Russian Culture is Healthier Than Ours

This is from the Hermitage Museum. They’re asking their guests how to make the Hermitage more appealing to men.

quote:

---

Dear beautiful women! Today we were surprised to discover that three quarters of our audience are girls and ladies, while only a quarter of boys and gentlemen. Therefore, on this Fatherland Defender Day, we want to address you and ask a serious question: How can we make your brave men become our Hermitage subscribers and visitors equal to you? We are waiting for your wise advice in the comments.

---

I was struck by the language.

Women are beautiful, and they give wise advice (note, not commands).

And men, men are brave. Not incompetent fools. They’re also referred to as gentleman.

And the language is entirely earnest. It’s genuine. Not snide. Not sarcastic. There’s no cynicism.

This is a very minor example, and it’s coming from a very educated substrata of Russian society, but you can see the basic assumptions they make about gender, and idealism.

It resonated with me, because I recognized it. This is how the Russian women I’ve known think.