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Check out the video of Paul McCarney's concert on Red Square back in the late 90's. I think you can see the whole thing on youtube, but it's also available commercially. Whenever they pan the cameras over the audience, you can see a lot of regular Russian women. Actually, half of them look Swedish, and a bit above average. But anyway, you can see them wearing just regular clothes.
The styles in Moscow are more contemporary than in the more distant regions, very generally speaking. Russia's a big place, you know. But those short black spandex skirts are ubiquitous; everywhere you go there's a percentage of girls wearing those, including Asian girls in some of the regions.
Yes Russian women are good looking on average, moreso than say the UK or Germany imo. Quite a few have an oriental flavour to their looks, even if they're blonde with blue eyes.
I've always been curious as to what life is like in Russia's far east. Seems more a colonial place, than their 'homeland'. Sakhalin Island, for instance, was taken from the Japanese (and it's 400,000 Japanese residents expatriated). You have Russian communities on the border with China, I find the relationship between the two in this region quite interesting. The area was once full of native peoples like the Yakuts, Evenkis, Amur/Jurchen/Manchu, but is now split between Moscow and Beijing.
Postman, it's not easy to speak in terms of minority/majority in this case, because Russia is a class society - always has been and always will be.
"The beefy tattoed guys" probably changed their looks somewhat, but the criminal underworld in Russia was always a big part of Russian history ( Soviet times including) and they've always had their own type of women catering to them. The women who cater to "rich foreign men" is a more recent phenomenon, which probably goes back to Soviet times, and so this is yet another type.
Then you have your Russian intelligentsia, which is from the different world and of different standards all together, and then you have "simple folks" which is again a different type of women.
I have a feeling sometimes that all Russians have some kind of antennas built on top of their heads, because you need to navigate your way through your own compatriots, in order to be in the right bracket and to recognize people from your own group. ( Money often don't have anything to do with it, unlike in the US.)
One thing however I see that's often different in Russian culture when it comes to women, comparably, say, to American culture, is that in Russia, ( if we exclude intelligentsia class and certain type of women from the lower ladder) women don't mind being objectified unlike in Western cultures, and often see their value this way ( you'll find them most likely among the girl-friends of tattooed guys or those who are looking for rich foreigners/rich Russians.) I think again it's a more recent phenomena, because women's life throughout Soviet times was so harsh, they've had to pull so much weight with wars, revolution, full time shifts at factories, construction works and so on, and at that raising children was mostly their responsibility, that once the system has been changed, and the new rules of game came in place, that's when the pendulum swung the other way.
True, the image we see of Russian people is pretty stereotypical: very dressed up women on the prowl for a rich husband, men who have that 'gangster' look who abuse their women. Rather different from the stereotypes of 40 years ago.
Then again, those who talk about objectification in the west don't speak for all women. You still see plenty of women in Australia or America who encourage men to see them as sex objects/drool over them. I don't think Russia is all that different. Like in China, the image of the typical Russian woman has changed from a rather manly, no frills worker to that of an opportunistic gold digger in mini-skirts with her **** hanging out.
Yes Russian women are good looking on average, moreso than say the UK or Germany imo. Quite a few have an oriental flavour to their looks, even if they're blonde with blue eyes.
I've always been curious as to what life is like in Russia's far east. Seems more a colonial place, than their 'homeland'. Sakhalin Island, for instance, was taken from the Japanese (and it's 400,000 Japanese residents expatriated). You have Russian communities on the border with China, I find the relationship between the two in this region quite interesting. The area was once full of native peoples like the Evenkis, Amur/Jurchen/Manchu, but is now split between Moscow and Beijing.
The area is still full of Manchu tribes, reindeerherders (evenks and others), and there are Evenks and Manchus on the Chinese side as well. The border areas, stretching across north of Mongolia, also have seen a fair amount of Chinese influx, as traders and agricultural workers. There are still Koreans on Sakhalin (descendants of war prisoners) and around the Amur, and there are Native peoples on Sakhalin as well, including Ainu descendants. There are Ainu descendants on Kamchatka, and a few on the Amur, as well.
Sakhalin wasn't "taken" from the Japanese, the Japanese took it during the war (actually, I think they only had the southern half of Sakhalin), and the Russians took it back after the war. So it was repatriated to Russia.
It's not an easy thing to define what "Russian intelligentsia" is)))
Let me quote you Russian philosopher N. Berdyaev on this subject as I did once on History forum before;
"To understand the sources of Russian communism and make clear to oneself the
character of the Russian revolution, one must understand that singular phenomenon
which in Russia is called 'intelligentsia'. Western people would make a mistake if they
identified the Russian intelligentsia with those who in the West are known as
'intellectuals'.
'Intellectuals' are people of intellectual work and creativeness, mainly learned people,
writers, artists, professors, teachers and so on. The Russian intelligentsia is an entirely
different group; and to it may belong people occupied in no intellectual work, and
generally speaking not particularly intellectual. Many Russian scholars and writers
certainly could not be reckoned as belonging to the intelligentsia in the strict sense of the
word. The intelligentsia reminds one more of a monastic order or sect, with its own very
intolerant ethics, its own obligatory outlook on life, with its own manners and customs
and even its own particular physical appearance, by which it is always possible to
recognize a member of the intelligentsia and to distinguish him from other social groups.
Our intelligentsia were a group formed out of various social classes and held together by
ideas, not by sharing a common profession or economic status. They were derived to
begin with mainly from the more cultured section of the nobility, later from the sons of
the clergy, small government officials, the lower middle class, and, after the liberation,
from the peasants. That then is the intelligentsia; its members were of different social
classes, and held together solely by ideas, and, moreover, by ideas about sociology. In the second half of the nineteenth century the stratum of society which is
simply called cultured is developed into a new type and is given the name 'intelligentsia'.
This type has its characteristic traits which belong to all its present representatives."
I might agree or disagree with him on a few things here, like I can argue about that "monastic order or sect," but he clearly indicates that Western understanding of "intellectual" ( i.e. scholars/academia that usually stands on higher level in the society) does not quite describe what "intelligentsia" in Russia is, and there I agree with him.
The area is still full of Manchu tribes, reindeerherders (evenks and others), and there are Evenks and Manchus on the Chinese side as well. The border areas, stretching across north of Mongolia, also have seen a fair amount of Chinese influx, as traders and agricultural workers. There are still Koreans on Sakhalin (descendants of war prisoners) and around the Amur, and there are Native peoples on Sakhalin as well, including Ainu descendants. There are Ainu descendants on Kamchatka, and a few on the Amur, as well.
Sakhalin wasn't "taken" from the Japanese, the Japanese took it during the war (actually, I think they only had the southern half of Sakhalin), and the Russians took it back after the war. So it was repatriated to Russia.
Well I guess it belonged to neither (both had claims/settlements prior to WWII although no one really recognised it as part of Russia or Japan per se, except southern Sakhalin I believe), but the native Nivikhs, Oroks and Ainu (in the southern half), although I still think Japan has 'more' of a claim to it than Russia. Russia is kind of greedy as it is, it's already got more land than anywhere else lol. Have you been to Sakhalin, btw? What is it like there? What is the population makeup in the smaller Siberian cities? How many natives live there? Is there much intermixing between European Russians and natives?
The Manchu is pretty much, for all purposes, a dead culture (only a handful speak the language, although more speak the related 'Xibe' language in Outer Mongolia).
True, the image we see of Russian people is pretty stereotypical: very dressed up women on the prowl for a rich husband, men who have that 'gangster' look who abuse their women. Rather different from the stereotypes of 40 years ago.
Then again, those who talk about objectification in the west don't speak for all women. You still see plenty of women in Australia or America who encourage men to see them as sex objects/drool over them. I don't think Russia is all that different. Like in China, the image of the typical Russian woman has changed from a rather manly, no frills worker to that of an opportunistic gold digger in mini-skirts with her **** hanging out.
I don't see women in America who "encourage men to see them as sex object" in the same manner as Russian women do. American women in this case usually attach a "different price tag" to them - intelligence, independence and what 's not, while Russian women in this situation don't go for such frills.
They are far more straightforward in this respect.
I don't see women in America who "encourage men to see them as sex object" in the same manner as Russian women do. American women in this case usually attach a "different price tag" to them - intelligence, independence and what 's not, while Russian women in this situation don't go for such frills.
They are far more straightforward in this respect.
Calling themselves names like 'sexychick' online, always wearing revealing clothing, even in the middle of winter, (which not in itself is evidence but taken with other things), dolling themselves up, aspiring to be a stripper or posing for men's mags, acting dumb, being obsessed with celebs, shopping, looks, 'being sexy', opting for a boob job as a 'career move', using their looks rather than their personality to hook in men...
Yeah I'd say they are encouraging them, and these women are a dime a dozen here and in the US. Even those that might deny it...I don't see how they're different than these Russians.
Calling themselves names like 'sexychick' online, always wearing revealing clothing, even in the middle of winter, (which not in itself is evidence but taken with other things), dolling themselves up, aspiring to be a stripper or posing for men's mags, acting dumb, being obsessed with celebs, shopping, looks, 'being sexy', opting for a boob job as a 'career move', using their looks rather than their personality to hook in men...
Yeah I'd say they are encouraging them, and these women are a dime a dozen here and in the US. Even those that might deny it...I don't see how they're different than these Russians.
Well, the Manchu tribes on the Amur still speak their language, unlike the Manchus on the Chinese side, so I wouldn't say it's a dead culture. And on the Chinese side, some still live in their traditional dwellings, which no longer exist on the Russian side, except in people's memories. On the Russian side, they still wear their traditional dress on festival occasions, and shamanism is still alive and well among them, and their healing traditions and traditional crafts.
I haven't made it to Sakhalin, unfortunately. But it was Russian territory during Czarist times.
If you can find a map of Indigenous republics and national areas, the cities in those areas are full of "nationalities". Ulan Ude in the Buryat Republic (bordering Mongolia and Tuva) is one of my favorites. It's a Buddhist culture, and all the buildings are painted Buddhist colors: maroon and saffron. There's a working monastery outside of town that never was shut down during the Soviet period, and new temples began springing up like mushrooms all over the countryside after 1991. However, during the course of the 90's, Russia began moving more Russians into the area to get better control over the local politics. Ulan Ude has a beautiful "old town" with lots of ornately-carved wooden buildings near the river. It's a beautiful city. Irkutsk is also beautiful, but there's no Mongol culture, although there are a couple of autonomous regions to the west of it.
Yakutsk, to the north, is heavily Yakut (now called Sakha), with a mixed population of smaller native nations of Yakutia, as well. There are also Russians, people from the Caucasus, and a few Ukrainians. But the immediate impression one gets is that Native people dominate the city.
Petro-Pavlovsk-Kamchatsky also has a significant Native population, though it's mostly Russian. Icelanders were attracted to it early in the 90's for the rich fishery, the volcanos and hotsprings reminiscent of home, and the cheap vodka . It's located on a fjord, and has relatively mild weather, similar to SE Alaska (Ketchikan).
Those are the 4 regions I'm familiar with: Buryatia, Yakutia, the Amur and Kamchatka. And Irkutsk, a little bit. You can check out Tuva in the film "Genghis Blues", which I highly recommend.
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because you need to navigate your way through your own compatriots, in order to be in the right bracket and to recognize people from your own group. ( Money often don't have anything to do with it, unlike in the US.)
but he clearly indicates that Western understanding of "intellectual" ( i.e. scholars/academia that usually stands on higher level in the society) does not quite describe what "intelligentsia" in Russia is, and there I agree with him.
. It's located on a fjord, and has relatively mild weather, similar to SE Alaska (Ketchikan). 
