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WHY WOMEN HAVE Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence is an extension of Kristen R. Ghodsee's popular 2017 New York Times article of the same name. Ghodsee claims that the main argument of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism can be simply stated as "unregulated capitalism is bad for women, and if we adopt some ideas from socialism, women will have better lives." (1) Ghodsee supports this argument through a succession of chapters that explore separate topics, including motherhood, leadership, citizenship, work, and, of course, sex.
Writing for a primarily American (and Canadian) audience, one of the most effective outcomes of Ghodsee's prose is to challenge ingrained, often negative, assumptions that Westerners have about Eastern Europe and socialism more generally. As a scholar of Russian and East European studies, Ghodsee's examples come primarily from this region's history. Ghodsee argues that before the transition from state socialism to capitalism in Eastern Europe, women enjoyed a level of social and economic freedom and equality that Western women have yet to experience. Ghodsee's goal is not to present the history of state socialism in East Europe as utopic, but rather to point out that there were some aspects that were positive and could serve as inspiration for building a better, more equitable society. Although the most cynical writer may point to Ghodsee's rose-tinted glasses,...