Historian Błażej Brzostek Discusses 'Daily Life of Women in the PRL' at History Meeting House

This event features historian Błażej Brzostek discussing his book 'Daily Life of Women in the PRL'. The discussion will delve into the reconstruction of women's experiences, daily routines, societal roles, and personal motivations during the Polish People's Republic era.

This event is the first in a series of author meetings centered around books published within the Warsaw Historical Book Fund 2025 program, an initiative by the City of Warsaw realized by the History Meeting House (DSH). Historian Błażej Brzostek, in conversation with Magdalena Kicińska, will explore the daily lives of women during the People's Republic of Poland. Brzostek's latest book reconstructs this world by drawing on diaries, guides, magazines, films, and documents to examine the motivations, plans, and sources of strength for women during that period. The daily lives of women in the PRL were regulated by various rhythms and cycles, shaped by system-imposed roles, customs, and deeply ingrained traditional imperatives. While the Polish People's Republic declared gender equality, this often meant a double burden for women. The dominant cultural model, which historically placed women in domestic and family contexts, shifted to include paid work and the necessity of supporting a family and keeping up with modernity. Despite significant political and economic changes impacting women's lives, their influence on policy remained minimal. The author reconstructs their world, often trivialized or overlooked in historiography, by primarily using personal experiences recorded in diaries, guides, magazines, as well as in films and documents, and all tangible and intangible artifacts of that era. He investigates their motivations, dreams, how they realized themselves and their plans, and where they found the strength to do so.