"Childfree" and "Yazhemat" as Bipolar Categories of Modern Femininity
The article raises a rather poorly researched theme - not child-oriented generation of women (“childfree”) as a bipolar category of hypertrophied child-orientation, demonstrated by some modern women who were called with interesting word “yazhemat”. The phenomenon of “childfree” is analyzed in the socio-cultural context as a counterculture, social movement and personal philosophy. The position of the highest child-orientation is analyzed as a manifestation of the matrifocality of Russian culture and child-centrism characteristic of Russian society. The collectivistic mood of Russian culture creates certain difficulties for the social acceptance of a position which is opposite classical child-centrism, which defends the right to childlessness. By the traditional Russian public mind, conscious childlessness is still perceived as the destruction of family values; however cause of influence of globalization and Westernization, the number of loyal Russian citizens, as well as citizens who have adopted the “childfree” ideology, is increasing every year. This fact often provokes the extremely child-orientated part of the Russian society to aggression to “childfree” as an alien cultural element. In response, another part of the population takes a defensive position, which often results in an undisguised verbal war on the Internet and in a variety of talk shows. The author analyzes the specifics of defending one’s own position by the representatives of both of the above-mentioned feminine categories, examines the national traits of “childfree” as a counterculture, social movement and philosophy of life. The article also assesses the further perspective of this phenomenon in Russian culture from the point of view of adaptation to generally accepted Russian cultural norms.