Vol 17, No 2 (2025)

The article provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of theoretical approaches to the study of aging in the social sciences, revealing their relationship with changes in social policy regarding older people. The aim of the work is to consider how various theoretical concepts form the basis for blurring strict age boundaries and the normativity of aging, and how the achievements of the social sciences are reflected in practical measures of social policy. The authors analyze key concepts (successful/active aging, critical and cultural gerontology, the concept of the life course and aging in place) demonstrating the transition from biological determinism to understanding aging as a socially constructed process and identifying their roles in shaping modern longevity policies. The article shows that the paradigm shifts in aging studies (from the medical model to the socio-cultural one) reflects the global challenges of the second demographic transition. The authors conclude that modern theories of aging and social policy measures regarding older people are synchronized to a certain extent. The blurring of rigid age boundaries is in its own way beneficial to states interested in extending the economically active lifespan of older people. Certain concepts of ageing are used to confirm and justify social policy measures. The emphasis on practitioners’ attention to the achievements of social sciences in the field of ageing requires a responsible, attentive and critical approach by researchers to the study of inclusive ageing, emerging inequalities and the rights of the elderly to autonomy.

This article explores the transformative moments of sexual subjectivity among post-reproductive women who use dating platforms to seek partners. It focuses on how pivotal life events influence the evolution of sexual subjectivity, expressions of desire, and experiences of pleasure. Transformative moments are understood as embodied events that significantly alter one’s sexual life. Sexual subjectivity is defined as the narrative construction of oneself as a sexual subject — through the meanings assigned to sex and sexuality, as well as through thoughts, feelings, and self-narratives. The empirical basis of the study comprises 45 interviews with Russian-speaking women aged 51 and older, residing in Finland, Israel, and Russia. All participants were born in the 1960s in the USSR and belong to a generation whose sexual culture has undergone significant changes both in Russia and in the countries to which they migrated. Three selected cases allow for an in-depth analysis of transformative moments in diverse sociocultural and sexual contexts.The study identifies three affirmative models of sexual subjectivity: the emancipation of sexual desire, the recognition of one’s sexual attractiveness, and the reconfiguration of embodiment and exploration of sexuality. The analysis focuses on changes in sexual life, representations of the (sexual) body, and the events that triggered transformations in sexual subjectivity — such as divorce, migration, menopause, shifts in sexual culture, and personal experiences. Findings indicate that women's experiences are diverse: age-related changes and menopause are interpreted not only as losses but also as sources of renewed embodied experiences, mediated through accumulated skills, self-knowledge, and bodily awareness. Sexuality in later life emerges as affirmative, and embodiment may be interpreted in a positive and empowering way.

This article analyzes media representations of midlife in women based on a thematic analysis of the podcast “5+: Legends and Myths of Middle Age”. Focusing on the experiences of urban, educated, middle-class women, the authors examine how they renegotiate this life stage amidst the destandardization of life scripts and conflicting cultural expectations. The podcast portrays midlife as a period of reevaluating priorities, adapting to age-related changes, and creating new life projects through plasticity and agency. Particular attention is paid to embodiment and medicalization as tools for self-identification and age management, as well as the role of accumulated resources in shaping positive midlife experiences. The study demonstrates how middle-class women, acting as social innovators, are shaping new cultural norms surrounding midlife and challenging the double standard of aging. The authors highlight the need for further research to understand the diverse experiences of midlife among women from different social groups.

The article is devoted to studying aging scenarios for women in a modern Russian megapolis who regularly undergo anti-age cosmetology. Theoretically, the article focuses on developing a scenario approach and research debate on diversifying older women’s ways of living. Empirically, the article is based on thirteen biographical leitmotif interviews that were developed and conducted within the life course approach. The theme of care for appearance at different stages of life was chosen as a leitmotif of the interviews. The interviewees were women over 60 years old, living in Saint Petersburg and regularly undergoing anti-age cosmetic procedures. The current research perspective of the life course has made it possible to consider the story of women’s lives as a sequence of individual choices that determine life scenarios. Analysis of the data showed that the choice of aging scenarios is related to women’s attempts to control age-related changes in their appearance. During the analysis, three alternative aging scenarios were identified: ageless woman, active retiree, and professional granny. The identified scenarios are analytically described and compared with the new discourse of active longevity and the normative scenario of female aging.