The Paris Hilton of Russia

LOL! Dinara loved it when i would try to copy her in saying this. "Ah-loh, priveat?"

 

yeahhhh i sure did love it! because the way you speak russian is the cutest thing to hear. lol

 

And the way you speak english is the cutest thing to hear. I can't wait for my family to hear you talking lol.

 

you want them to hear my broken english huh? lol ok, i dont mind it as far as they understand me and so do I.))

 

Oh yeah, and you can't use Abby either! I wanna see how you do without always asking Abby for help.

 

How would you compare the mentalities of Russian women in your city compared to a larger city like Moscow? From my experience, it seems like women/girls of smaller towns, cities or even villages are somewhat kinder and less superficial than girls who live in Paris, Brussels, Los ANgeles etc

 

Now I wonder if there would be some famous Russian women going for brothers?

 

Maybe they'll go for a famous brother. I can't imagine why a famous Russian pop star, actress, supermodel wouldn't date a Lenny Kravitz, a Thierry Henrry, 50 Cent, Blair Underwood etc...

 

Where Did All Those Gorgeous Russians Come From?


The same place as the unglamorous assembly-line workers.

By Anne Applebaum

Updated Monday, Jan. 28, 2008, at 8:04 PM ET

There was a particular historical moment, round about 1995 or so, when anyone entering a well-appointed drawing room, dining room, or restaurant in London was sure to encounter a beautiful Russian woman. Though the word beautiful doesn't really capture the phenomenon. The women I'm remembering were extraordinarily, unbelievably, stunningly gorgeous.

These women were half-Kazakh or half-Tartar with Mongolian ancestors and perfect skin; dressed in the most tasteful, most expensive clothes; shod in soft leather boots; and perfectly coiffed. They were usually accompanied by an older man, sometimes much older, to whom they were perhaps married, or more likely not. They spoke in low, alluringly accented voices and towered over the lesser mortals in the room. I distinctly remember gazing upon one such creature while in the company of a friend, an old Russia hand who'd spent much of the previous decade in the Soviet Union. He stared, shook his head, and whispered, "But where were they all before?"

In the aftermath of the Australian Open, a tennis tournament whose final rounds featured a parade of notably stunning ex-Soviet-bloc players, it is perhaps time to make a stab at answering my friend's question. Whatever you may say about the Soviet Union in the 1970s and '80s, it was not widely known for feminine pulchritude. Whatever you may say about women's professional tennis in the 1970s or '80s, it did not feature many players who looked like Maria Sharapova, the latest Australian Open victor.


Where were they all before?

Though this is a fairly frivolous question (OK, extremely frivolous), I am convinced it has an interesting answer. To put it bluntly, in the Soviet Union there was no market for female beauty. No fashion magazines featured beautiful women, since there weren't any fashion magazines. No TV series depended upon beautiful women for high ratings, since there weren't any ratings. There weren't many men rich enough to seek out beautiful women and marry them, and foreign men couldn't get the right sort of visa. There were a few film stars, of course, but some of the most famous—I'm thinking of Lyubov Orlova, alleged to be Stalin's favorite actress—were wholesome and cheerful rather than sultry and stunning. Unusual beauty, like unusual genius, was considered highly suspicious in the Soviet Union and its satellite people's republics.

This doesn't mean there weren't any beautiful women, of course, just that they didn't have the clothes or cosmetics to enhance their looks, and, far more important, they couldn't use their faces to launch international careers. Instead of gracing London drawing rooms, they stayed in Minsk, Omsk, or Alma Ata. Instead of couture, they wore cheap polyester. They could become assembly-line forewomen, Communist Party bosses, even local femmes fatales, but not Vogue cover girls. They didn't even dream of becoming Vogue cover girls, since very few had ever seen an edition of Vogue.

Instructive, in this light, is the career of a real Vogue cover girl, Natalia Vodianova. Born in Nizhny Novgorod to a single, impoverished mother, Vodianova ran away from home at 15 to run a fruit stall in the local street market (successfully, according to her official biography). At 17, she was spotted by a French scouting agent and told to learn English in three months. She did—after which she moved to Paris, married a British aristocrat, and went on to become "the face" of a Calvin Klein perfume and to earn $4 million-plus annually. The fashion world is ludicrously silly and superficial, but it did get Vodianova from Nizhny Novgorod to London, far away from her mother's abusive boyfriends, which wouldn't have happened before 1989. Though tennis was, for some, a way out in the past—remember Martina Navratilova—it's all much easier now: Sharapova and Australian Open semifinalist Jelena Jankovic both left their countries as children to train at a tennis academy in Florida, while losing finalist Ana Ivanovic moved to Switzerland at 15 where she was sponsored by a businessman who is now her manager.

Ultimately, what goes for the fashion world goes for other spheres of human activity. In the past, you had to play chess or be a champion gymnast to come to international attention if you were born in the Eastern bloc—chess and competitive sports figuring among the few party-approved export industries. Nowadays, stars in fields previously unsanctioned by the party—crime novelists, conceptual artists, computer whizzes—from Russia, Hungary, or Uzbekistan have a shot at fame and fortune, too. As for talented entrepreneurs, the sky's the limit.

Beauty is a matter of luck, but the same could be said of many other talents. And what open markets do for beautiful women they also do for other sorts of genius. So, cheer up next time you see a Siberian blonde dominating male attention at the far end of the table: The same mechanisms that brought her to your dinner party might one day bring you the Ukrainian doctor who cures your cancer or the Polish stockbroker who makes your fortune.

http://www.slate.com/id/2182947

 

I wouldn't agree with this really (I know it's the article and not you). But first of all VERY few Russians marry Kazakhs or Mongols and you can actually get Russian women that are attractive because they're Russian, rather than mixed race asian
...even though I always get asked 'ARE YOU ASIAN?! YOU'RE NOT? ARE YOU SURE?! NOT EVEN MONGOL?'
Not evel Mongolian

I don't think that Russian women are better looking than any other European women, to be honest, but I do think that Russian women have a unique look. We aren't more attractive than women of other nationalities, but we do have an unusual look about us I guess. I can always tell a Russian person from a distance. For me, it's the cheeks, when they smile

 

well you don't look Asian to me, although there would be nothing wrong with it, if you did

 

yea, i think you're right. I dont know about Paris, LA, Brussels, because i have never been there, but in Moscow, yes, girls are less kind, more superficial, less decent and so on . oh and a lot of them got different boyfriends like every week, they sleep with a lot of men (and sometimes women). lol But it's only natural, because Moscow and big cities like that have more temptations to offer, than small towns.

 

wow I didnt know anyone even knew about Tatars, Kazakhs and the other nationalities living in Russia. I'm Tatar myself

 

Oh I didn't know either, I am not that cultured about the nationalities and ethnicities living in Russia. I just posted an article I found interesting. My knowledge of Russia today comes from loving the football players of the old URSS. You're were probably too young to remember, but the USSR had a formidable football team coached by Valery Lobanovsky who took the 1986 World Cup by storm and my favorite players were Rinat Dassaiev, Igor Belanov and Alexander/Sasha Zavarov. They lost to Belgium 3-4 in the second round though All this despite outplaying Belgium every which way. Football doesn't really make sense.

In clubs, Dassaiev played for Spartak Moscow while the other two played for Dynamo Kiev, which was a winning machine in the mid 1980s. So all the cities I know in Russia come from my knowledge of football in the USSR, that's why I didn't have a problem knowing the capitals of the newly independant countries when the the Soviet Union collapsed.

But I am curious about Russian pop-culture and it's very find to find information about it while the culture is more accessible. So I don't much about Russia's popular culture.

For instance who is the equivalent of Britney Spears in Russian pop? We already know two Paris Hilton

Are there many celebrities of Afro-descent in Russia?

What about a good Russian movie, could you recommend me one? All Russian and Ukrainian I met of my generation told me that Louis de Funes was very big in Russia, have you watched any of his movie?

And what about Tatu, are they still big and relevant in Russia? In the link below you see them appearing on one of the most famous TV show in France Tout le monde en parle and the host of the show, Thierry Ardisson was being an asshole to them, being very rude and asking ignorant questions thinking it would make people laugh. It made me angry when I watched it and a lot of people complained. Though it's show supposed to be about not being politically correct and asking celebrities provocatives questions, I still felt that Ardisson should have gotten his ass kicked!


Tatu à Tout le monde en parle
http://www.dailymotion.com/search/Tatu/video/xzhet_tatu-a-tout-le-monde-en-parle_music

 

today's Russia has about 152 ethnisities, but as i know, people from abroad just call them all Russians, without making any difference. lol
Btw the USSR was destroyed when I was 4 y o, so i dont really remember how it was, you're right. And i dont know any of the football players that you mentioned, but i know some of today's players, i always watch the UEFA games, i love it!

hmmmm the Britney Spirs equivalent is....i dont know. lol there is a woman called Russian Madonna for some reason. she is old and not good looking at all, so i guess she's being called so, because she used to be VERY famous, just like Madonna is in the US. And there is also a guy who is extremely popular today, especially after he have won Eurovision, his name is Dima Bilan. and yes, we have Afro-descent celelbrities. there is a guy from Cameroon, by the name Pier Narciss, he became famous after being in a show "Fabrika zvezd" (which is something like the American idol). he's living in Moscow and having a family right now. and there was a Black Russian guy Deema, who died two years ago in a car accident. he was also pretty famous in Europe and even had signed contract with BMG. he was very talented and i still listen to his songs all the time. and there is also a Black Russian girl by the name Kornelia Mango, she is pretty famous too.

oh yea, i love Russian movies! I have no idea about your preferences, as well as i have no idea if there even are any russian movies translated into english. but there is a lot of great movies in my opinion, there is even one with Angelina Jolie called "Wanted", which probably has it's english version too.

and yea, Luis De Funes is very famous in Russia, as well as Pier Rishar and Jean Reno, and i sure have seen movies with them. there're great!

well as far as Tatu...they're being called "the sell outs", because they perform on all the foreign stages and disregard performing in their home country. so Russians dont listen to their music and dont even discuss them at all. they're out of the country in every way. I watched the show Tout le monde en parle and yea, i agree, this guy was being rude and vulgar, but you know, they started their career being lesbians and they were always emphasizing being homosexual and stuff like that, so it's only natural now, that they're being treated like that. and as i could see, this guy and the whole show are supposed to be kinda rowdy, so...i guess, they were expecting that.

 

Well my preferences would be anything in the romantic comedy type or movies like La Boum, the famous French movie. Nothing like gangster movie, political thrillers or any depressing stories or subject matter, just any movie that has a feel good story and show a more sociocultural of Russia and typical everyday life. For instances, I'll be curious to see a Russian movies about teenagers...

I've heard about a movie supposed to be about Putin involved in a love story. It was loosely based on a character like Putin. At least, that's what the BBC documentary I saw claimed.

I could probably find many Russian movies here in Los Angeles in Russian video stores. As long as they have English subtitles, it will be fine with me.

I'll check it out, but I would have preferred a movie with famous Russian actors and actress, like an entire Russian cast.

Yeah, Louis de Funes is very funny. To me his movies never got old and are timless classics.

I had no idea that's how Russians felt about Tatu. That's intersting to hear that. But Thierry Ardisson is just a jerk period, I am glad his show was cancelled.

Culturally, I hope women and girls in Russia don't try to emulate the West too much. It will make Russia lose it's charm, its mystique and authenticity. Having rich girls being compared to Paris Hilton isn't a good thing since she isn't exaclty a role model for females.

 

what do you mean you wanna see? I have never used it when we were talking while you where here, right? and btw its name is Abbyy , not Abby. lol

 

I dont think there are a lot of Russian movies translated into english, but yea, they might have some with the subtitles. I have never heard about Putin's movie though, that's interesting.

well of course Russians do adopt the West life style and everything. and even though Russia is still pretty different, the big cities are more and more alike any big city in the world. they are all the same. for example, NYC and Moscow seemed so much alike to me, i didnt even really feel being abroad sometimes! it's sad of course, because, like you said, the country is losing it's own traditions and all the charm. but on the other hand, i think it's inevitable, and i would even say natural, because of the globalization process. it's a shame on me, but i know more American actors and singers than Russian...and i'm not the only one who does so...Russia is being Americanized.

 

LOL....oh yeah, how could i forget. My mistake.

 

I have to say that Russian women have a very unique look and style to them. I swear, it doesn't matter how cold it is outside, or how much snow, they would always be wearing high heels. I honestly don't remember seeing a single Russian lady who wasn't wearing heels.