Value attitudes of the Russian nobility in the late 18th - middle 19th centuries: gender aspect

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to reveal the gender specifics of the behavioral norms of the Russian nobility in the late 18th - mid 19th centuries. The author stands on the positions of the approaches of historical anthropology, the history of everyday life and gender history. The conclusions are based on the analysis of sources of personal origin and literary texts of the era. The paper touches upon the problem of discursive differences between male and female writing, but the main attention is paid to behavioral differences. It is concluded that there are pronounced differences both in value attitudes and in the behavior of men and women. This was due to the fact that much more prohibitions were imposed on womens everyday life. Moreover, the behavior of unmarried representatives of the noble class was subjected to particularly strict regulation. Unlike the young men, they were under constant control and supervision from the family and the entire noble society as a whole. This was due to the category of honor, which also had significant gender specificity. If for a man, honor meant his qualities and merits, for a woman honor meant chastity, that is, the ability to abstain from sexual contact outside of marriage. Numerous taboos weaken after the marriage of a noblewoman, but internal attitudes and self-control determine the stability of their behavior patterns.