Mrs. Laure Tabet and Mrs. Najla Saab Speak About: Modern Russia

• The Russian woman is serious, and equal to the man in everything.

• Education is compulsory and free.

• Social life is nearly nonexistent.

• Every Russian citizen is keen on going to the theater.

• The people of the Soviet Union are of very high character, but gloom prevails among them. And they are directed in what they do, not free to choose.

I set down this introduction... with before me this store I gathered from my interview with the two energetic ladies, Mrs. Laure Tabet and Mrs. Najla Saab... They have lately returned from their visit to Russia, where they were invited to represent Lebanon at one of the women's conferences there...

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I spoke... directing the question to them both... as they sat facing me... Mrs. Laure, president of the League of Women's Organizations... with her serene beauty, which, however far time carries it on, refuses to do anything but grow in sweetness and luster... and Mrs. Najla, with her endearing dark complexion, and a face on whose pages one is pleased to read the verses of struggle and striving on all manner of fronts...

In the past... to speak of Russia... was in the nature of a crime!

But today... after Russia has opened herself to the world... after she has abandoned her austere isolation... after she has come to believe in the law of give and take... after she has undertaken to send artistic troupes and cultural missions to the rest of the countries of the world... and after people have been able to pass beyond the Iron Curtain, to penetrate to what lies behind it, exploring, inquiring, criticizing... after all this, to speak of Russia has become in the nature of a virtue... for no reason but that it is speech about a part of the world that remained for a long stretch of time unknown, obscure, mysterious... people knowing nothing of it, and it knowing nothing of what went on in the world around it.

Who would have believed, some years back, that the Lebanese woman could pass over the barriers... and pierce the fortresses... to reach Russia??...

Who would have believed that Russia herself would hold conferences on her own soil, and invite people to visit her, to discuss with them all manner of human and world affairs, and show them the extent of her progress and her civilization and the marks of refinement in her...

And it is my conviction that Russia has done well... for she did not show herself to the world until the Communist system prevailing there had begun to yield its fruit and its harvest... and after she had rid herself of the unruly, destructive, rabble elements that customarily accompany every modern development and every new awakening...

— Will you first tell me about the Russian woman... and is it true, what is rumored of her, that she has lost her femininity through her absorption in working life??...

Mrs. Laure was the first to answer. She said:

— Beauty is lacking in Russia generally... but the woman has not lost her femininity through her immersion in working life...

And Mrs. Najla adds:

— Beauty there is relative... according to the regions... In Georgia, for example, we found beauty... and in Leningrad, elegance... But the Russian woman on the whole is very serious, eager for work... and she is neither beautiful nor elegant...

Mrs. Najla and Mrs. Laure agree in saying that the Russian woman is exactly equal to the man in everything... She performs the very same work he performs... except only the arduous kinds, and those that disfigure the body, or harm the woman if she is with child...

— And how does the woman there manage to reconcile her continuous work outside the house with her work inside it??...

— Everything is arranged for her so that she may carry on her continuous work outside the house in the fullest way... There are the day nurseries, the children's gardens, and the clubs, where the mother leaves her infant or her child in the morning and takes him home with her in the evening or at midday... These houses give the children complete care... food and drink, tending and upbringing...

And the State is now considering the establishment of boarding schools, which will spare the mother many other troubles... There is a project to establish 285 boarding schools, in which priority of admission will go to children who have no fathers, and to children belonging to large families...

— And what of education in the Soviet Union?

— Education is always free... and compulsory until the pupil has spent ten years in school... After that the State selects the gifted from among the pupils to continue their studies in the universities, where the State sees to their expenses and pays them a grant besides... As for the rest, it places them in vocational schools...

— Is there any difference between male and female?

— None whatever... The Soviet constitution has proclaimed the equality of woman with man in all spheres, services, and fields — economic, cultural, scientific, political, and others...

And Mrs. Najla adds:

— To show you the woman's share in these fields, let me cite you some statistics: women who enjoy higher education make up 37 percent, and there are 77,500 women working in the scientific fields,

and more than 400 thousand women engineers or specialists in all manner of scientific and technical fields. The body of the Soviet Academy of Sciences includes 5,795 women, or the equivalent of 42.03 percent of the total membership, and 32 percent of the total members of the teaching body are women teaching the sciences in the Soviet colleges and universities... And there are 846 women writers and poets out of the 3,800 members of the Union of Soviet Writers...

As for the political field, the Russian woman shows marked activity there, and half a million women have been able to hold membership in the Soviet parliament from the rise of the Revolution up to the present... And there are many women members in the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union...

— And what of social life there?

Mrs. Laure answers:

— Social life is practically nonexistent... The neighbor speaks to his neighbor only rarely, and does not consult him in any of his affairs... Speed, decision, and severity are the general stamp of Russian life... Everyone is hurrying to his work... and everyone is absorbed in it...

And Mrs. Najla qualifies this, saying:

— In any case... we did not speak with the individual members of the people directly, so as to see for ourselves how much social spirit and readiness to mix they possess... By the circumstance in which we found ourselves, we spoke only to the important personalities, and through an interpreter, since no one there understands a foreign language... and if he understands it, he does not speak it...

— Is there in the Soviet Union a family life in the familiar sense?...

Mrs. Najla hastens to answer:

— Family life in Russia does not differ from family life in the other foreign countries... The old and the pensioned stay at home and look after its affairs... and the members of the family gather at the hours of rest, of meals, and of the evening...

And Mrs. Laure adds:

— Every person there has the right to a small dwelling, which he rents from the State, or builds for himself if he has the means, provided the plot of land — its area is usually thirty square meters — remains the property of the State...

— Are there places of amusement in the Soviet Union?

— Of course... There are the cinemas, the theaters, and the clubs... Furthermore, every individual in the Soviet Union is obliged to go to the theater at least once a month... and it is the trade unions that secure the tickets for their members... for the theater is regarded as a means of cultivation and not merely of amusement... As for the clubs, every union has its club, where its members gather for recreation and rest and to while away their hours of leisure...

And Mrs. Najla adds:

— We should note here that the individuals of the people in the Soviet Union enjoy, and are distinguished by, a very high character; they never lose their composure, whether at entertainments or in the streets or in the public services or in the places of amusement...

And Mrs. Laure adds:

— But their seriousness reaches its peak... Gloom and dejection reign over individuals and groups alike... From living among them for this short spell, I felt that they are directed, not free to choose, in all that they do... They go like a machine to their work, they go like a machine to their homes, and they go like a machine to the places of amusement and recreation... I did not see a single cheerful face... except only the shining faces of the children... And by the way, I would like to tell you that we admired the children in the Soviet Union very much... We saw them in the day nurseries and children's gardens and primary schools, frolicking and playing, without feeling any want or embarrassment or any of those contradictory, anxious, troubled feelings that children in our country feel...

And Mrs. Najla observes:

— I cannot affirm that gloom is the general stamp of Russian life... because, as I noted earlier, I did not come into contact with the individuals of the people... and saw them only in particular circumstances and on official or semi-official occasions...

— What are your general impressions of the Soviet Union??

— What we saw in the Soviet Union is the highest manifestation of progress, refinement, and civilization, and they use for it the most modern means.

— Am I to understand from what I have heard that you admired the system of government prevailing there?

And Mrs. Laure answers at once:

— Not at all... Here we enjoy personal liberty; we do what we wish, when we wish and where we wish, without anyone hindering us... But there!

And Mrs. Najla adds:

— The Communist system had a necessity that brought it into being... The common people lived in poverty, ignorance, and disease... A particular class of people exploited the wealth of the country and enjoyed it... while the rest of the people died of hunger, ignorance, and poverty... But with us I do not think there is any need for a new system... so long as our people are secure and tranquil, content under their present system...

And Mrs. Laure and Mrs. Najla conclude their talk by saying:

— Truly delightful were those few days we spent in the Soviet Union... We saw the civilization of a people from whom we lived cut off in the past... to say nothing of the welcome, the honor, and the kindness we met with in those parts, which made us feel as though we were among our own kin and family...