Authors

Kateryna Yeremieieva¹;  ¹ Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany

Discussion

This project explores the sexualization of women in Soviet satirical press during the perestroika period, focusing on its legacy in contemporary Ukrainian humor. The policy of Glasnost allowed for the inclusion of previously taboo topics, such as drug addiction, prostitution, and sexuality, in Soviet satire. However, this newfound freedom often perpetuates patriarchal norms by objectifying women. While satirists addressed themes of prostitution and sexual freedom to critique societal issues, their representations frequently reduced women to commodities, reflecting a deeply entrenched "male gaze." Focusing on the marginalization of women’s perspectives, the research highlights how humor, a seemingly peripheral cultural form, reveals systemic gender biases in Soviet society. Visual satire, particularly in magazines like Krokodil and Perets, employed caricatures of sexualized women to critique social issues, inadvertently perpetuating patriarchal norms. This study integrates Martha Nussbaum's and Caroline Heldman’s frameworks of objectification to analyze how these depictions denied women agency and reduced them to symbols of societal dysfunction. A case study of contemporary Ukrainian media critiques the persistence of sexist humor, tracing its roots back to Soviet traditions. Satirical portrayals of women rejecting sexual advances often trivialize the concept of consent, normalizing coercion through humor. Modern advocates for gender equality have sought to deconstruct such tropes, employing anti-colonial rhetoric to reject "Soviet traditions" of sexist humor as remnants of Russian influence. This evolving discourse underscores the importance of reexamining the socio-political impact of humor. The project also analyzes editorial practices, such as Krokodil's explicit segregation of sex-related jokes into specific sections, which fostered a sense of elitism while reinforcing patriarchal narratives. Ukrainian satirical magazines like Perets adopted a more cautious approach, reflecting the hesitance of Soviet-Ukrainian leadership toward reforms. By contrasting generational attitudes toward sexual freedom, this study highlights regional nuances in how humor navigated societal change. Ultimately, the "sexual revolution" of the late perestroika era in Soviet satire, driven more by political reforms than by cultural shifts, reinforced patriarchal patterns of humor. This legacy persists in contemporary humor, emphasizing the need to critically assess how humor normalizes objectification and its broader cultural implications.