Abstract:
The results of a number of studies indicate the non-linear nature of the global process of demographic modernization and problematize the ambiguity of this process in its various manifestations. The article presents the results of a qualitative research, which make it possible to supplement some of the characteristics of this problem. Changes in family and gender relations in the post-Soviet period are analysed on the basis of autobiographical narratives of women of two generations. The article discusses the following issues: the stability of traditional norms and values in family and gender relations, the contradictory combination of traditional norms and values with the egalitarian attitudes of Soviet emancipation, the contradictions between women’s views about family and gender relations and the real practices of their family life. The author concludes that in the post-Soviet period, there are changes in women’s views on family and gender relations, which are characterized by increased independence and pragmatic orientations in these relations. These changes the author considers as one of the defining trends of the global process of demographic modernization — individualization of private life the modern man.