Marx-Engels | Lenin | Stalin | Home Page
SOVIET WOMEN-EQUAL BUILDERS OF THE SOCIALIST SOCIETYWomen in the Land of Socialism
N. Popova
Forward
The great Soviet people has every reason to be proud of the way the woman question has been solved in the U.S.S.R. For centuries the position of women in Europe, Asia, America and Africa has been one of dependence and subordination. Under capitalism the lot of working women is rendered still worse by ruthless exploitation in factories and mills, the joy of motherhood darkened by poverty more than ever before, increased child mortality and increased prostitution.
The ruling classes of capitalist countries and their hired agents exalt bourgeois so-called “democracy” to the skies. But the fact remains that under capitalism the great majority of women are inhumanly exploited and they suffer from numerous disabilities, from restrictions of their rights in public and political life, from degrading marriage and divorce laws which place women in a humiliating and inferior position to men, from economic dependence and household drudgery.
Marxism-Leninism, which has become the banner of liberation for millions of working people the world over, pointed out the correct way to solve the woman question. Lenin and Stalin led the working men and women of our country to victory over stardom and capitalism.
In the fire of relentless battles fought by the working class under the leadership of the great Party of Lenin and Stalin, the first Socialist State in the world was born.
Under the wise leadership of the Bolshevik Party the Soviet people travelled a glorious and heroic path, in the course of which they have done away with capitalism and have built up Socialism in our country.
From the backward country it used to be, our Motherland has become transformed into a mighty industrial and collective-farm power, the home of the most progressive culture in the world, a model of true democracy, an impregnable stronghold of Socialism.
The great achievements which the Soviet system brought the working people have radically altered the position of women.
The Soviet system abolished all legal restrictions imposed upon women and granted them equal rights with men in all fields of government, economic, cultural and public and political life. Women became free and economically independent. The Bolshevik Party elevated women – workers and mothers – and awakened the great creative power latent in them.
“In Soviet times a new generation has grown up and is beginning to spread its eagle wings.
“It must be admitted that one of the greatest achievements of our revolution is the new spiritual make-up, the intellectual growth of our people, as Soviet patriots. This is true of all Soviet people, in town and in countryside, of those engaged in physical labour and those engaged in mental labour. That is, indeed, a supreme achievement of the October Revolution, an achievement of epochal significance.
“The Soviet people are not what they were thirty years ago.” (V. M. Molotov.)
These words fully apply to Soviet women.
Masters of the country on a footing of equality, women, along with men, built the majestic edifice of Socialism, and in the years of trial during the war they defended the honour and independence of their country. They contributed their full share to the historic victory over fascist Germany and imperialist Japan. And today they give all their strength and knowledge to the work of fulfilling and exceeding the post-war Stalin five-year plan, to the work of building Communism in the U.S.S.R.
The share of Soviet women in the world-historic victories of Socialism in the U.S.S.R. is enormous. They are a great force in Soviet society, active participants in the political, economic and cultural life of our country.
Women’s high position in Soviet society, the position they have won under the leadership of the Party of Lenin and Stalin, has placed them, together with the rest of the Soviet people, in the vanguard of the progressive forces of mankind.
Soviet women deservedly enjoy the respect of all freedom-loving peoples who perceive in them a powerful force in the fight against reaction and war-mongers, for a lasting and stable peace, for democracy and for the great progress of all mankind.
The successful solution of the woman question in the U.S.S.R. is eloquent, irrefutable evidence of the advantages of the Soviet social and state system over capitalism; it shows that only the path of Lenin and Stalin, the glorious path to Communism, leads to freedom and happiness for the people, to freedom and happiness for mankind.