Document Type
Thesis
Date of Degree Completion
Summer 2016
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
Committee Chair
Roxanne Easley
Second Committee Member
Jason Knirck
Third Committee Member
Stephen Moore
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the rhetoric of gender, sexuality, and the family used by the media of the Soviet Union to discuss American and Soviet defectors from 1960 to 1990. Utilizing previously established historiographies of gender, sexuality and the family as well as statements from Soviet and American government officials, it is shown that the Soviet government linked gender, sexuality and family “perversions” to the individualistic and capitalistic ideology of American society, by contrast with the Soviet collectivist and socialist “purity.” This analysis fills in the gaps in the historiography by connecting studies of gender, sexuality and family to the practice defection, and situating them in the cultural Cold War context.
Recommended Citation
Miller, Scott A., "Soviet Defectors: Sexuality, Gender, and the Family in Cold War Propaganda, 1960-1990" (2016). All Master's Theses. 438.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/438
Language
English
Included in
Cultural History Commons, Diplomatic History Commons, History of Gender Commons, Other History Commons