|
|
Gender and everyday life in Socialist Slovenia
| The paper explores gender and everyday life in Socialist Slovenia. Slovenia was a part of Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia and as the closest part of the state to Western Europe, the most developed and the most “westernised” part as well. Described was possible due to the fact that Yugoslav regime after the break with Stalin in 1948 developed softer version of one-party system. The starting point of the paper is the history of Slovenia from then on which therefore is significantly different in comparison with other state socialist or communist countries.
The paper shows that as early as in 1950ies and 1960ies Yugoslavia tried to find the “third way” between Soviet type of communist regime and Western capitalism with innovative answers to different socio-economic questions. Liberal reforms which started in the second half of the 1960ies were closely connected with higher social standard, better salaries and higher purchasing power. One of the evident signs of liberalization of every day life was also the introduction of a new kind of women's magazine (far different from the old stile communist one) with educational articles about the position of women in society, women’s fashion, home decoration, love stories and horoscope which among other influenced mass consumption. In this respect it is important to stress that Yugoslav authorities had been given passport to every citizen which encouraged mass shopping tourism to border cities in Italy and Austria.
The paper shows that women’s everyday life had definitely been influenced by the fact that women had been given the equal right to education and employment. Women most often had full time employment, almost equal salaries and some important social and individual rights (maternity rights, healthcare rights, right on abortion, etc.). The paper also shows the liberalisation in women’s private lives and freedoms in sexuality. Slovene women had been given the right to control their sexuality through the use of contraception and had the right to abortion on demand. Yugoslavia and Slovenia as its part was a first country to proclaim in its constitution from 1974 that it is a human right to decide freely on childbearing.
|
|
