Amerika in the Soviet Imagination.

Diana Cucuz's book, "Winning Women's Hearts and Minds: Selling Cold War Culture in the US and the USSR," explores the gendered aspects of the United States and the Soviet Union's competition for global influence. The book focuses on the magazine Amerika, created by the U.S. State Department, which aimed to promote American culture in the USSR. Cucuz compares Amerika to Ladies' Home Journal, a popular U.S. women's magazine, and highlights the similarities in the portrayal of gender roles and consumerism. While Amerika aimed to promote conservative gender norms and consumer culture to Russian women, it is important to consider the diverse experiences and perspectives of Soviet readers. The book raises questions about the impact of Amerika on Soviet readers and challenges the assumption that wearing American fashion meant adopting American values. Overall, "Winning Women's Hearts and Minds" offers a fresh perspective on the cultural influence of the Cold War and encourages further dialogue between historians of the United States and the Soviet Union. [Extracted from the article]