Prostitution existed in Russia for several centuries but became a widespread phenomenon during Peter I’s rule (1683–1725), with the first brothel or “public house” reportedly established by a German in the 1750s. Undoubtedly, prostitution existed in Russia prior to this time, but its linkage to the influx of Western ideas during Peter’s reign, and crediting the first brothel to a non Russian, set up an important pattern of identifying prostitution and its social and symbolic implications with a Western, and not Russian, value system.

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The sex industry in Russia is multiethnic, with scholars estimating a significant number of female migrants (from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia) working as sex workers, especially in large cities like Moscow. Despite this diversity in real life, the sex workers (and their clients) featured in films and literature are almost exclusively depicted as white, ethnic Russians.

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The character of the female sex worker has recurred pervasively across time, space, and genre, repeatedly used by writers, filmmakers, artists, intellectuals, and politicians to explore anxieties about the disruptive processes that have marked the Russian cultural space throughout the centuries.

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Mayakovsky, Kisch, and Il’f and Petrov’s travelogues present the vulnerability of America’s lower classes as deeply interconnected with racial discrimination, necessarily leading to advocacy for socialism as a viable alternative to capitalism.

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Socially progressive politicians of Eastern Europe, never neglect the power of vyshyvanka!

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The universal film language directors like Eisenstein sought to craft through montage and simultaneous viewings would have remained at a purely theoretical level without directors like Protazanov, who merged public taste with the dictates of Soviet ideology.

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As I walked by the Ploshchad’ Vosstaniia metro stop, across from the Moscow Railway Station, a pop-up protest streamed past me, chanting: “Ukraine is not our enemy” and “No to war!” Mostly, these were young men and women who reminded me of my students.

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Cannons rang out and explosions shook the building, interrupting the singing onstage. What was going on? Was the war really here? No. It was just the salute to commemorate February 23 and the Defenders of the Fatherland. No worries.

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Today marks one year since Russia began its illegal and immoral military invasion of Ukraine. We continue to be horrified at the wanton destruction and loss of life brought about by Russia’s war on its neighbor. In lieu of yet another attempt to make sense of the situation, we are opting not to publish any content on the Jordan Center Blog today.

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It makes sense that politicians around the world are afraid of Putin. But Ukrainians are living in immediate fear for their lives right now. And we understand firsthand that Putin will not stop with Ukraine if the world permits it. The citizens of many more countries will be in immediate danger and this disaster will continue. Putin must be stopped by any means necessary.

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