Learning, Performance, Fatigue and Regret: Tales of Motherhood on Russian Social Media in the 2010s–2020s

Abstract

AbstractThe essay examines changes in the conceptualisation and practice of motherhood in Russia from the 1990s up to the 2020s. From the 1990s, a mother’s obligations towards a child rose sharply in comparison to the Soviet era. Motherhood has become individualised and isolating, while expectations of maternal work have intensified. In the relatively affluent 2000s, a Western model of ‘intensive mothering’ became popular among women who could afford not to work, but this dropped out of favour in the more straitened 2010s, as women were forced to return to work. However, by this point, right-wing ideologists were promoting ‘traditional values’, according to which women’s role was primarily caring for others. This research demonstrates, drawing on a special interest motherhood group, #Shchastyematerinstva, on the Russian social media website VKontakte, that motherhood is now, for many Russian women, a heavy and unwelcome burden. AcknowledgementsThe research for this essay was conducted when the author was based at the Institute of Demography, Higher School of Economics, Moscow.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 According to Johnson et al. (Citation2021) there are several different forces within the contemporary Russian conservative wing, ranging from extreme conservative nationalists who believe that child-bearing and rearing are the natural destiny of women, who should not have to do paid work, to centrists who, like Vladimir Putin himself, prefer the Soviet model of a strong mother who combines hard work with obligatory motherhood.2 This arrangement was named the working mother Soviet gender contract, often also known as the ‘double burden’ by Temkina and Rotkirch (Citation2002).3 A symbolic representation of a heroic mother of heroic sons based on a war propaganda poster ‘The Motherland Is Calling You!’, addressed to soldiers, available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Родина-мать_зовёт!, accessed 3 October 2023.4 Federal’nyi zakon № 256-FZ ot 29 dekabrya 2006 ‘O dopolnitel’nykh merakh gosudarstvennoi podderzhki semei s det’mi’, available at: http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/24820, accessed 2 February 2023.5 R250,000 in 2007, gradually increased in line with inflation to R639,432 in 2021.6 R483,882 for the first child and R155,550 for the second.7 For example, Matza (Citation2018).8 See Biryukova and Makarentseva (Citation2017).9 Orna Donath has studied situations of women who deeply regret that they became mothers even if this had happened in a socially and economically favourable situation.10 #Shchastyematerinstva, available at: https://vk.com/zaiki_luzhaiki, accessed 10 February 2023.11 ‘Mama, it’s Hard for the Kids of Unhappy Parents To Be Happy, You Know?’, Livejournal blog ‘Ya-yasna-ya’, 18 July 2015, available at: https://ya-yasna-ya.livejournal.com/251663.html, accessed 2 February 2023.12 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 27 June 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_140190, accessed 2 February 2023.13 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 10 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132560, accessed 2 February 2023.14 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 12 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132701, accessed 2 February 2023.15 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontatke, 18 April 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_135134, accessed 2 February 2023.16 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 10 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132599, accessed 2 February 2023.17 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 12 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132704, accessed 2 February 2023.18 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 12 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132703, accessed 2 February 2023.19 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 11 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132658, accessed 2 February 2023.20 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 11 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132663, accessed 2 February 2023.21 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 11 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132662, accessed 2 February 2023.22 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 12 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132702, accessed 2 February 2023.23 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 12 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132700, accessed 2 February 2023.24 #Shchastyematerinstva, VKontakte, 9 March 2020, available at: https://vk.com/wall-98382141_132473, accessed 2 February 2023.Additional informationNotes on contributorsOlga IsupovaOlga Isupova, Temporary Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Nazarbayev University, Building 53 Kabanbay Batyr Avenue, Astana, Kazakhstan. Email: bolkab@yandex.ru