Eastern European women are known for their strong family values and traditional upbringing. However, there are more principles and standards that these ladies hold dear than the ones relating to marriage and kids.

Family values

Marriage is still at the heart of life principles of Eastern European women. Being career-minded is frowned upon, and ladies who love their jobs and strive to be successful prefer to keep quiet about their achievements.

The common notion in countries of the former Soviet Union is for women to be the homemakers and for men to build a career. Even women who are educated and have good jobs see their primary goal as child-rearing and making their families happy.

The Russian government, struggling with the demographic hole of aging and declining population, is actively promoting procreation as the major life achievement for females.

Eastern European women feel that wanting anything else than the happiness of the mother and the wife would be unwise and lead to personal discontent.

Work ethics

Women in Eastern Europe work nearly as much as men. Before they are married, most women strive to get a tertiary education. This comes from the Soviet times when both men and women were expected to work and contribute to the society — the paradigm brought by communists in 1917, which was in vogue for 70 years until Perestroika (1987).

After a marriage a woman is expected to give up her career aspirations in order to raise the family.

In the modern times post-2000, the expectation for young women to study and work didn’t change. However, after the marriage a “good woman” is now expected to be raising the family, while her “good husband” is working and providing for the household. If the family cannot afford for the woman not to work, then the husband and the wife may feel he is not “good enough” to provide the desired ideal for the family.

The level of education in Eastern European countries is so high that even low level positions like a secretary or an office manager are advertised as requiring someone with a degree, and have enough qualified job seekers applying for them. Over 60% of people have degrees. The percentage of degree-holders is higher among females.

It is not unusual for families to survive on a single income by the wife, if the husband is unable to find a job.

Very few pairs can afford to survive on one income in Eastern Europe, so most women still work after marriage. However, it doesn’t mean that “the ideal” of the wife who devotes herself for taking care of her family is dead: It’s something that couples aspire for.

Thus, in a relationship a woman would be expected to give up her career aspirations in order to provide a comfortable home for her husband and kids.

The values in Eastern Europe say that a man would feel uncomfortable if his wife was earning more than him. Hence women try to play the second fiddle and rather hope to encourage their men to reach for the heights than attempt to achieve career goals for themselves.

Community moral

In general, Eastern European women believe that rich people have acquired their wealth by indecent means and have poor morals. This is why, while ladies would like to be well off, they believe at the same time that wealth would mean unfair treatment of other people.

It’s similar to the Biblical statement that it’s easier for a camel to pass the needle’s eye than for a rich person to enter the heaven’s paradise.

Deep inside their hearts Eastern European women don’t believe that a man can be both rich and good natured, and rarely do anything to achieve wealth in their own right. Striving for riches is not considered as contributing to the society but rather as a selfish and immoral way of life.

The desire to have a good life and the belief that it can only be achieved by deceitful means create an inner conflict in Eastern European women’s values, which you may observe if ask appropriate questions.

Sexism

Male chauvinism and sexism are not simply normal in Eastern European countries of the post-USSR, but they are actively encouraged. While women are equal to men in the eyes of the law, the actual societal attitudes are poles apart.

Eastern European ladies enjoy thinking of themselves as dainty and weak and prefer to avoid intiative.

Women believe that they are dissimilar to men, and should be treated differently. They purposefully try to avoid responsibility and initiative.

Eastern European women often say that they want a man “who knows what he wants”, a “real man”, and a leader. This is what they have been taught to believe a man’s role is, and her role as a woman should be to follow, to encourage, to support her husband or partner.

Extreme attention to beauty and looks is also part of this paradigm: You will rarely see a Russian woman without makeup. They look like they are going to an exciting party, when in reality she simply walked out to fetch a bottle of milk. Making herself to look like a desirable sex object is a part of a woman’s job, they believe.

“The wife should remain interesting to her husband,” you may hear ladies say. By “interesting” they mean desirable.

Eastern European girls are taught from an early age that feminism is a bad word, and being a feminist means hating men. Russian and Eastern European girls like to be treated like ladies: Guys paying for them, opening doors, moving chairs. If a man doesn’t do it, they would be offended and feel devalued.

After the years of forced Soviet equality, modern Eastern European ladies embraced the notion of femininity and enjoy thinking of themselves as dainty and weak. The exemplar saying here would be: “One silly woman decided she wanted to be equal, and now I have to get up at 6 am, and plod to work.”

They actually think that being treated as weak and inferior in a patronizing manner is the sign of a man being a gentleman. Think Rhett Butler from Gone with The Wind, that’s the ultimate “real man”. Being macho is an admirable quality in the eyes of Eastern European ladies.

Conclusion

All in all, marriage agencies don’t lie that dating a Eastern European woman is like courting a model with the values of your grandmother.

It’s a rather weird combination, but this is what these societies formed in females over the period of the last 25 years since the times of Perestroika and the following collapse of the Soviet Union.

The change from the “traditional family values” is very slow there, with all their good and bad parts still being pretty much alive and kicking.

Eastern European ladies seeking foreign men for relationships (due to the horrendous demographics in these countries) are certainly not “mail order brides” but they do possess a distinctively different set of views and beliefs to western females.

If you are communicating with a woman from post-Soviet countries, you would be wise to remember about it.

Read also:

• How Serious Are Russian, Ukrainian Women on Dating Sites about Meeting a Partner for Life?
• 7 Slavic Women’s Views on Working After Marriage
• Costs of Dating: Local Vs. Russian/Ukrainian Women
• 7 core beliefs of Russian and Ukrainian women in love and dating