Rochelle Ruthchild - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Rochelle Ruthchild
Revolutionary Russia, 2011
A Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms
A Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms
Women’s Activism and “Second Wave” Feminism, 2017
a "lag" discourse, and obscuring the ways in which so-called backward areas were actually pioneer... more a "lag" discourse, and obscuring the ways in which so-called backward areas were actually pioneering. 6 Russians were among the fi rst to raise the question of women's place in society. From the 1860s, consciousness about the role of women was a signifi cant element of proposals to restructure Russian society; Nicholas Chernyshevsky's 1863 novel, What is to Be Done , the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Russian intelligentsia, had as a central theme the liberation of women from low-wage work and domestic slavery. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Russian women pioneered in winning access to higher education, founding battered women's shelters, and gaining the right to practice medicine. In 1917, feminist demonstrators forced the Provisional Government to grant women the vote and the right to run for offi ce. Russia was the fi rst major power to do so. When Lenin and the Bolsheviks took power, they viewed themselves as extending the tradition of radical commitment to women's liberation, which they defi ned as complete transformation of women's role in society. Th ey also explicitly distanced themselves from feminism, which they portrayed, inaccurately, as being solely concerned with political rights. Alexandra Kollontai, the foremost Bolshevik advocate for women's liberation, and an antifeminist polemicist, claimed that "Th e woman question-say the feminists-is a question of 'rights and justice'. Th e woman question-say the proletarian women-'is a question of a piece of bread. '" 7 Under Bolshevik rule, prerevolutionary feminist activists fl ed the country or went underground. Th ose who stayed, supportive of the Soviet commitment to women's liberation, worked in literacy campaigns, served as physicians in clinics for the poor, and were oft en decorated by the state for their service. But mention of previous feminist activity was dangerous, and these women were silenced. New generations of feminist activists, when they did appear, found inspiration from the West, or from Bolshevik women activists like Kollontai. Th eir own history had been erased. Th e newest wave, ranging from Pussy Riot to the "Feministki, " while proudly proclaiming themselves feminists, claim inspiration from Western thinkers or groups, such as Shulamith Firestone, Julia Kristeva, bell hooks, and Redstockings. Th is enables opponents to label feminism as an alien, Western import. Yet Soviet Russia has a history of feminist activism. Sadly, it is little known in Russia today, and ignored in the West. 8 Sixty years aft er Lenin's 1919 boast, quoted at the beginning of this chapter, the fi rst Soviet "free journal for women" appeared in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the cradle of the Bolshevik Revolution. Th e fi rst issue, entitled Woman and Russia: An Almanac for Women about Women , consisted of ten copies, carefully hand lettered and typed. Printed clandestinely (the only way it could be printed given Soviet censorship), the journal proclaimed "support for the forgotten cause of women's liberation. " It included poetry, art, and essays covering a range of subjects, from patriarchy to prisons, from matriarchy to marriage, from theology to abortion. Seeking to appeal to a wider audience, the editors solicited contributions from their readers, stating their intention to "examine the position of women in the family, at work, in hospitals and maternity homes, the lives our children lead, and the question of women's moral rights. " 9 Although Woman and Russia managed to circulate samizdat (underground) fashion, from hand to hand, Soviet authorities quickly seized most of the copies (some had
The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 2006
Editing and publishing periodicals by women was not unusual in Russia. Between 1860 and 1905, ove... more Editing and publishing periodicals by women was not unusual in Russia. Between 1860 and 1905, over two hundred thirty women received government approval for such activity.' As the numbers of literate women grew, so did publications addressing their interests, but for the most part these focused on traditionally accepted subjects, such as fashion, food, charity, and childrearing.2 Several more "serious" journals for women attempted to move beyond socially prescribed realms, but they proved short-lived, financially precarious, and unable to attract subscribers. Thick journals, appealing to both men and women of the progressive intelligentsia, did publish articles by and about women. Indeed in the 1890s, with Liubov' Gurevich at its helm, Severnyi vestnik (Northern H:erald), filled with women's writing, was dubbed "Zhenskii vestnik" (Women's Herald).3 But it was not until the turn of the twentieth century, spurred by social and political upheavals in Russian society and the rise of the international women's movement, that a longer-lasting and more visible feminist press emerged. By this I mean publications promoting full equality for women and projecting their vision of the emancipated woman. Feminist publishing was nowhere easy, even in countries without censorship. The U.S. suffragist leaders Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's The Revolution survived two and a half years under a constant cloud of debt and a struggle for advertisers, subscribers and backers 4 French feminist physician Madeleine Pelletier's La Suffragiste (The Suffragist) remained in print from
Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 1983
... Shortly after Woman and Russia was published, Goricheva, Malakhovskaia, and Voznesenskaia bro... more ... Shortly after Woman and Russia was published, Goricheva, Malakhovskaia, and Voznesenskaia broke with Mamonova, forming the Club Maria, "the first ... At the same time, they criticize Mamo-nova and western feminists in general for "throwing the baby out with the bathwater ...
Aspasia, 2012
... Clara Zetkin (1857–1933), the most prominent socialist woman of the time, Käthe Duncker (1871... more ... Clara Zetkin (1857–1933), the most prominent socialist woman of the time, Käthe Duncker (1871–1953)1 “and other comrades,” introduced a resolution calling for the establishment of “a special Women's Day,” whose primary purpose would be “to promote Women's Suffrage ...
A Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms
European History Quarterly, 1994
... Mary Buckley, ed., Perestroika and Soviet Women, Cambridge, Cam-bridge University Press, 1992... more ... Mary Buckley, ed., Perestroika and Soviet Women, Cambridge, Cam-bridge University Press, 1992; 183 pp.; £30 hardback, £10.95 paperback. ... RC Elwood, Inessa Armand: Revolutionary and Feminist, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992; xi + 304 pp.; £29.95. ...
An Improper Profession, 2001
Revolutionary Russia, 2011
A Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms
A Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms
Women’s Activism and “Second Wave” Feminism, 2017
a "lag" discourse, and obscuring the ways in which so-called backward areas were actually pioneer... more a "lag" discourse, and obscuring the ways in which so-called backward areas were actually pioneering. 6 Russians were among the fi rst to raise the question of women's place in society. From the 1860s, consciousness about the role of women was a signifi cant element of proposals to restructure Russian society; Nicholas Chernyshevsky's 1863 novel, What is to Be Done , the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Russian intelligentsia, had as a central theme the liberation of women from low-wage work and domestic slavery. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Russian women pioneered in winning access to higher education, founding battered women's shelters, and gaining the right to practice medicine. In 1917, feminist demonstrators forced the Provisional Government to grant women the vote and the right to run for offi ce. Russia was the fi rst major power to do so. When Lenin and the Bolsheviks took power, they viewed themselves as extending the tradition of radical commitment to women's liberation, which they defi ned as complete transformation of women's role in society. Th ey also explicitly distanced themselves from feminism, which they portrayed, inaccurately, as being solely concerned with political rights. Alexandra Kollontai, the foremost Bolshevik advocate for women's liberation, and an antifeminist polemicist, claimed that "Th e woman question-say the feminists-is a question of 'rights and justice'. Th e woman question-say the proletarian women-'is a question of a piece of bread. '" 7 Under Bolshevik rule, prerevolutionary feminist activists fl ed the country or went underground. Th ose who stayed, supportive of the Soviet commitment to women's liberation, worked in literacy campaigns, served as physicians in clinics for the poor, and were oft en decorated by the state for their service. But mention of previous feminist activity was dangerous, and these women were silenced. New generations of feminist activists, when they did appear, found inspiration from the West, or from Bolshevik women activists like Kollontai. Th eir own history had been erased. Th e newest wave, ranging from Pussy Riot to the "Feministki, " while proudly proclaiming themselves feminists, claim inspiration from Western thinkers or groups, such as Shulamith Firestone, Julia Kristeva, bell hooks, and Redstockings. Th is enables opponents to label feminism as an alien, Western import. Yet Soviet Russia has a history of feminist activism. Sadly, it is little known in Russia today, and ignored in the West. 8 Sixty years aft er Lenin's 1919 boast, quoted at the beginning of this chapter, the fi rst Soviet "free journal for women" appeared in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the cradle of the Bolshevik Revolution. Th e fi rst issue, entitled Woman and Russia: An Almanac for Women about Women , consisted of ten copies, carefully hand lettered and typed. Printed clandestinely (the only way it could be printed given Soviet censorship), the journal proclaimed "support for the forgotten cause of women's liberation. " It included poetry, art, and essays covering a range of subjects, from patriarchy to prisons, from matriarchy to marriage, from theology to abortion. Seeking to appeal to a wider audience, the editors solicited contributions from their readers, stating their intention to "examine the position of women in the family, at work, in hospitals and maternity homes, the lives our children lead, and the question of women's moral rights. " 9 Although Woman and Russia managed to circulate samizdat (underground) fashion, from hand to hand, Soviet authorities quickly seized most of the copies (some had
The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 2006
Editing and publishing periodicals by women was not unusual in Russia. Between 1860 and 1905, ove... more Editing and publishing periodicals by women was not unusual in Russia. Between 1860 and 1905, over two hundred thirty women received government approval for such activity.' As the numbers of literate women grew, so did publications addressing their interests, but for the most part these focused on traditionally accepted subjects, such as fashion, food, charity, and childrearing.2 Several more "serious" journals for women attempted to move beyond socially prescribed realms, but they proved short-lived, financially precarious, and unable to attract subscribers. Thick journals, appealing to both men and women of the progressive intelligentsia, did publish articles by and about women. Indeed in the 1890s, with Liubov' Gurevich at its helm, Severnyi vestnik (Northern H:erald), filled with women's writing, was dubbed "Zhenskii vestnik" (Women's Herald).3 But it was not until the turn of the twentieth century, spurred by social and political upheavals in Russian society and the rise of the international women's movement, that a longer-lasting and more visible feminist press emerged. By this I mean publications promoting full equality for women and projecting their vision of the emancipated woman. Feminist publishing was nowhere easy, even in countries without censorship. The U.S. suffragist leaders Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's The Revolution survived two and a half years under a constant cloud of debt and a struggle for advertisers, subscribers and backers 4 French feminist physician Madeleine Pelletier's La Suffragiste (The Suffragist) remained in print from
Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 1983
... Shortly after Woman and Russia was published, Goricheva, Malakhovskaia, and Voznesenskaia bro... more ... Shortly after Woman and Russia was published, Goricheva, Malakhovskaia, and Voznesenskaia broke with Mamonova, forming the Club Maria, "the first ... At the same time, they criticize Mamo-nova and western feminists in general for "throwing the baby out with the bathwater ...
Aspasia, 2012
... Clara Zetkin (1857–1933), the most prominent socialist woman of the time, Käthe Duncker (1871... more ... Clara Zetkin (1857–1933), the most prominent socialist woman of the time, Käthe Duncker (1871–1953)1 “and other comrades,” introduced a resolution calling for the establishment of “a special Women's Day,” whose primary purpose would be “to promote Women's Suffrage ...
A Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms
European History Quarterly, 1994
... Mary Buckley, ed., Perestroika and Soviet Women, Cambridge, Cam-bridge University Press, 1992... more ... Mary Buckley, ed., Perestroika and Soviet Women, Cambridge, Cam-bridge University Press, 1992; 183 pp.; £30 hardback, £10.95 paperback. ... RC Elwood, Inessa Armand: Revolutionary and Feminist, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992; xi + 304 pp.; £29.95. ...
An Improper Profession, 2001