia. So even when certain that the economic measures such as the piecework system (the system by which a worker was paid for the amount of goods he/she produced) created setbacks in women’s equality, the women of the Five Year Plan focused on the larger picture, the industrialization of the Soviet Union. Though they earned less than men "they can do almost any kind of work they want to" for the benefit of their country.¹⁵

            So what were the Soviet women of the 1920s and 30s, Victorians or Amazons? The answer to this question is that they adopted characteristics of each. The Soviet women might have donned the clothes of workers, but they never truly became Amazons (women who exemplify independence, freedom and equality through their lives.) Instead, the Soviet women with their affinity for female commodities (i.e. fashion, perfume, makeup) were able to keep their femininity. The women who lived under the First Five-Year Plan became workers; their primary focus was industry, for after work the women went home and were the typical Victorian women. The simple fact was that "life is so intense and expansive [during the Five Year Plan] that they [children, domestic qualities] represent but a fraction of the interests of the Soviet women.¹⁶" The Russian women became Soviet workers and invaded every field of industry, but at the same time they still wanted to look and act like traditional women. The dilemma these women faced was never truly reconciled. Instead, the Soviet woman found a way to balance both her patriotic desire to aid in the industrialization of the Soviet Union with her desires for Western fashions and commodities. She became a type of Amazon, in that she was able to keep both of her desires and gain certain headway for equality, freedom and greater opportunities for the future.

Endnotes

1. Margaret Bourke-White, "Silk Stockings in the Five-Year Plan," New York Times 14 Feb. 1932: VI 4.

2. John Scott, Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia’s City of Steel (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1973) 104.

3. Ellen Wilkinson, "A Feminist Looks at Woman’s Status," New York Times 16 Dec. 1934: X 5.

4. Margaret Bourke-White, VI 4.

5. Ibid.

6. Milly Bennett, "Soviet Russia Discovers ‘Home, Sweet Home’: The New Place of Women in the State Reflected in Stricter Social Laws," New York Times 10 Nov 1935: VII 12.

7. Samuel Lubell, "Three Nations in Flux are reflected in Their Women," New York Times 21 Oct. 1934: VI 10.

8. Ibid.

9. Margaret Bourke-White, VI 4.

10. Ibid.

11. Samuel Lubell, VI 4.

12. Margaret Bourke-White, VI 5.

13. Special Cable, "Soviet Girl Dies by Fire To Escape Cruel Husband," New York Times 15 Oct. 1935: 13:3

14. Margaret Bourke-White, VI 4.

15. Special Correspondence, "Russian Women Take Readily To Men’s Jobs," New York Times 27 Nov 1932: II 4.

16. Samuel Lubell, VI 4.

Works Cited

Bennett, Milly. "Soviet Russia Discovers ‘Home, Sweet Home’: The New Place of Women in the State Reflected in Stricter Social Laws." New York Times 10 Nov. 1935: VII 12-13.

Bourke-White, Margaret. "Silk Stockings in the Five-Year Plan." New York Times 14 Feb. 1932: VI 4-5.

Lubell, Samuel. "Three Nations in Flux Are Reflected In Their Women." New York Times 21 Oct. 1934: VI 10-11.

Wilkinson, Ellen. "A Feminist Looks as Woman’s Status." NewYork Times 16 Dec. 1934: X 4-5.

Scott, John. Behind the Urals: An American Worker in Russia’s City of Steel . Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1973. 104.

Special Cable. "Soviet Girl Dies by Fire to Escape Cruel Husband." New York Times 15 Oct 1935: 13.

Special Correspondence. "Russian Women Take Readily to Men’s Jobs." New York Times 27 Nov. 1932: II 4.