What was sex like in the USSR and why didn’t it exist? Or did it still exist?
What was sex like in the Soviet Union? What methods of contraception did people use in this country and why was lemon considered one of the most effective ways to prevent pregnancy? How did the authorities fight against emission agencies, as well as sexually transmitted diseases? How were they punished for abortion?
Contents of the article:
In 1986, Soviet Union television announced from Britain that there was no sex in the USSR. This expression of the communists of those years instantly went down in history and is often quoted around the world.
As part of these studies, journalists turned to electronic journal collections, personal diaries of the 20th century, to the land of advice for gynecological specialists of the 1970s, and life emerged.
Radical liberalism
Although the term “sex” began to be uttered only in speeches from the mid-1950s, after the end of the Stalin era, with the lifting of the ban on abortion, the creation of the Soviet state occurred with real innovation. in the intimate life of citizens.
The rules on marriage and family of the year did not impose a ban on divorce proceedings, gave both sexes equal rights and took a loyal position in relation to illegitimate offspring. Engaging in homosexual relationships is no longer punishable. In the first years of the creation of the communist state, the authorities made a radical revolution in the sexuality of female representatives. It was called upon to introduce the complete liberation of women from marriage, since it was clear that it would be limited.
The Soviet Union was one of the first states to legalize abortion. This entire period went down in history as the period of “radical liberalism.”
In 1924, the legendary Sexual Commandments were published. However, the debate about “sexual feelings” continued.
Superstitions were discussed in “kitchen talk” as well as during political debates. O. Bessarabova wrote in her personal diary in 1925: “The superstition about “kitchen talk” is a kind of lie, or untruth, or untruth, or untruth. It is a kind of lie, or ugliness.”
With the replacement of Lenin, liberalism ended. The idea of relationships between men and women was radically different. Stalin was of the opinion that the family is the stronghold of the state. The tightening of boundaries in the intimate life of citizens has begun. However, the government needed population growth. Women began to be offered maternity leave, and innovations appeared in kindergartens designed to somehow simplify their lives. At the same time, however, divorce proceedings were difficult, and male homosexuality was prohibited by criminal law.
Abortion was illegal in the 1930s. M. Prishvin corrected the data on this matter and complained that We cannot even dream of freedom.” Two years later, the writer asked, “How many abortions are performed per day in Moscow? Love at the expense of the race.”
A whole wave of deaths was initiated by improperly performed abortions and their consequences. In 1935, 451 deaths were recorded in cities (such deaths were not counted in villages); a year later — already 910. And, according to some historians, “the war destroyed normal relations.”
Soon no one was discussing relationships between men and women. There was little mention of intimate matters in magazines of the time. A 15-year-old teenager wrote the following in 1941.
It”s interesting that people have the impression that when they talk about “love” they ignore their sex life. They think about it a lot, but don”t talk about it. Of course, at the age of 15-16, the most important issue is maturity. He finds it funny that, despite the fact that his mother is an educated woman, she believes that young people should not discuss such topics.
Impact of the war
Thirty-six months later, this young man became a victim of military action. The war was also an attack on healthy sexual relationships,” wrote a Soviet archivist in 1944. “The war disrupted and in fact completely destroyed normal sexual relations.” He is horrified by the consequences of these events. Indeed, the end result of this destruction remains the echo of people and their relationship to the intimate aspects of life.
A contemporary of Soviet literature writes about the intimate aspects of his life: “I was a person who was not afraid of the Soviet Union, but I was afraid of the Soviet Union. She did not agree, she was angry. After a short break, she returned to normal life. It was rude; it was like rape.”
Abortion was legalized in the mid-1950s. It was a terrible mixture of lack of knowledge in the field of sexuality and. M. Muravyova: “At best, girls learn from their mothers about their critical days.” It was not customary to call intimate experiences “sex.” The rare use of the term was noted only in the 1950s in a note by the artist N. Murabyov, who shared his feelings after working in the West in the 1950s. “The art is beautiful. But it”s all about one thing — sex, and it happens very openly.” He summarizes that the whole spectacle was offensive to him for this reason.
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Another episode from the camp environment has also been preserved — a year after the previous information was written, it was shared by a scientist sent to serve time on a political charge immediately after the Great Patriotic War. Prisoners stated that women had a harder time coping with the deprivation of sexual opportunities than men. And among them there were even more deviations, and they invented new ways to get satisfaction.
The term “sex” came into use in the USSR only in the 1960s. And where he appeared, it was accompanied by a statement of condemnation. Thus, a Soviet scientist, who came to visit a colleague in Denmark at that time, wrote condemningly about the personal lives of foreigners. This made such an impression on him that he wrote an explicit condemnation of European women.
Despite complete external chastity, in all cases it was accompanied by an ascetic existence. Despite his complete secrecy, his personal life was genuine. For example, this is how student G. Zhelin described this process in the 1950s. This is when a classmate unexpectedly gave birth to a classmate after school.
We thought she was just fat, but she was pregnant. And I turned out to be a weak observer. There is still Baksharin in our class in the seventh month! Where”s the sex education?
At the same time, Soviet girls shared their experience of reading foreign works. “For example, the following words. “A satisfied woman makes a sound.” The book, translated unofficially, is also said to be very funny and exciting.
In the 1970s_1970
There have been attempts to introduce sex education,” writes Muravyov, a higher school teacher. Setting complex boundaries was not effective, he said, and it took decades for authorities to realize this, and it was during these years that the first classes on sexuality were taught to schoolchildren.
What was sex like in the USSR? or was it not there at all?
In the 1970s, with the development of medical science, centers for sexual pathology began to appear on the basis of psychiatric institutes. Indeed, they functioned only in the three largest cities of the Soviet Council. However, this can already be considered a definite breakthrough.
Medical works were more accessible than Bulgakov”s The Master and Margarita. Every important library collection contained works on topics related to sexual pathology, and the literature could be read from closed access if the sex therapist had the appropriate permissions. And there were all sorts of works devoted to the range of sexual encounters. There were opportunities for employees of psychiatric clinics to become acquainted with Freudianism.
Non-medical information on the topic of sex. The Indian Kama Sutras were popular. The book “Advice to Young Housewives” was published in Latvia,” notes M. Muravyova. Despite the fact that these publications gave detailed descriptions of sexual contacts, there was nothing liberal about them, but they promoted conservatism — the male sex was placed at the forefront.
Orientalist Vitaly Rubin, in his personal accounts of the 1970s, shows that this topic was alien to the communists. He notes that in a communist environment, citizens showed no interest in talking about intimate aspects of life.
Anatoly Chernyshev, a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, read a work banned in the 1970s, which said: “I. I read Jack Pine”s book. A brilliant book with a rare set of powerful techniques. I seemed already an experienced person in these matters. But there are few surprises.” He believes that reading is about discovering new possibilities for yourself.
In everyday life
The smaller the settlement, the more this practice declined. In the 1970s, gynecologist T. Smirnova described women as hating to talk about the lack of pleasure from sex, and they have nothing to complain about.” She noted that their sex life did not begin until the wedding celebrations. And the first sex occurred after marriage, but no one shared how accurate this was.
Georgy Muravyov also confirms that there was nothing liberal or positive in their responses. A woman could be considered desperate for the slightest reason. For this, it was enough for her to have sexual intercourse outside of marriage or simply go outside in an open robe.
Tessler saw the main difficulty not in the moral principles of communism, but in the fact that in the USSR there was no place to have sex. For heterosexual couples. We were looking for a place to live with friends in a “communal apartment.”
Doctors attributed the women”s anxiety when visiting the clinic to their fear of the surgery—for a long time, abortions were performed without anesthesia at all: “doctors were covered in blood up to their elbows.” A group of women simply took the opportunity to terminate their pregnancies at home. They administered alcoholic drinks mixed with sulfur soap, used all sorts of means to induce muscle cramps, and inserted fig roots into their vaginas, which could cause a miscarriage. Doctors deemed such methods barbaric. Contraceptive hormones were dangerous. The pill at the time caused obesity. The primary method of contraception was the “calendar.” Once IUDs produced in the USSR went on sale, they quickly became popular.
It”s therefore not surprising that the phrase “there”s no sex in the Soviet Union” was uttered by a resident of that country during a conference call in response to a question from a Westerner about the Soviet Union, and the entire audience burst into laughter. Even later, judging by diary entries, by the late 1980s, most people in the Soviet Union had a rather negative attitude toward the promotion of sexuality and expressions of human sensuality.
Decades after the country”s collapse, attitudes are gradually changing, and many of the negative consequences of the Soviet worldview are being felt, but not all heirs of the Soviet state realize this.
What was intimacy like in the USSR? Sex, USSR, it”s true
