You know, darling, why my eyebrowes do not grow. Well, they do not grow as earlier. Perhaps, I have to try this cream? - Tell me please will this mask be right for me? Maybe it is better to make massage first? - And who does manicure today? - I wanted to make an appointment by phone, but it is impossible to reach you. Today I need to make my hair styling!

That was I've heard during that hour which has been lead in a beauty salon. They are hysterical and languid, talkative and eternally smiling, absolutely young and trying to be young. I saw huge invasion of women which are met and treated by another female command - hairdressers, cosmeticians, masseurs. An hour, another hour, the third hour, and due to effort of masters and money of clients appears the updated person who almost as in advertising, having shaken by curls, will drop: "In fact I am worth it!". In general, this is the real Russian woman, maked by an image and similarity of the divines from glossy magazines!

It would seem, several years ago, there where popular jokes about conversation of American woman, britain woman, french woman and Russian woman. They compare the way of life - about sex, fashion, life … ". If you remember, Russian woman looked the most resourceful and sharp in such jokes and at the same time she was ignorant of many ordinary affairs, which are usual for foreign women. And today these jokes somehow have died out. Most likely, having ceased to be actual on a background of all us who are more active infuse in the civilized world and the fact that we are indistinguishable from representatives of other countries.

Really, speaking about appearance care the Russian woman goes right at the same level with foreign women. Here are anticellulitis dirties, nails and hair escalating, million programs of hips reduction and a bust increasing … Speaking further about decorative cosmetics Russian and western women's roads are not the same. Exhausted by recently past deficiency, the solvent Russian woman prefers to buy all that is most expensive and prestigious, that is under a name of any world famous mark. And Russian women have also a propensity to get experimental cosmetic novelties (not suspecting though how to use them), if they are considered to be fashionable. For comparison - pragmatic and natural American women, which are moonstruck about all that is healthy, buy tons of tightening creams and masks, buying from decorative cosmetics only mascara for eyelashes and powder. The same preferences of french women - humidifying creams, hygienic lipsticks and as a unique concession to fashion - mascara for eyelashes.

As write fashionable magazines, in a choice of clothes Russian woman also differs cardinally from foreign women. No, it is impossible to tell, that Russian women have lagged behind a fashion and do not know names of famous couturiers. Simply Russian woman has not got used yet to such variety of fashionable bagatelles. For example, if the european woman will buy smooth linen of natural silk or cotton fabrics, and the American woman will prefer silk linen of shrill shades - from green up to bright red, former soviet lady whom morally-sustained linen became a legend, will like lace in linen, guipure and an embroidery. A superhygienic and breathing cotton seems to Russian woman to be not prestigious and cheap stuff, what is rather unfair. Beeing sick from monophonic "nonspottable" clothes of former years, the Russian woman is in delight today about "gay" clothes. Jackets with stuffed figure, a jabot, an embroidery, the tight jackets, skirts and blouses are most popular at Russia. There have appeared sated tone in a coloring of clothes.

By the way, Russian woman has changed today not only externally, but also internally. She has a new image, more truly, she has plenty of images. It was possible to say about the soviet woman only one thing - the qualified employee, more often the teacher or the doctor, the true wife (the USSR - the country, where was the lowest level of divorces), careful mother. It is enough to recollect magazine "Soviet woman " where in details, precisely, was presented all life of USSR's woman. About such women they made films and wrote in newspapers: "Selfless woman-worker, active member of humane societies, the soviet woman always was and remains the first teacher of young generation. Surrounding by attention and care, warming children by mother's heat, women bring them up healthy, cheerful, impart them better qualities of the soviet person - fidelity to communism, high consciousness, diligence, unquenchable love to the native land, feeling of deep internationalism. Thanks to you from all the nation, women-mothers, for your daily, tireless and noble efforts, for your mother's heart, for your indefatigable care of family strengthening!"

 

(newspaper “TRUD ", 8.03.1972)

To draw a portrait of the average Russian woman today is very difficult, it is practically impossible, because all average leveling remained in the past. Women of the most different estates and trades flash on telescreens. Police employee and businesswomen, ambulance surgeons and public prosecutors, cashiers of stations and prostitutes … Where she is that average Russian woman, when there is such sharp division into social groups in the country - rich group and poor proup. To make sure of it, it is enough simply to get out on a street. There is aunt Masha in an old jacket begs, and here the girl Lena in a mink fur coat sits down in the car....

To how many children Russian woman dares to give birth? That depends on a today's standard of well-being. If earlier there was a minimum three children in each Soviet family, today the majority of pairs presume to have only one child. The most part of married couples with children - a result of experts's imagination of the advertising companies, advancing new brands of meal and clothes in the market. They smiling juicy and safely from television screens and the big posters in streets, whereas actually there are 24 million families with children in Russia and every second family is poor and have only one child. Besides the pleasure of motherhood frightens by an opportunity to remain without well paid work, and together with it without prospects qualitatively to change the life. And if in France, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Greece the salary of women with little child is kept for the period from 3 till 9 months, at Russia all who dare to have children will get only scanty grant.

Careerism - one more characteristic feature of the modern Russian woman, because of which there is bad situation with a demography in the country. Actually, as shows a life, Russian women aspire to climb up more quickly on a career ladder not so much because of own ambitions, but because of the material benefit. That is normal human desire - to earn on an apartment and the machine, and after that to get family. It is no wonder, that answering a question about priorities in a life, Russian women put first an opportunity of education. According to last population census, there is more women having higher education today, than the men ended high schools.

Well, one more feature to a portrait of the modern Russian woman. Besides that the Russian woman aspires to gnaw a granite of a science, forcibly elbows competitors aside - men on a labour market and does not hurry up to get children, she more and more skeptically concerns to a marriage. So, according to statistic, in 1989 there was 36 million marriage pairs in Russia, in 2002 there is only 34 million. For the first time in history of the Russian censuses last time they counted not only the registered marriages, but also civil ones. There are 3 million civil marriages in Russia. Sociologists explain it by the fact that modern women began to think more scrupulously about attitudes with the man. To avoid further mistakes, they long and carefully look at the future husbands. And maybe the matter is in men's indecision?...