| Title |
Gender complementarity paradigm and sexual deviance in late Soviet expert and pedagogical texts: The case of the Lithuanian SSR / |
| Authors |
Navickaitė, Rasa |
| DOI |
10.17356/ieejsp.v10i3.1244 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
Intersections. East European journal of society and politics.. Budapest : Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. 2024, vol. 10, no. 3, p. 42-56.. eISSN 2416-089X |
| Keywords [eng] |
homosexuality ; Soviet Union ; sexual science ; Lithuania ; gender complementarity ; homophobia |
| Abstract [eng] |
Despite the official Communist proclamations of women’s emancipation and equality of the sexes, the gender complementarity paradigm took hold in popular and expert discourses in state-socialist Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union starting at least with the 1970s. This article presents an analysis of the late Soviet expert and pedagogical texts in the context of the Lithuanian SSR from a feminist and queer historical perspective. It shows how the adoption of complimentary, yet strongly differentiated gender roles by men and women was seen as key to marital happiness and a healthy Communist society. It further demonstrates how the emphasis on the need to foster traditional gender roles was interrelated to homophobia, as homosexuality was seen to pose a threat to the proper functioning of masculinity and femininity, and a reason for the fading attraction between the ‘opposite’ sexes. The article shows how Soviet expert and pedagogical texts borrowed from and at times paralleled similar ideas on gender and sexuality as they appeared in scholarship produced in other countries of the Eastern bloc, but also in ‘Western’ contexts, such as the United States. It deconstructs the perception that the ‘return to traditional gender roles’ discourse is only a result of post-socialist conservatism, and instead shows it as intrinsic to the moralistic dogmas of Soviet sexual science and pedagogy. |
| Published |
Budapest : Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2024 |
| CC license |
|
