Russian middle-aged women’s participation in the post-Soviet consumer culture

What is it about?

The article is a case study of everyday practices of beautification and consumption of a group of women from Moscow, Russia who wereborn in Soviet Russia, in the 1950s-1960s. The interview analysis centers on the sentiment expressed by most interviews – a loss of ‘femininity’ among women who grew up in the Soviet time.

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Why is it important?

This case study is used to critically engage with the ideas developed out of Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, feel of the game, and particularly concerns they raise regarding ‘self-reflexivity’. Self-reflexivity can be through of as an ability to understand how one’s behavior and life situation are influenced by social norms and institutions, and to use this awareness to adjust one's behaviour in a desirable way and take more control over one’s life situation. Some researchers who use Bourdieu’s concepts have observed that for him people would gain such awareness only at critical moments when some significant changes happen in their social environments (e.g. changes in some women’s position in society in the post-war period in the US, the UK and other nations). They believe that this view might be outdated in the time when people in western capitalist societies are more actively encouraged to be aware and in control of their habits and conduct, for instance, through making certain consumer choices or learning techniques of self-awareness as employees in the workplace. I use my case study to I add to this theoretical discussion. By paying particular attention to the simultaneous influence of gender, class and age on the women’s attitudes, behaviour and interactions, I note that awareness of how such influence works does not necessarily lead to an ability to adjust one’s conduct or feel more in control of one’s life circumstances. This can be due to varioud access to resources of money, status and time. However, the sentiment of a lost femininity helps to show that awareness might not lead to an ability to change one's conduct also due to culturally and historically specific assumptions about the ways women and women come to embody certain ways of being and behaving, for instance, under the influence of particular policies implemented by the state.