The role of women in the development of the culture of the future: concept by V.M. Khvostov

Based on the analysis of primary sources, the article examines the problem of the role and importance of women in the development of culture in the works of the Russian sociologist of the XIX — early XX century Veniamin Mikhailovich Khvostov. The scientist devoted a large number of works to various aspects of the problem of women’s emancipation. The women’s issue, the problem of the status of women in society, and the emerging women’s movement became one of Khvostov’s subjects of scientifi c interest. His main idea is to affi rm the inevitable feminization of culture. The article shows the views of the Russian sociologist on transformations in the fi eld of culture, as well as the main forecasts for its further development, taking into account the intensifi cation of the women’s movement and the upcoming changes in the socio-political position of women. Khvostov proves that the intensity and completeness of cultural development depends on the involvement of all the diverse forces of the members of a given society, taking into account the abilities of each. The liberation of a woman will contribute to a qualitative change in culture, a change in her very character. The author of the article reconstructs the picture of the future created by a Russian classical sociologist. The result of the victory of feminism will be moral progress for both women and men. The struggle for women’s dignity for Khvostov means the struggle for human dignity in general. And it is precisely in the concept of human dignity that the fi nal solution to the women’s issue and many other social problems lies.