Family and Parenthood in the Culture of Real Socialism – Between Ideology and Everyday Life

Abstract

The aim of the article is to show the sense and meaning given to the family and parenthood in the culture of real socialism in Poland in the 1970s. The research assumed that during the period of real socialism, the family were functioning in two separate dimensions, i.e. in the official and unofficial culture. Official culture was created top down by the apparatus of power, Marxist ideology, deliberate indoctrination, and it created the reality of appearances. Unofficial culture was created from below, spontaneously, on the basis of Christian culture and Polish tradition. Each of these cultures had a different vision of the family and a different attitude towards family values. The main question of the article is: what sense and meaning were given to the family and parenthood in it within the official culture and in the unofficial one under the conditions of real socialism of the 1970s? The answer to this question were sought based on the analysis of various types of sources, including women’s magazines, personal documents and scientific materials. The research adopted the pedagogical and historical perspective, the method of media content research and the method of content analysis. The theoretical basis for the analyzes was the environmental and ecological theory of S.E. Hobfoll and concept of a difficult situation by T. Tomaszewski.