Women's and Gender Studies of the Russian Past: two contemporary trends

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe paper addresses the pressing question of why, in Russia, gender studies in history still have to prove their worth in the Russian academic world — and in the general public; why they operate in two discourses, and how common ground can be found between these. The first discourse is that of traditional gender roles which tends to legitimize the role of a woman as important but complementary with regard to the role of a man. The second discourse casts serious doubt on the naturalness or the essentialist predicament of the mutual complementarity of gender roles. The adherents to such a methodological perspective imply a feminist reflection both in posing their questions and choosing their approach to empirical data.