Slovenia: From “State Feminism” to Back Vocals

Abstract

Prior to 1991, Slovenia was part of the Yugoslav state, which was constituted after World War II as a socialist federation. At the outset of that war, Yugoslavia was an underdeveloped agrarian country. Three-quarters of the population earned their livelihood from low-yield, largely subsistence agriculture. Although the percentage of women among industrial workers had almost doubled between 1921 and 1926, the overall employment of women nevertheless remained low. In 1939, they represented 18% of the total workforce.¹ The status of women in marriage, family, and society was regulated in different ways in different parts of the country, according to customary law and other legal and religious norms dating back to earlier times. However, differences in legislation as well as in the doctrines of the principal religious communities were more in the degree of discrimination than in substance: in all cases, women were treated as persons of impaired legal capacity and were made dependent on their fathers, husbands, brothers, or even sons. They did not have equal access to education and employment and did not receive equal pay for equal work.²