The Position and the Role of Woman in the Society: Reflection in the Press of Soviet Latvia (1956–1965)

Padomju Latvijas sievietes vieta un loma sabiedrība: atspoguļojums PSRS presē (1956. – 1965.) Pēc boļševistiskās revolūcijas PSRS mainījās dzimtes modelis. Masu periodikā sāka dominēt divi sieviešu tēli: sieviete – revolucionāre un sieviete – entuziaste, jaunā sabiedrības cēlāja. Jaunā laikmeta sieviete tika reprezentēta kā „strādniece – māte.” Desmitgadē pēc Staļina nāves PSRS un Padomju Latvijas sabiedrībā norisa pārmaiņas. Literatūrā ir lasāms, ka arī žurnālistika pārstāja būt tik monotona kā iepriekš, domāšana kļuva liberālāka, notika sievišķības un ģimenisko vērtību atdzimšana. Apskatot laikrakstus Cīņa, Padomju Jaunatne, Literatūra un Māksla, kā arī žurnālu Padomju Latvijas Sieviete posmā no 1956. – 1965. gada, daļēji var piekrist tēzei, ka pēc Staļina nāves aizvien biežāk tika aktualizēti ar ģimeni saistīti jautājumi. Sievietes uzdevums pret padomju valsti bija būt priekšzīmīgai strādniecei un arī mātei. Taču produktīvās un reproduktīvās lomas savienošana nebija viegla. Pastāvēja nelīdzsvarotība starp presē konstruēto sievietes vietu LPSR sabiedrībā un realitāti. Darba sieviete presē tika atspoguļota daudz biežāk, kā privātā sieviete.The Place and Role of Women in the society of Soviet Latvia: Reflection in the Press (1956 - 1965) Right from the first years of the revolutionary era, two female images began to dominate the mass periodicals: woman-revolutionary and woman-enthusiast, the builder of a new society. Woman of the new era was presented as "worker and mother." The decade after the death of Stalin marked changes in the social life in the USSR as well as in the Soviet Latvia. In the literature one can read, that after Stalin's death, during the Khrushchev’s "thaw", journalism, as well as public consciousness, ceased to be so monolithic as before; new notions about life and human beings took root in liberal thinking. Observing the press of the period from 1956 - 1965, we can see that in Soviet Latvia still the ideal woman was seen as a "political woman", an enthusiastic and politically active builder of socialism, whose main energies were directed at achieving social goals, not personal ones. Such an image was utterly in tune with the interests of the state which needed more cheap labor. Soviet period images of women were extremely didactic and had most important ideological function to perform. Women, who worked in the industrial and agricultural fields, were most often represented in the press. This work was shoved as a main virtue. At the same time some changes can be seen in the decade towards the rebirth of the femininity and family. In the sixties more articles about family life appeared in the magazine “Padomju Latvijas Sieviete” (Women in Soviet Latvia). The Bolshevik` declaration of female emancipation in 1917 condemned women to a double burden - the new power demanded that she should take an active part in developing industry, and at the same time, the national mentality insisted that she fulfill all the traditional women's duties in the home. It was not easy to combine the productive and reproductive role of the women, because the USSR, in the fifties and sixties, had poor communal child care and lack of all social services, especially in the countryside. So we can see a disparity in the official discourse of women in the press and the lived reality. Workwomen were much more represented in the press as “private women.” In general, the role of women in society of Soviet Latvia in the newspapers “Cīņa” (Fight), “Padomju Jaunatne” (Soviet’s Youth), “Literatūra un Māksla” (Literature and Art) and the magazine “Padomju Latvijas Sieviete” (Women in Soviet Latvia) was presented as very important and irreplaceable