A woman in Russia lived through her family. And she had to have a husband. The key role for women in the U.S.S.R. was to be a "warrior's holiday." "A man knows the happiness of one who receives; a woman knows the happiness of one who gives"--this was the dream and the rule.
With the advent of perestroika, all this began to change. The first Russian businesswomen came onto the scene. It was in business, not politics, that the road to true gender equality in Russia began to be laid. The first businesswomen were poor young girls when perestroika hit. Now they're over 30. They can be found in the most varied professions--from advertising firms to travel agencies, from computer companies to mass media agencies, from law firms to major commercial enterprises. And professional sport, too, one must remember, is foremost a business.
They arrived speedily at a new slogan for the independent Russian woman: "If pants must be hanging in the closet, they might as well be mine!" They can have children without husbands, they can leave one husband for another--the important thing is to live as they like, not as he likes. They're finished with the "warrior's holiday" for good.
A prosperous businesswoman invited me to dinner. She owns a fashionable Moscow boutique. Five of her colleagues were also present at our late gathering. She had brought in a well-known chef from Paris for one night for this affair. Throughout the evening, I listened to their stories--about their youth, where they left their poverty and a good deal of humiliation. Readymade theater played itself out before me, and its central theme was entirely new for Russia: the path to independence from men.
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