Performing Politics as a Woman in Moscow Dissident Circles in the 1970s and 1980s

• In Event: Patriarchy as a Disguise: The Unnoticed Power of Women in the Economy, Science, and Dissident Movement

Abstract

During the 1970s and 1980s, women participated in Soviet dissident movement in a variety of roles. They were editors of the well-known 'Chronicle of Current Events,' signed the appeals to the world community, and were tried and exiled. In the same time, many female participants in the dissident movement took on inconspicuous and
the human rights movement depended directly on the gender patterns adopted by the families to which they belonged, and the reverse was also true: inclusion in underground activities redefined family relations within couples. The proposed gender perspective for examining the history of the Moscow dissidents, the most well-known and well-described dissident group, raises questions about the extent to which Soviet norms influenced the human rights defenders who, by definition, challenged and redefined Soviet moral and behavioral norms.
The practices of male dissidents towards women highlight the patriarchal features of this community. However, some forms of female agency demonstrate how women adopt and internalise the norms of the Soviet gender order and gender structure within the dissident milieu. They use these norms as a resource for resistance strategies.
Thus, women's dissident experience provides examples of carrying dangerous manuscripts in a pram or directly on children, destroying texts during a search in a pot of borscht etc. The sphere of 'women's world' in these examples turns out to be an area invisible to persecutors and therefore important for resistance to the regime. Additionally, there are many examples of Soviet legislation protecting women's rights being used in dissident activity.

Author

• Natalia Kolyagina, Sorbonne U (France)