Volga-German Feminine Identity



Immigration Scholar Linda Pickle offers this point about the Volga-German womens' role in private and public life:

In their everyday activities of cooking and keeping house, women communicated to their families that they were members of a distinct ethnic group with an individual history.

This is not to downplay sexism in the that existed in Volga-German society, although to just criticize it as mysognistic behavior underscores a valuable point.  Volga-German housewives and single women saw themselves as the keepers of culture and, as Pickle notes, their everyday activities reflected that. 

Consider as well that women were often the ones who were folk healers and midwives, most of these practices were done by memory; taught their children prayers; prepared the household for holidays and milestone special occassions, such as weddings.  They also had large families to keep the lineage of the family going, ensuring its survival.  For these women, their home and sexual activities, even if all was in a private sphere, kept the culture alive.