The Difficult Age: Exploring Media Representations of Women's Midlife Experiences
Research Article
How to Cite
Chernova Z.V., Litvinova A.I. The Difficult Age: Exploring Media Representations of Women’s Midlife Experiences. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2025. Vol. 17. No. 2. P. 71-91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2025.17.2.4 (in Russ.).
Abstract
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.
Keywords:
lifecourse, middle age, women, media, middle class
References
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Moen P. (2016) Work Over the Gendered Life Course. Handbook of the Life Course. Volume 2. Cham: Springer. P. 249–275. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20880-0_11
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Lachman M.E., Teshale S., Agrigoroaei S. (2015) Midlife as a Pivotal Period in the Life Course: Balancing Growth and Decline at the Crossroads of Youth and Old Age. International Journal of Behavioral Development. Vol. 39. No. 1. P. 20–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025414533223
Macmillan R. (2005) The Structure of the Life Course: Classic Issues and Current Controversies. Advances in Life Course Research. Vol. 9. P. 3–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(04)09001-X
Pavolini E., Van Lancker W. (2018) The Matthew Effect in Childcare Use: A Matter of Policies or Preferences? Journal of European Public Policy. Vol. 25. No. 6. P. 878–893. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2017.1401108
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Schmidt S. (2020) Midlife Crisis: The Feminist Origins of a Chauvinist Cliche. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Staudinger U.M. (2020) The Positive Plasticity of Adult Development: Potential for the 21st Century. American Psychologist. Vol. 75. No. 4. 540–553. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000612
Tiidenberg K. (2017) Visibly Ageing Femininities: Women’s Visual Discourses of Being Over-40 and Over-50 on Instagram. Feminist Media Studies. Vol. 18. No. 1. P. 61–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1409988
Toothman E.L., Barrett A.E. (2011) Mapping Midlife: An Examination of Social Factors Shaping Conceptions of the Timing of Middle Age. Advances in Life Course Research. Vol. 16. No. 3. P. 99–111. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2011.08.003
Twigg J. (2004) The Body, Gender, and Age: Feminist Insights in Social Gerontology. Journal of Aging Studies. Vol. 18. No. 1. P. 59–73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2003.09.001
Woodward K. (1999) Figuring Age: Women, Bodies, Generations. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Calhoun A. (2023) O chem molchat zhenshchiny: kak krizis srednego vozrasta vliyaet na nas i pochemu eto luchshee vremya dlya peremen [Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis]. Transl. from Eng. by I.E. Kikina. Moscow: Eksmo. (In Russ.)
Sontag S. (2024) O Zhenshchinah [On Women]. Moscow: Ad Marginem Press. (In Russ.)
Chernova Z.V., Shpakovskaya L.L. (2021) Three Regimes of Gender Citizenship: Social Policy Experience of Three Generations of Russian Women. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. Vol. 13. No. 3. P. 12–43. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org10.19181/inter.2021.13.3.1
Asier L.A., Luis Miguel P.-E. (2022) Audio Storytelling in Novation in a Digital Age: The Case of Daily News Podcasts in Spain. Information. Vol. 13. No. 4. P. 204. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/info13040204
Baruch G., Brooks-Cunn J. (1984) Women in Midlife. New York: Plenum Press.
Braun V., Clarke V. (2021) Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide. London: SAGE Publications.
Brooks-Gunn J., Kirsh B. (1984) Life Events and the Boundaries of Midlife for Women. In: Women in Midlife. Boston: Springer. P. 11–30.
Buchmann M.C., Kriesi I. (2011) Transition to Adulthood in Europe. Annual Review of Sociology. Vol. 37. No. 1. P. 481–503. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150212
Calasanti T. (2007) Bodacious Berry, Potency Wood and the Aging Monster: Gender and Age Relations in Anti-Aging Ads. Social Forces. Vol. 86. No. 1. P. 335–355. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2007.0091
Daly M. (2020) Gender Inequality and Welfare States in Europe. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788111263
Dannefer D. (2003) Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course: Cross-Fertilizing Age and Social Science Theory. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. Vol. 58. No. 6. P. 327–337. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.6.s327
Demey D., Berrington A., Evandrou M., Falkingham J. (2013) Pathways into Living Alone in Mid-life: Diversity and Policy Implications. Advances in Life Course Research. Vol. 18. No. 3. P. 161–174. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2013.02.001
Dolberg P., Ayalon L. (2018) Subjective Meanings and Identification with Middle Age. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development. Vol. 87. No. 1. P. 52–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0091415017721932
Elder G.H. (2003) The Emergence and Development of Life Course Theory. In: Handbook of the Life Course. Boston: Springer. P. 3–19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48247-2_1
Gullette M.M. (1997) Declining to Decline: Cultural Combat and the Politics of the Midlife. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.35-1847
Gullette M.M. (2004) Aged by Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Jermyn D. (2016) Pretty Past It? Interrogating the Post-Feminist Makeover of Ageing, Style, and Fashion. Feminist Media Studies. Vol. 16. No. 4. P. 573–589. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2016.1193371
Infurna F.J., Gerstorf D., Lachman M.E. (2020) Midlife in the 2020s: Opportunities and Challenges. American Psychologist. Vol. 75. No. 4. P. 470–485. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000591
Kulkov I., Kulkova J., Rohrbeck R., Menvielle L. (2024) Leveraging Podcasts as Academic Resources: A Seven-step Methodological Guide. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. Vol. 23. P. 1–13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069241266197
Mayer K.U. (2004) Whose Lives? How History, Societies, and Institutions Define and Shape Life Courses. Research in Human Development. Vol. 1. No. 3. P. 161–187. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15427617rhd0103_3
Mehta C.M., Arnett J.J., Palmer C.G., Nelson L.J. (2020) Established Adulthood: A New Conception of Ages 30 to 45. American Psychologist. Vol. 75. No. 4. P. 431–444. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000600
Moen P. (2016) Work Over the Gendered Life Course. Handbook of the Life Course. Volume 2. Cham: Springer. P. 249–275. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20880-0_11
Lachman M.E. (2015) Mind the Gap in the Middle: A Call to Study Midlife. Research in Human Development. Vol. 12. No. 3–4. P. 327–334. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2015.1068048
Lachman M.E., Teshale S., Agrigoroaei S. (2015) Midlife as a Pivotal Period in the Life Course: Balancing Growth and Decline at the Crossroads of Youth and Old Age. International Journal of Behavioral Development. Vol. 39. No. 1. P. 20–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025414533223
Macmillan R. (2005) The Structure of the Life Course: Classic Issues and Current Controversies. Advances in Life Course Research. Vol. 9. P. 3–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(04)09001-X
Pavolini E., Van Lancker W. (2018) The Matthew Effect in Childcare Use: A Matter of Policies or Preferences? Journal of European Public Policy. Vol. 25. No. 6. P. 878–893. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2017.1401108
Shanahan M.J. (2000) Pathways to Adulthood in Changing Societies: Variability and Mechanisms in Life Course Perspective. Annual Review of Sociology. Vol. 26. No. 1. P. 667–692. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.667
Schmidt S. (2020) Midlife Crisis: The Feminist Origins of a Chauvinist Cliche. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Staudinger U.M. (2020) The Positive Plasticity of Adult Development: Potential for the 21st Century. American Psychologist. Vol. 75. No. 4. 540–553. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000612
Tiidenberg K. (2017) Visibly Ageing Femininities: Women’s Visual Discourses of Being Over-40 and Over-50 on Instagram. Feminist Media Studies. Vol. 18. No. 1. P. 61–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1409988
Toothman E.L., Barrett A.E. (2011) Mapping Midlife: An Examination of Social Factors Shaping Conceptions of the Timing of Middle Age. Advances in Life Course Research. Vol. 16. No. 3. P. 99–111. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2011.08.003
Twigg J. (2004) The Body, Gender, and Age: Feminist Insights in Social Gerontology. Journal of Aging Studies. Vol. 18. No. 1. P. 59–73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2003.09.001
Woodward K. (1999) Figuring Age: Women, Bodies, Generations. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Article
Received: 13.11.2024
Accepted: 30.06.2025
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APA
Chernova, Z. V., & Litvinova, A. I. (2025). The Difficult Age: Exploring Media Representations of Women’s Midlife Experiences. Interaction. Interview. Interpretation, 17(2), 71-91. https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2025.17.2.4
Section
Field work research
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