Late Soviet girlhood: Female adolescence in the times of the Cold War (1946–1991)

Teenage girls and young women, labeled in the Russian language by one word devushki, played a significant role in the late Soviet and Cold War history. Girls and young women like Olga Korbut or Valentina Tereshkova represented the USSR internationally and became symbols of the Soviet modernity project. Others resisted the Soviet order and constituted the vital part of the dissent, like Leningrad dissident feminists in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The authorities, experts and parents saw  female puberty as a ‘problem’ and young women as a particular group, demanding a special approach in education and upbringing. Despite all these facts, almost no research investigates the history of the late USSR from the girlhood studies perspective. In her presentation, Ella Rossman will share the first findings of her PhD project, focused on the Soviet girlhood during the Cold War. The presentation will contain two parts. In the first part, Ella Rossman will discuss her research project in general, concentrating on its plan, methodology and sources. The second part will focus on the first chapter, dedicated to the expert discussions on female puberty and female adolescence in the late USSR.

About the speaker

Ella Rossman is a doctoral student at UCL SSEES. She was previously studying and working at Higher School of Economics, Moscow. Rossman’s work is published in History of Science and Humanities and New Perspective journals. She wrote for Meduza, Novaya Gazeta, Forbes Women Russia and Riddle. 

Image credit:  A photo from the book "Nam devyatnadtsat. A vam?" (We are 19, and you?) , 1966