Essays on the female and male mentality in Russian institutions of matrimony and parenthood (until the middle of the XIX century)

The article identifies, systematizes and analyzes patterns of legal and generally social inequality of a woman (regarding the status of a man - father and husband) in the period preceding the creation of obvious prerequisites for her emancipation, including before the October Revolution of 1917. At the same time, elements of female activity in family relations and civil relations are demonstrated, which, in our opinion, distinguishes the Russian situation for the better from Western variations of the same period. The authors form an idea of the contradictory interaction of female and male mentalities in family law and related institutions: the power of husband and father, being close to absolute, supported by law, church and custom, even in the era under study assumed restrictions and did not exclude some freedom of will of a woman. This, along with the political and economic factors of later times, formed the prerequisite for the dynamic evolution of female emancipation.