Phraseological dictionaries of the Russian language contain thousands of proverbs and sayings about women. They reflect the positive and negative qualities of Russian women, consolidate their social role in society, describe the relationship between women and men. The Russian people have formed and consolidated a very contradictory female image.
The patriarchal model of the Russian world initially placed women in an unequal position with men. Even the fact that a girl was born did not bring joy to her parents: "Better a son of dust than a girl of gold", "A girl endures, but a son brings", "They leave their daughters without a shirt."
Female roles
Historically, women could realize themselves only in marriage: "A wife is good with her husband, she is not a wife without a husband." The socio-economic situation in Russia at all times was turbulent, although there were rare periods of peace and prosperity. The need to get married and have children meant to survive, to gain a stable position in society. An unmarried woman was reprimanded: "The girl has finished up to her gray hair." It was prescribed to get married at any cost: "At least for the old man, if only not to remain in girls."
The attitude to marriage among women was formed forcedly positive: “With a husband - it’s necessary; without a husband - and even worse; and a widow and an orphan - even a wolf howl."
Women were assigned the role of bride, wife, mother, mother-in-law or mother-in-law. The hierarchy of relations between men and women around him looked like this: "Wife for advice, mother-in-law for greetings, but not dearer to his own mother."
Marrying brides seemed naive and innocent: "Women repent, and girls are going to get married", "A girl will be born when she is good for a bride." A romantic and dreamy image was entrenched for the young bride, while there was a certain fatality and inevitability to fate: “The guy gets married when he wants, and the girl gets married when she is destined”, “The betrothed cannot be bypassed, not bypassed”, “Every bride for her groom will be born”,“Fate will come - it will find it on the stove”.
A woman-mother was recognized as the most dear and holy person: “Mother is the head of every business”, “There is no dearer friend than dear mother”, “It is warm in the sun, good in the presence of mother”. Ideally, an inextricable relationship develops with the children of the mother: "The young wife cries until the morning dew, the sister until the gold rings, the mother until the age."
The images of the mother-in-law and mother-in-law were most often painted grotesque and funny: "The lascivious mother-in-law does not believe in her daughter-in-law", "The dashing mother-in-law and behind her eyes", "I was at the mother-in-law, but I was glad to have flown away."
Negative qualities
Women's vices are firmly rooted in the proverbs and sayings of the Russian language: talkativeness, stupidity, stubbornness, scandalousness, curiosity, inconstancy, laziness and love of pleasure.
A cross-cutting theme of Russian proverbs is the mental abilities of women. Men do not endow women with a sufficient amount of intelligence, prudence and constancy: "Hair is long, mind is short", "Women's minds are ravaging houses"; “An ordinary woman has as much mind as a hen, and an extraordinary woman has as much mind as two”, “Women's minds, like Tatar bags (overstuffed).
The talkativeness of women is condemned, because it can lead to unpredictable consequences: “A woman came from the city, brought news from three boxes”, “A woman’s tongue is a damn pomelo,” “You tell a chicken, and she’s all over the street,” “A free woman is in the language, yes devil in a woman's Adam's apple."
Much worse than talkativeness, in the opinion of the Russian people, is female alcoholism and drunkenness: "The husband drinks - half the house is on fire, the wife drinks - the whole house is on fire", "There is no such potion as a wife with a hangover", "A drunken woman to add to pigs." Drunkenness most often leads to infidelity: "Baba is drunk - all is a stranger." Although, on the other hand, men sometimes contradict themselves, claiming that: "It is better to have a drunk wife than stubborn."
Positive traits
The ideal Russian woman is endowed with intelligence, wisdom, kindness, endurance and thrift.
A woman was appreciated if she was healthy and was able to have children: "A brother loves a rich sister, and a man loves a healthy wife." The presence of intelligence and worldly wisdom in a woman made her family strong and happy: "The smarter the wife, the stronger the family." Admiration for ingenuity combined with experience is reflected in the following proverb: “A woman’s mind is a woman’s rocker; and crooked and bumpy at both ends."
The lot that a woman stands out for is home. The ability to manage the house rationally is assessed positively: “There is only one way for my wife - from the doorway to the stove”, “The house is based not on the ground, but on the wife”, “The house is worth the mistress”.
Beauty was opposed to intelligence, and the preponderance of positive assessments was by no means on the side of beauty: "A clever one loves for character - a fool for beauty." Russian men for the most part preferred women who were kind and economic, rather than beauties: "A beauty is crazy - that a wallet is without money", "Beauty without reason is empty", "You will not be full of beauty," realizing that "Beauty is up to the crown, and the mind until the end”,“Beauty until the evening, and kindness forever”.
The endurance of Russian women aroused trembling delight, the reflection of which we find in the poem by Nikolai Nekrasov "Who lives well in Russia": "He will stop a galloping horse, he will enter a burning hut." The Russian people described hardy women as follows: "A wife is not a pot, you cannot break it," "Where Satan cannot, he will send a woman there."
Phraseologisms reflecting the positive qualities of women are three times less than those emphasizing their negative sides. However, let us note that only a rare man thinks of himself without a woman at all. This is what Russian proverbs and sayings say about it: “A man without a wife is like a fish without water”, “Without a wife as without a hat”, “A man without a woman is more orphan than little children”, “Grandfather would have crumbled if he hadn’t been belted grandmother.
