Soviet Adolescents’ First Experiences of Romantic Feelings and Relationships at Pioneer Camps between the 1960s and 1980s

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article, which is based on the results of a survey of about 150 respondents between the ages of 43 and 65, presents a sociopedagogical reconstruction of how Soviet school students experienced romantic feelings and friendships in pioneer camps during the 1960s–1980s. The author analyzes and interprets interviews that were conducted with people who spent their childhood summer vacations at pioneer camps. We find that respondents clearly differentiate the romantic feelings and relationships that they had experienced into “liking/affection for someone” (an emotion or feeling), “romantic relationships between boys and girls” (acting in a relationship or behaving like a couple), and “love” (regardless of whether the emotion was reciprocated or not). Romantic experiences and relationships could develop over the time that the children were in camp (from expressions of mutual interest/liking to romantic friendships, and from romantic friendships to a situation when one or both adolescents fell in love). A situation in which romantic feelings and emotions were not reciprocated was not always perceived by adolescents as something negative. Often the romantic experience was considered to be sufficient in and of itself. Only a small number of adolescents actually developed romantic feelings while at camp, and romantic relationships were even rarer. The largest proportion of pioneers first experienced romantic feelings between the ages of 14 and 16. Feelings of liking, romantic friendship, and love could develop in various ways, whether between two adolescents who were vacationing at the same pioneer camp, a girl vacationing at the camp and a boy from a village located next to the camp, and an adolescent vacationing at a pioneer camp and a camp counselor. Adolescents used different strategies to express their romantic feelings, including in their romantic relationships. These strategies varied in the amount of perseverance that was applied to find reciprocity. The romantic feelings and attitudes of Soviet adolescents who were staying at pioneer camps were short-lived for the most part. They ended with the conclusion of the camp, and exceptions to this were rare. The ways that romantic feelings were expressed and romantic relationships developed included while communicating during slow dances; sitting together during events; jointly participating in games and leisure activities; exchanging letters through the camp mail system; and meeting in private (taking walks). Adolescents did not tend to verbalize their romantic feelings and relationships. Regarding couples whose relationships were known within a group of peers, the latter created a supportive and secure private space for them.