Because the government had declared the “woman question” resolved in 1930, there was little explicit discourse about how women should be uniquely created in art. Discussions of gender difference and sexuality were generally taboo and viewed as a distraction from the duties people had to the creation of socialism. Accordingly nudes of both men and women were rare, and some art critics have pointed out that Socialist Realist paintings escaped the problem of women’s sexual objectification commonly seen in capitalist forms of art production. But the declaration of women's equality also made it difficult to talk about the gender inequality that did exist; Stalin’s government had simultaneously banned abortion and homosexuality, made divorce more difficult, and dismantled the women’s associations in government (Zhenotdels).The “New Soviet Woman” was often shown working in traditionally male jobs, such as aviation, engineering, tractor-driving, and politics. The point of this was to encourage women to join the workforce and show off the strides the USSR had made for women, especially in comparison with the United States. Indeed, women had expanded opportunities to take up traditionally male jobs in comparison to the US. In 1950, women made up 51.8% of the Soviet labor force, compared to just 28.3% in North America.