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Kristen R. Ghodsee introduces Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love (full text available at marxists.org) and reads the Foreword to the 1927 English language edition. Also mentioned in the episode is Sally Rooney's novel, Normal People.
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"This novel is neither a study in “morals,” nor a picture of the standard of life in Soviet Russia. It is a purely psychological study of sex-relations in the post-war period.
"I have chosen the environment of my own country and made my own people protagonists, for I know them better and could give a more vivid picture of their inner life and characters. Many of the problems presented are not exclusively Soviet-Russian; they are world-wide facts, which can be noted in all countries. These silent psychological dramas, born of the change in the sexual relations; this evolution, especially, in the feelings of women, are well known to the younger generation of Europe.
"Do we ever judge a man for his conduct in love-affairs? Generally, if he does not overstep certain, very flexible limits, we say that his sexual life is his own “private affair.” The character of a man is evaluated not by his conduct in family morals, but by his efficiency in work, by his intellect, his will, his usefulness to the State and Society. As long as the majority of women had no direct duties to the State or to Society, as long as their whole activity was concentrated within the family limits, civilized nations demanded no other qualities in woman than that she display “good morals” in sexual and family life.
"Now, when more than half of the grown-up women-citizens in most countries toil and struggle, just as the men do, Society puts new demands on the women. Their ability to respond to the social duties of a citizen begins to have more value than their “goodness” and “stainlessness” in family-morals. Family life is not the unique field of activity for women nowadays; often enough her family duties come into bitter conflict with her out-of-home work and her public duties. It is only natural, therefore, that the method of evaluating a woman today is different from that of our grandfathers and grandmothers.
"Though a woman may, at the present time, attain “perfection” in the current bourgeois standard of family morals, and be “esteemed” by her own people, she may neither receive the real appreciation of society nor the “respect” of the State. She will merely be “ov
Send us a text
Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon-type account and receives no funding. There are no ads and there is no monetization.
If you would like to support the work being done here, please spread the word, share with your friends and networks, and consider exploring the following links.
Check out Kristen Ghodsee's recent books:
Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee’s free, episodic newsletter at: https://kristenghodsee.substack.com
Learn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work at: www.kristenghodsee.com
Kristen R. Ghodsee is the award-winning author of twelve books and a professor and chair of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Kristen R. Ghodsee introduces Alexandra Kollontai's 1923 novella, Red Love (full text available at marxists.org) and reads the Foreword to the 1927 English language edition. Also mentioned in the episode is Sally Rooney's novel, Normal People.
_______
"This novel is neither a study in “morals,” nor a picture of the standard of life in Soviet Russia. It is a purely psychological study of sex-relations in the post-war period.
"I have chosen the environment of my own country and made my own people protagonists, for I know them better and could give a more vivid picture of their inner life and characters. Many of the problems presented are not exclusively Soviet-Russian; they are world-wide facts, which can be noted in all countries. These silent psychological dramas, born of the change in the sexual relations; this evolution, especially, in the feelings of women, are well known to the younger generation of Europe.
"Do we ever judge a man for his conduct in love-affairs? Generally, if he does not overstep certain, very flexible limits, we say that his sexual life is his own “private affair.” The character of a man is evaluated not by his conduct in family morals, but by his efficiency in work, by his intellect, his will, his usefulness to the State and Society. As long as the majority of women had no direct duties to the State or to Society, as long as their whole activity was concentrated within the family limits, civilized nations demanded no other qualities in woman than that she display “good morals” in sexual and family life.
"Now, when more than half of the grown-up women-citizens in most countries toil and struggle, just as the men do, Society puts new demands on the women. Their ability to respond to the social duties of a citizen begins to have more value than their “goodness” and “stainlessness” in family-morals. Family life is not the unique field of activity for women nowadays; often enough her family duties come into bitter conflict with her out-of-home work and her public duties. It is only natural, therefore, that the method of evaluating a woman today is different from that of our grandfathers and grandmothers.
"Though a woman may, at the present time, attain “perfection” in the current bourgeois standard of family morals, and be “esteemed” by her own people, she may neither receive the real appreciation of society nor the “respect” of the State. She will merely be “ov
Send us a text
Thanks so much for listening. This podcast has no Patreon-type account and receives no funding. There are no ads and there is no monetization.
If you would like to support the work being done here, please spread the word, share with your friends and networks, and consider exploring the following links.
Check out Kristen Ghodsee's recent books:
Subscribe to Kristen Ghodsee’s free, episodic newsletter at: https://kristenghodsee.substack.com
Learn more about Kristen Ghodsee's work at: www.kristenghodsee.com
Kristen R. Ghodsee is the award-winning author of twelve books and a professor and chair of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
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