In 2024, Russia’s lower house of parliament passed a law to ban “child-free propaganda.” Moscow clearly aims to save itself from the trend of population decline and to hold onto one of its most powerful weapons: the ideal of the traditional family, a construct that reinforces state control and a cultural rallying point against Western nations.
The Nostalgic Allure of the “Traditional Family”
Nebulous and vague, the concept of a ‘traditional family’ thrives on nostalgia, evoking an idealized past that never truly existed. It sets a standard rooted in romanticized memories and appeals to individuals’ private visions of a ‘lost’ era that is, in reality, a fabrication.
Nostalgia gains its power from being deeply personal; each of us imagines our own version of the good old days, yet all are drawn to the allure of an unattainable ideal. Not even younger generations are immune; discontented with social and economic prospects, many yearn for a world with fewer uncertainties. They imagine a time when people surely must have lived more fulfilling lives. A return to ‘traditional values’ becomes a straightforward remedy for the challenges of modernity. In the end, the pursuit of this subjective ideal perpetuates endless struggle and dissatisfaction while scapegoating and victimizing the marginalized in its quest to reclaim an imagined paradise.
The ‘traditional family’ endures through its imagery despite its vagueness. In Russian PR, the concept usually lives beside depictions of a strong, stoic man and a submissive, nurturing woman. Children, in this narrative, are not independent beings but extensions of their parents, raised as ideological vessels. Consider Vladimir Putin’s infamous hyper-masculine photoshoots: bare-chested horseback rides and wilderness excursions that reinforce the archetype of the ‘strong man’ leading his nation and his family. Women, meanwhile, are relegated to support roles, responsible for bearing and rearing children. These depictions exploit a halo-like bias, idealizing fathers as heroic figures and obscuring the reality that leaders like Putin are insecure warmongers who ruthlessly punish any perceived enemies and live in constant fear.
The Nostalgia Trap in Eastern Europe
Russia has long been adept at deploying homophobic and anti-Western propaganda within its borders and in territories where it controls the media; the Kremlin positions itself as the defender of ‘core human values’ against a ‘morally corrupt’ West. By tying its identity to these ‘purer’ values, Russia extends its geopolitical influence and infiltrates the cultural and political fabric of other nations.
In Eastern Europe, Russia’s alignment with ‘traditional values’ finds especially fertile ground. In Georgia, the passage of a sweeping anti-LGBTQ+ law by the ruling Georgian Dream party in October 2024 has ‘successfully’ intensified cultural and political divides. This legislation, enacted despite the president’s refusal to endorse it, bans same-sex marriages, adoption by same-sex couples, gender-affirming care, and changes to gender markers on official documents. The law mirrors similar Russian policies and likely aims to align Georgia more closely with Moscow’s influence and undermine Georgia’s EU integration aspirations ahead of elections.
Countries like Georgia or Moldova, where recent elections were plagued by Russian interference, represent the traditional playing field for the Kremlin. More concerningly, similar tensions have begun to echo within EU member states such as Romania. In the recent first round of the 2024 presidential election, Călin Georgescu, a novel, independent figure in Romanian politics, ran and gained a majority of votes on an ultranationalistic and traditionalist platform, advocating for Romania’s emancipation from what he described as its “Western masters.” His campaign, conducted entirely online, highlighted Romania’s supposed cultural purity while opposing aid to Ukraine and NATO’s security guarantees, which he derided as offensive to Romanian sovereignty.
Georgescu’s record ties him to the Iron Guard, a fascist movement responsible for atrocities during the Holocaust in Romania. He perpetuates rhetoric often derived from internet conspiracy theories (Georgescu is convinced drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi are spiked with hidden nanochips and “enter us like they would laptops”, but insists COVID-19 is a hoax because, as he once put it during an interview with a Sky News journalist, “nobody have seen it”). Still, Georgescu’s anti-LGBTQ+ stance resonated with many voters who rejected his runner-up, Elena Lasconi, for being too tolerant of the LGBTQ+ movement, even though she stopped short of advocating for gay marriage.
In both Georgia and Romania, nostalgia for a mythical shared past—often tied to Orthodox Christianity and nationalist pride—creates fertile ground for the Kremlin’s sway. Notably, both of these nations suffered under Russian influence. Still, it seems a recent history of repression and mass poverty will not dissuade Eastern Europeans from falling for the allure of ‘traditional values’ cloaked in nationalism, providing Moscow with an opportunity to embed its agenda in the region’s political discourse, erode democratic principles and threaten its alignment with Western allies.
The West Isn’t Immune
Traditionalism has also gained momentum in the West, especially in the United States. In recent years, a significant portion of the American electorate has been drawn to political figures who champion ‘traditional values.’ For many voters, the traditional family was a decisive factor in the last presidential election.
Donald Trump’s recent campaign made no secret the centrality of this cultural battleground on his platform. The campaign spent a staggering $21 million on anti-trans ads alone. Campaigns routinely test material on focus groups and audiences before allocating such significant resources, making it clear that the anti-trans narrative emerged as an effective tool to galvanize a broad segment of the electorate. His subsequent success at the polls further validates the potency of this strategy. It’s a sobering reminder that the West, for all its past claims of progressive ideals, is far from immune to the allure of nostalgia-driven rhetoric wielded as a political weapon.
The Dangers of Idealizing the Traditional Family
Romanticizing the “traditional family” has historically paved the way for oppressive and disastrous policies. A stark example is Soviet-aligned Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu’s aggressive natalist regime, which outlawed contraception and abortion, mandated routine pregnancy tests for women, and legally discriminated against those without children. These draconian measures led to overcrowded orphanages where children endured inhumane conditions, a surge in social unrest and criminal activity as these children grew up, and a significant rise in women’s mortality rates. Ultimately, Ceaușescu’s policies also failed to achieve their intended population growth.
In recent years, influential figures like Elon Musk have hinted at similar coercive policies for the United States, particularly through platforms like X (formerly Twitter). Musk’s allusions to restrictive family policies pose a significant danger to American society. Emulating Ceaușescu’s approach would not only infringe upon personal freedoms and reproductive rights but also likely result in social and economic turmoil. The allure of a simplistic and oppressive ideal ignores the complexities of modern life and the necessity of supporting diverse family structures.
A Comforting Lie
Societies throughout history have often imagined that the solution to perceived chaos lies in social ‘purification.’ There is something comforting in the idea that our world can be divided into neat categories of people, representing good and evil. The simplification means we don’t have to acknowledge that most women today cite structural issues or economic concerns as their main reasons for remaining child-free (such as inadequate social support and limited parental benefits in the United States, for example). It means we don’t have to contend with the cultural tragedy behind the widespread violence against women—homicide is one of the leading causes of death for pregnant women in the country.
It takes long, hard work and self-reflection to achieve real solutions. We would have to acknowledge the flaws that permeate our own families, workplaces, and communities rather than deflecting onto the ‘other.’ Instead, it is much more comfortable to cling to an unattainable and oppressive, yet deceptively simple, ideal.
The views expressed in opinion pieces do not represent the views of Glimpse from the Globe.