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We’re in a curious no man’s land, littered with unwanted expectations and mismatched preconceptions. Reality waits on either side to deal a fatal blow, and a rude awakening to those setting out under cover of their false pretences. There are real pitfalls here, enough to sink whole businesses at least.
Neil tells me that some up-market Moscow restaurants target the ex-pat community by advertising in a magazine that he contributes to, “all on the basis that these foreigners have a load of spare income and are very sophisticated of course…”
These establishments are advertising seats at 130 Euros per head. Notwithstanding diplomats and heads of multinational corporations, they often go begging. Neil explains, “there are not enough of those people in the world, let alone in Moscow to keep these restaurants and bars going. Almost inevitably these places end up closing down and going bankrupt.” Neil recalls writing a recent review of a restaurant’s evening service, where he found himself sitting in an establishment sparsely populated by journalists, all there to write reviews, and all costing the owners money. Not a paying customer in sight. He tells me he will be reviewing another, “and it’s going to be exactly the same… Russian Oligarchs feel that they have to live a lifestyle which exists only in soap operas. Six or seven cars, waiting staff at home, a personal cook, a personal driver, a personal lifestyle consultant. They have lifestyles that nobody has… a fictional view based upon what they perceive from the media.” Whether they perceive this as reality or whether they just like living the fantasy is unclear, but living the fantasy would make it reality… wouldn’t it? Hmm, what’s this? Calling Moscow Existentialism?
Anyway that may be getting a little too high-brow, so lets talk about girls instead. I was curious to discover something about “attitudes” across the male-female divide, and how things have changed (or not) over the last twenty-five turbulent years. Neil sheds light, from way back:
“There was an official policy that women were supposed to be viewed as comrades rather than sex objects, but of course this wasn’t actually true. It was a disparity that everybody recognised.” A running joke in fact. Russians like to joke knowingly with westerners:
“Of course, there was no sex in the Soviet Union. It always wanted to be less sexist than the Western system. It wasn’t, but it talked about women’s rights, probably in a more tokenist way. They had female politicians years before Britain ever did, but how much of that was ‘going-through-the-motions’ just to make things look right?
“Although they had mid-ranking female politicians, none of those rose to the ranks of national ministers, except for the very first wave back in Lenin’s time. Lenin’s wife was given the job of education minister, Alexandra Kollontai was given the job of culture minister. Within 3 or 4 years (into the early 1920s) those positions had been rescinded, and men were put into those jobs. It would be quite normal for a women to be the rector of a university, or the dean, which was extraordinarily rare in British Universities of the same time. There was a lot more going on at the mid-level but nothing at the top. I think Russia has had one or two female ministers but they haven’t lasted long. The number who have made it to the top has been extremely limited indeed. Russia’s record on senior management is poorer than in Britain, for example.”
And today, in everyday life?
“At street level it’s hard to say. The whole balance between men and women in Russia is a different ball game to the one that we’ve got in Britain. British women might be offended by what happens here, but the Russian women, it has to be said, do love to flirt and play up to type, and are actually offended if they don’t get the attention of men. For example, on March 8th &endash; International Women’s Day. It’s a nightmare for men. You’re supposed to give flowers, cakes, presents… to all the women you know. And if you don’t, you’ll be in the doghouse. On March 7th you can see this army of poor depressed men, pacing around the streets carrying large cake boxes, boxes of flowers, plodding home miserably having done their duty. It’s not abnormal… it’s like this in Italy, Spain, Portugal as well. The women don’t like it to go anywhere but they do like a bit of attention…”
And then there’s that whole gentlemanly “ladies-first” approach, now considered somewhat quaint, or even irrelevant in Britain, depending on which particular woman you speak to. I digress. Neil tells me about the general Russian street “presence”of the sexes too:
“Both the men and the women here dress to attract in a way that we don’t in Britain. Nobody wears sportswear in the street, everybody looks like they’re are going on a date tonight… and that’s how they dress for the office. They regard it as completely normal.”
For urban women at least, this appears to have always been the case. Today, glamorous clothing may be bought off the shelf. In the Soviet era the desire to appear at one’s best was accommodated and assisted by a little DIY, or by taking ordinary garments to someone with skills as a seamstress.
“There was a whole industry… it’s in fact how several of the rich people became rich. Back in the Soviet era if you knew how to alter clothes you’d try and find a job where nominally you were supposed to to turn up around six hours a week and then the rest of the time you’d be doing private work at home: alterations, special commissions… all of that kind of thing was going on non stop.”
*
And so, we’re pretty much up to date with Calling Moscow. Thanks to Neil McGowan for letting me drag-mine twenty-five years of memories to spread over fourteen episodes. Please feel free to leave comments anywhere you please… though preferably on this blog.
… Calling Moscow: Over and Out.
Next time: Tips And Tales
I’ll be focusing on the Trans-Siberian trip and interesting destinations throughout. Neil’s back to introduce it and to show us the ropes. After an armchair tour of highlights, history and anecdotes we’ll get to the travellers tales themselves, with interviews of Trans-Siberian veterans spread across the globe. Expect revelatory dips into The Russia Experience’s fascinating Trip Info Pack throughout.
[Photo by Za Rodinu]
