“There is no sex in the USSR,” these famous words came from the lips of Lyudmila Ivanova. Many people now do not know who it is. Therefore, we explain that we are talking about one of the participants in the Leningrad-Boston television bridge, which aired on June 28, 1986. The whole Soviet Union then laughed at it. Or in this socialist state did people really have an intimate side of life? How was that possible?
Was or not?
The author of the book “Sex Against the USSR” notes that Lyudmila Ivanova was right. And there really was no sex in the country. This means that officially in the USSR there is no sex. He was not shown in cinemas, theaters, literature, fashion, in all areas subject to censorship. Unofficially, however, sex in the USSR not only existed, but was widespread. We are talking about the fact that this area existed in fact clandestine, contrary to party laws and prohibitions.
As you know, a state cannot exist without its citizens, which means that - no matter how this prohibits power - a country cannot exist without sex and having children. In this regard, the author of the book writes, no government should be interested in excluding sex from the life of citizens. Was it different in the Soviet Union?
How was this done in the country?
During the existence of the socialist state on television there was not a single program in which even a hint of light eroticism could have arisen. The skirt is shorter than to the knees, equated to pornography. It is known that with such censorship that existed in the Soviet Union, the discussion of intimacy was also excluded from literature. Nevertheless, people in the USSR were constantly born. What a miracle?
The first chapter, “Sex against the USSR,” describes the situation in the intimate sphere during the reign of Lenin. At this time, the official propaganda of free love began. In the summer of 1918, the “Decree on the Nationalization of Girls and Women” was circulated in Moscow, which was a joke, but was accepted as truth by many, and therefore they began to implement it. In many cities and villages they applied for the truth "Decree ...", until 1930!
Decree
What should free Soviet love look like in practice, according to the Decree?
The author of the Decree ... was Mikhail Uvarov, who suggested that ... "all women 18-32 years old were considered state property."
"Every woman who has reached the age of 18 and has not married is obliged, under penalty of punishment, to register with a free love bureau. Registered women are given the right to choose a man aged 19 to 50 years as their husband ...", the Decree says .
Why did young women in general need to be made state property? Well, if only because "all the best specimens of the fair sex are in the ownership of the bourgeoisie", otherwise it cannot be, right?
Uvarov’s comic document consisted of 19 articles. In accordance with the Decree, men who confirmed their involvement in the masses of workers had the right to use one woman "no more than three times a week for three hours." In addition, men had the right to extraordinary access to a wife. Unless, of course, agreed that other people have the right to it. Otherwise, they lost the right to use their wife out of turn.
Joking as a joke, but Uvarov was caught, tried and found ... innocent. During the investigation, it turned out that the author of the Decree had already partially implemented the document in practice - he bought a house in Sokolniki, called it the “Palace of Love”, and took a fee for visiting the “palace”. Members of the commune slept with each other ten people in one room.
Ultimately, the defendant was released due to lack of evidence of guilt for the crime. The next day, the body of Uvarov was found, who was killed by a group of 20 anarchists. The postcard left on the corpse indicated that it was "an act of revenge and fair protest."
Similar documents
Uvarov’s work was not, however, an exception at that time, because such documents arose in 1918. For example, once the soldiers of the Red Army were given mandates with the content: "Those who have this mandate are given the right to appropriate themselves in the city of Yekaterinodar 10 women aged 16 to 20 years (sometimes 25), which the comrade will indicate."
As you might guess, this "socialization of women" in practice was no different from rape. Not all victims experienced "nationalization."
In turn, the “Decree of the Council of People's Commissars” was announced in the city of Saratov, on the basis of which all women aged 17-32 years were recognized as state property. Under the new law, every woman became the property of the whole working class, which means that every proletarian had the right to it.
And in 1920, the RSFSR became the first state in the world that allowed its citizens to have an abortion. On November 19, 1920, the Council, chaired by Lenin himself, officially abolished all punishments for abortion.
Western countries decided to legalize abortion only 40-50 years later (Great Britain - 1967; USA and Denmark - 1973; France and Austria - 1975), so we can say that the USSR was a pioneer in this matter.
Since the legalization of abortion, the birth rate in the Land of Soviets began to decline steadily, which quickly led to a demographic regression.
Why in the USSR was not in sex
From studies conducted in 1922, it became clear that among young people under the age of 18 years, 47% of boys and 62% of girls had sexual experience. In the same year, a similar survey was conducted among students. It turned out that 80% of men and more than half of women had such relationships.
The question of what “There was no sex in the USSR in sex” means many are still asking. Indeed, based on statistics, during the reign of Lenin, it was widespread. There is evidence that this had its consequences, painful and very unpleasant. It is, of course, about sexually transmitted diseases.
Venus Disease
The history of the phrase "There is no sex in the USSR," therefore, refers to a later period of the existence of a superpower. Indeed, back in 1925, more than 2 thousand cases of syphilis were registered in only one hospital. In the summer of 1926, mandatory medical examinations of staff were carried out - more than half of them suffered from various types of sexually transmitted diseases. This kind of situation has led to a tightening of sexual policies and the amendments made to the 1926 Penal Code.
For example, deliberate infection of another person with a venereal disease was punished even with a three-year prison sentence. More stringent penalties were also imposed for sexual intercourse with minors (up to 8 years in prison), seduction of children (up to 5 years), rape (up to 5 years) or forced prostitution (up to 5 years plus confiscation of property). Abortion was also banned later.
Contraception
The question of why there was no sex in the USSR is asked by many more because information about Soviet contraception has been preserved. Previously, the population ignored the contraceptive achievements of civilization and opted for abortion instead of contraception. The situation changed somewhat after the ban on abortion, as a result of which contraceptives became possible to buy in pharmacies.
Ban
Since 1930, there was no longer an intimate sphere in the life of a Soviet citizen. So the use of phrases in culture could begin already in this period. Censorship, of course, stood guard over sexual asceticism and restraint. In Soviet cinema, any appearance of a woman in a swimsuit had a great resonance.
For watching pornographic videos in the Soviet Union, you could even go to jail for 10 years. For this reason, the question subsequently arose: "Why was there no sex in the USSR." Of course, this does not change the fact that, despite threats of punishment (to receive a term plus confiscation of property), pornography in the country was studied and even discussed. The real sexual revolution began in the state after the introduction of Soviet-made video recorders.
“The first thing that they started watching with the help of VCRs was porn films, and everything else that contained elements of pornography. Often whole families came to such shows, but they looked separately — first women, then men,” the book says.
It is known that Soviet citizens were convicted of watching the film The Godfather, which was recognized by a court commission (2 gynecologists and 1 teacher) as a pornographic film with elements of violence. Many people went to jail for watching films such as Emmanuelle, Caligula, The Greek Fig Tree, History O, and The Curse of the Black Sisters.
Thus, the question arose of why there was no sex in the USSR. What was called this term in the world, it was common in the country to “make children”. There was no true sexual culture.
Sex, as such, began its history in this state with absolute anarchy (the so-called theory of free love), then it was banned and then gradually restored.
Famous TV bridges
It is noteworthy that TV bridges are still being held in which this topic is addressed. So, there are TV bridges with Phil Donahue and Posner. But it was during this event that the catch phrase was said about the country of the Soviets and the intimate side of people's lives. According to the memoirs of V. Pozner, the program was called "Women Talk to Women." It was an innovative show in those days, it became unusually famous, and the catch phrase uttered by a Soviet citizen left a bright mark on culture.