Sex has always been a taboo subject in the Soviet Union. It was never discussed in public or in private. Any mention of it was considered vulgar and inappropriate. Moreover, for some reason there were no words in the daily vocabulary which were adapted for such discussions. Of course there was sex and love affairs, marriages, divorces and adultery. But some unspoken rules prohibited any mention of these events, even among friends. As a teenager growing up in Soviet Russia, I found sex confusing. It existed but at the same time it did not. Publicly, sex did not exist. Any expression of love in public was not tolerated. In Soviet art and cinema love was expressed through romance and there were no sex scenes. The first film in the history of Soviet cinema that showed sexual intercourse was Malenkaya Vera, Little Vera, that came out in 1988. Films from other countries were pre-viewed by the censorship committees, which cut out all scenes related to sex and drastically edited scenes showing kissing or anything else with even a remote relation to sex. Nevertheless, in Soviet Russia, condoms could be obtained in the pharmacies, just as they can be today. But back then, they were hidden behind the counter and not exposed on the central shelves. Customers had to ask for them, which often made them uncomfortable. They had to lower their voices when addressing a salesperson not to attract attention of other customers and knowing that they know you’re going to have sex […]
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