The Construction of Woman's Identity in Socialism: The Case of Slovenia
The Construction of Woman's Identity in Socialism: The Case of Slovenia

Author(s): Milica Antić Gaber, Ksenija Vidmar Horvat
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Local History / Microhistory, Gender history, Politics and Identity
Published by: Centar za ženske studije & Centar za studije roda i politike, Fakultet političkih nauka, Beograd
Summary/Abstract: THE PAPER EXAMINES THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL, LEGAL AND CULTURAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF WOMAN’S IDENTITY IN POST- WORLD WAR 2 SLOVENIA. IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA, SOCIALIST DOCTRINE DISASSOCIATED ITSELF SHARPLY FROM WESTERN FEMINISM THAT IT SAW AS AN IDEOLOGICAL OUTLET OF THE BOURGEOIS CONSCIOUSNESS. INSTEAD, THE »WOMAN'S QUESTION« WAS PROMOTED AS, IN THE WORDS OF THE LEADING POST-WAR SLOVENE IDEOLOGUE VIDA TOMSIC, AN INTEGRAL QUESTION OF OVERALL MATERIAL AND SOCIAL PROGRESS. HOWEVER, SCHOLARS OF GENDER IN THE FORMER SOCIALIST BLOC HAVE ARGUED THAT IN THE EFFORTS TO CONTROL WOMEN'S ROLE IN SOCIETY, THE OFFICIAL DISCOURSE AND POLITICS CREATED A SPECIFIC SOCIALIST DICHOTOMY BETWEEN THE PRIVATE AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE WHICH WAS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THE WESTERN SOCIETIES: WHEREAS IN THE WEST, THE FEMINIST DISCOURSES LOCATED THE PUBLIC SPHERE AS THE SITE OF THE STRUGGLE FOR GENDER EQUALITY, AND STROVE TO LIBERATE WOMAN FROM HER »DOMESTIC CONTAINMENT«, IN THE SOCIALIST SOCIETY, IT WAS THE PRIVATE SPHERE WHICH PRESENTED ITSELF AS A SPHERE OF FREEDOM AND RESISTANCE. ISOLATED FROM STATE IMPOSED POLITICS OF »WOMAN'S LIBERATION« IN THE WORKPLACE, THE SPHERES OF FAMILY LIFE AND DOMESTICITY OFFERED TO WOMEN AN IDEOLOGICAL SANCTUARY TO CONSTRUCT THEIR OWN IDENTITIES AS WELL AS A TERRAIN TO CONTEST THE SOCIALIST PARADIGM OF WOMANHOOD. THE PAPER LOOKS AT THE IDEOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL COMPLEXITIES OF THIS DICHOTOMY OF GENDER FROM THE SPECIFIC VANTAGE POINT OF SOCIALIST SLOVENIA. IT DEFINES A DISTINCT GEO-POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC POSITION OF SLOVENIA AND DISCUSS THE INFLUENCE OF PARTY IDEOLOGY IN WHICH EYES WOMEN WERE MORE OR LESS ONLY COMRADES AND WORKING MOTHERS ON THE ONE SIDE AND WESTERN FEMINISM WHICH THESE WOMEN MOSTLY SAW AS DOUBLE-BURDENED AND DE-FEMINISED WOMEN ON THE OTHER AS WELL AS THEIR MULTI-CULTURAL EXPERIENCES OF EVERYDAY LIVES ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF WOMEN'S IDENTITY. IT ALSO ADDRESSES THE ROLE OF MASS CULTURE AND CONSUMERISM AS IMPORTANT SITES OF CONTESTATION AVAILABLE TO WOMEN IN THEIR DAILY LIVES ESPECIALLY THROUGH ADVERTISING AND WOMEN'S MAGAZINES. THE PAPER OBSERVES IDEOLOGICAL CLASHES BETWEEN SOCIALIST IDEOLOGY AND THE WESTERN-STYLE IMAGERY AS THEY STRUGGLE TO DEFINE WOMAN'S IDENTITY UNDER THE GROWING PRESSURE OF LIBERALIZATION AND DEMOCRATIZATION OF SOCIETY.

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