Being a Russian woman, I can attest that ladies from this country have certain uniting traits. I live outside of Russia for over 20 years but I have a lot of Russian girlfriends, and even when women live abroad, they still maintain the typical national identity.
Typical qualities of Russian women
Russian women are like the majority of females on the planet. They normally have 2 legs, 2 arms, 1 head, and 1 heart.
But there are a few major traits that foreigners visiting Russia point out about women there: apparent femininity, strong family values, and adherence to stringent beauty standards, including dressing in the latest fashion and grooming themselves to a “T”.
Ladies in Russia tend to wear casually the type of attire and makeup you expect from girls going out on a date.
Foreigners visiting Moscow notice it immediately. Many guys comment that all Russian ladies they meet are absolutely gorgeous — not just some, but all the females in the street, one by one. It’s hard to believe that females in daily life dress like presenters you see on TV — makeup, hair, styling — but that’s the basic standard that women in Russia see as normal.
The main reason for that lies in demographic disproportions with 86 males for 100 females. This drives females to perfect their looks in order to attract and keep a partner. (Russian men, on the other hand, tend not to bother about their looks much and are known to be promiscuous.)
Each woman from Russia is different in her looks and values. Elenamodels.com lists over 200 thousand of profiles of Russian ladies seeking romantic partners, and each of them is, of course, unique and unlike others.
Shortcomings
There are, of course, some qualities and typical features that you may dislike.
Because feminism is frowned upon in Russia, ladies are deliberately feminine, and while you will definitely love their looks, you may find that they expect much more initiative in dating from a man.
In fact, they expect the guy to lead the courtship and “win her heart” with his persistence. It means they take a very passive role at the start of a relationship. Ladies are hesitant to even answer a question about a place to eat: They expect the guy to make a suggestion and possibly have a reservation, without even asking her about her likes or dislikes.
“I am not a feminist”, which is a statement most girls from Russia subscribe to, means they expect a courtship that is similar to how gentlemen were looking after ladies in 1950s.
The deliberate femininity (as opposed to feminism) is something that separates ladies from that country from western women. Some females say they “don’t want to compete with men”. It may sound sweet, but if you watch Hollywood movies dated pre-1990, you probably notice too much irrational behaviour in females: Fears, emotions, and so on. From today’s perspective, this looks a bit childish. But at the time it was considered normal for a woman. It’s still viewed as such by Russian girls.
That’s probably the most prominent feature you will find different in girls from Russia in relationships.
Read also:
- Bob (USA): Russian women make the BEST wives
- Saulo (Canada) & Ksenia (Russia): Our international dating success story
- Success tips from our newlyweds: Fred (USA) and Svetlana (Russia)
- Best tips for romantic relationships
Thanks for summarising this important area of gender-cultural difference. It certainly echoes my experience of pursuing (mostly) Ukrainian ladies. This can be difficult for western men to understand and respond to, and it creates some risks. For example: 1. If you (the man) have to take the initiative, be first to make contact by text, present all the ideas, how can you judge how keen the lady is? Simply because she agrees to go on the date? Why wouldn’t she agree to be wined and dined for an evening without commitment? How do you know when you’ve been ‘friend-zoned’? These… Read more »
Steve, where did you meet these women you call “pro-daters”?
Did you come on a “romance tour” with a pay-per-letter “marriage agency” where 20 foreign men and 100 Ukrainian women are shoveled together in a nightclub and women are known to be paid to attend? Then it’s expected: That’s the only type of women that attend this type of events.
Anyway, this post is about Russian women not about girls from Ukraine. It’s like talking about Mexicans and citizens of Belize, as if they were the same nation.
Elena, only my point 2 refers specifically to pro-daters (and yes, you are right about where I learned those lessons, which I declared in my comment). But, more generally, you are describing shared, common cultural values relating to dating and relationship gender-roles which, from my experience, is not confined to within the borders of the Russian Federation.
Steve, you are not the only one caught by PPL sites with Ukrainian women “throwing themselves at men”. Many men don’t even want to understand the issue and the fact it’s not real dating. This is particular to Ukraine as opposed to Russia, and it’s a giant issue, which any man attempting to date Ukrainian women has to understand before proceeding pass the first “Hello”. Your other points are well-understood. Yes, the fact of purposeful conformation to the traditional gender roles is more typical to Russian women as opposed to ladies from Belarus, for instance, since it’s promoted in Russia… Read more »
I concur with the comment that Russian women expect more initiative from the man. I have noticed this expectation (requirement?) from my Russian dates. On one occasion, I asked my date if she had a preference where to eat. She was noticeably bothered by my question. Fortunately, I already had a restaurant in mind; and when I suggested it, the woman relaxed. I have noticed this type of response in other situations. From my perspective, the woman wants to be led. She wants to feel taken care of. This attitude required an adjustment on my part, who was raised on… Read more »
Rex, you are correct: Russian women want a man to be the leader in a relationship.