The New Soviet Man With a Female Body: Mother, Teacher, Tractor Driver…

Abstract

The “New Man” is a utopian concept that involves creating an ideal man and replacing the imperfect human being. The beginning of the ideas of creating the new man can be found in ancient Greece and Rome, in the works of utopians and educators, as well as in theological texts. Although this ideologeme as one of the constructs of modernity was fully formed by the end of the 19th century, the efforts to practically implement it are connected with the establishment of (para)totalitarianism. One of the best-known examples of such an attempt was the ambition to create the New Soviet Man. After giving up aspirations to create a perfect biological individual, in the long-term perfective, the main focus was laid on forming an ideologically correct New Man, a builder of communism. Education was seen as one of the key means of achieving this objective. Seeking to identify how the image of the New Man was reflected in the curriculum (primary in particular), 36 textbooks published between 1925–1985 and used in the state schools of Soviet Russia and the Baltic States were analysed.Although the concept of the New Man includes both the male and female person, the most frequently considered is a male. This article aims to discuss how textbooks represent the Soviet woman by considering the following aspects: what was specific to the New Soviet Man – Woman? What did the Soviet regime expect from women in the context of the New Soviet Man project? How did the project of New Man reflect the gender equality idea?

“We will fight for peace all over the world until the last grenade”. Initial Military Training in Schools of the Lithuanian SSR in the Late Soviet Era

“…The situation in formal education was a little easier. Military themes were reflected in the textbooks of almost all subjects (Cary, 1979;Kestere et al, 2020;Ķestere & Fernández González, 2021).…”

“…Another question refers to the gender equality declared in the Soviet Union. Perhaps it was just "a smoke screen", as a number of studies of Soviet society show (Attwood, 1999;Kestere et al, 2020).…”

Unspoken Truths in Narratives of Contemporary Mothers Towards Their Mothers in Latvia

“…An illusion, constructed through real or fictional family stories, took the form of an 'ideal family' that was materially and morally well-off and did not resemble a family per se, but more a 'friendly collective, with love and support of all members at its core' (Jansone-Ratinīka, 2013). In this 'family' or collective, 'liberation of mother' (Kestere et al, 2020) was key, as it was crucial in Soviet Union that everybody was equally engaged in the construction of communism and victory over capitalism. "Metaphorically speaking, the perfect New Soviet Man was endowed with the body of a woman and the mind of a man," concludes Kestere, Stonkuviene and Rubene (2020).…”

“…In this 'family' or collective, 'liberation of mother' (Kestere et al, 2020) was key, as it was crucial in Soviet Union that everybody was equally engaged in the construction of communism and victory over capitalism. "Metaphorically speaking, the perfect New Soviet Man was endowed with the body of a woman and the mind of a man," concludes Kestere, Stonkuviene and Rubene (2020). The woman would be portrayed employed, riding a tractor, fusing metal, teaching children etc., except that, in fact, the New Soviet (Wo)man would still be burdened with household-chores.…”

An Ideologized and a Realistic Discourse about Rural Latvian Teachers During the Stalinist Period: Analysis of the Content of the Newspaper “Skolotāju Avīze” and the Memoirs of Andrejs Dripe

“…Also important is the work done by Kestere and Kalke (2018) on the visual presentation of teachers in Soviet textbooks, in the periodical press and photographs. Kestere, Stonkuviene and Rubene (2020) have written about the utopian constructs of the Soviet "new person" in textbooks. Rubene, Daniela and Medne (2019) have studied how the bodies and minds of left-handed children were disciplined with the use of Soviet-era pedagogical tools.…”