Summer 2010 Jo Lee - JO LEE Magazine

THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
JO LEE Magazine – CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF LUXURY – DECEMBER 2010
The Plight Of The Russian Male
By Craig Ricker
Moscow – Russia
In the small Northern Russian city
I dwell in there is a type of man
known as a “Man of the Kostroma
type”. Everywhere in Russia women
outnumber men. My humble
town is known to have one of the
most lopsided male female ratios
in Russia. For example, I taught in
the local university. Of my seventy
five students only one was male. To
aggravate the situation, a sizable
percentage of the male population
departs from the romantic arena due
to alcoholism or other hardships,
leaving a small group of men
confronted with a population of
under courted women. Although
this is an advantageous environment
for a single man, the long term
consequences can be difficult to bear.
There are a few heroic men who get
married and remain monogamous
but they are the exception. Typically,
the “Man of the Kostroma type”
marries quite young with the best
of intentions. Every step our young
family man takes in life is swamped
with young, beautiful, single,
vivacious girls whose hearts are
screaming to be Loved. Eventually
he succumbs and before long he is
living like a single man, yet married.
By age forty our hero typically has
an ex family, one or two illegitimate
families, a new family and a dozen
or so lovers of varying degrees of
intimacy. This situation may sound
like fun to men from countries with
normal demographics but the reality
is more like soft flesh against asphalt.
A good friend of mine, a handsome
actor, began adulthood with the
ideal family. He was ferociously
torn from his loving wife by an
irresistible actress. This destroyed
his moral compass, a few families
later, an ocean of romances and he
found himself hopelessly worn out,
in a mental institution. He always
complained that since he was a child
there has been a constant circle of
powerful girls around him who were
ready to give up everything and all
to be with him. The pressure was
too much for him to bear. His is a
common story.
Typically, our “Men of the Kostroma
type” rarely see age fifty. Sometimes
they are saved by a woman of
powerful character who snaps him
out of his haze and brings him
to mental and physical health.
Typically, the end story is just a lot
of kids who talk of a father who died
young from a heart attack who was
not able to play a very big role in
their lives.
From what I have seen in my
eighteen years in Russia, women
tend to be superior survivors. There
is great solidarity amongst women.
Some go abroad to find “unspoiled”
men. Many resign themselves to
getting pregnant with no intention
of a marriage, simply because there is
no other option. I am always amazed
by the positive attitude these young
ladies maintain towards life and men
even in this impossible situation.
This could explain the totally hostile
attitude of Russian women towards
American feminism.
JL
Jo Lee Summer 2010 93