Equal Rights for Women

Russian women started to gain equality earlier than women in the United States. In the former Soviet Union, men and women had access to equal education and job opportunities that reflected the Soviet Philosophy. The 1937 Soviet constitution declared that women and men had equal rights and responsibilities when women joined the workforce. Because millions of Russian men were away in the military during World War II, Russian women filled their places at work. Although Soviet women worked full time at their jobs, they also had the primary responsibility for taking care of the family. After they finished their work, they had to shop, cook the evening meal, and perhaps wash, iron, or mend the family's clothes. U.S women started to demonstrate that they could do the work of men during World War II.