Template:2 Divorce

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In the 1990s, approximately one marriage in three ended in divorce, with the rate increasing 20 percent in the early 1990s after the break up of the Soviet Union. About 60 percent of Russian marriages now end in divorce. Gorbachev, in his book Perestroika, said it was imperative to involve women more in the management of the economy, cultural development, and public life, and to promote them to administrative posts. However, when discussing problems caused by weakened family ties, Gorbachev noted that heated debates are being held “about the question of what we should do to make it possible for women to return to their purely womanly mission.” That “purely womanly mission” has been frustrated by recent history. Forty million Soviet men died in the three cataclysmic events of the Soviet era—the collectivization of agriculture, the political purges, and World War II—creating a severe shortage of men for two generations of women. Moreover, the mortality rate for Russian men today is four times that of women in all age groups over twenty due to alcoholism and related accidents and illnesses, and women outlive men, on average, by thirteen years. That explains why there are so many babushki (grandmothers) in Russia and so few dyedushki (grandfathers). A few more facts will help to describe the status of women in Russia. One of every two marriages ends in divorce, and the number of single mothers and single women continues to rise. Nearly one-third of all babies born in Russia in the year 2000 were born to unwed mothers, double the percentage of a decade earlier, and 40 percent of those babies were born to teenagers. Feminism, like many other movements originating in the West, has been late in reaching Russia. Grassroots women’s groups are springing up around the country, but feminism is not yet a mass movement. The equality that Russian women want differs from that of Western women. Russian women see themselves as far more traditional in their dealings with men and their views on domestic life. In dress and style, for example, they prefer glamor to comfort, femininity to practicality. Russian women are duly recognized, however, on one day of the year, Women’s Day, a Russian version of Valentine’s Day. In communist years the festival was used to emphasize the equality of sexes lacking in the capitalist West, but it remains popular today. On March 8, women are showered with gifts from their loved ones. Food stores are jammed with shoppers seeking delicacies for the traditional meal at home. Jewelry and gift shops stay open late, and red roses and chocolates are in high demand as Russian men make amends for how they treat their women the rest of the year. To cope with their hardships, women depend on and support each other to a remarkable degree. Through networks of trusted and lifelong friends, they help one another with the daily hassles of life and provide moral support in times of crisis.