Between submission and freedom: private life of the Ossetian women in the late Soviet period (an interview)

Based on the sociological interviews, the paper discusses the private life of the Ossetian women in the late Soviet period. It identifies and analyzes two main models for family and marriage relationships in North Ossetia: the traditional and modernized ones. Private life (privacy) of the Ossetian women within the traditional model for family and marriage relationships was based on the patriarchal traditions of the Ossetian society. The modernized model for family and marriage relationships was grounded on the Soviet gender policy aimed at establishing gender equality. Despite the diametrically opposite aspects of the private life of women, these practices coexisted side-by-side in the Ossetian cultural environment. The authors concluded that the representatives of different social strata had practical knowledge about these models; the practices under review had permeable symbolic and social boundaries.