Putin Praises Russian Women For Motherhood: ‘Took On Complex Tasks And So Impress Us Men With…’
The speech was part of a long-running campaign to boost the country’s birth rate.
“Today in Russia, the family – its interests and needs – is the focus of our attention, our absolute priority,” Putin said in a video greeting to mark the occasion, as quoted by news agency Reuters. “We will do everything so that families with … multiple children and young parents feel the state’s help and concern,” he added.
While addressing the women directly, the Russian president said that they took on complex tasks “and so impress us men with your ability to do it all quickly, in a timely fashion, while also taking great care”.
“You cope with a great pile of problems and worries while all the while remaining charming and beautiful. How can one not simply admire this?” he added.
The remarks came against the backdrop of Putin’s efforts to boost the country’s birth rate, saying in his annual speech to parliament last week that large families “must become the norm, our society’s philosophy of life, and a benchmark for government strategy”. He also said that families with three or more children were ‘our great pride’.
Putin has used the theme of upholding family values to rally his supporters while criticizing the West’s falling moral standards and legal foundation for liberal ideas on sexuality and same-sex marriage. Earlier in November 2023, Russia’s Supreme Court also banned the LGBT movement, continuing a pattern of increasing curbs on gender identity and expressions of sexual orientation.
