Transformation of Female Sexuality in the Context of Transition to Adulthood

In modern Russian reality, liberal and conservative discourses on sexuality coexist. At the official level, the need to reproduce traditional gender roles is being broadcast, attempts are being made to control physicality, sexual relations and sexual orientation. At the same time, in the private sphere, there is a noticeable increase in the agency of women, a variety of behavioral and sexual scripts is available, new sexual practices are emerging due to the virtualization of intimacy. In the modern Russian academic discussion, there is a lack of research on the topic of female sexuality in general and female sexuality in a biographical context in particular. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze changes in sexual scripts in the context of transition into adulthood within the biographies of modern urban women. Thus, using the biographical method, 17 biographical semi-structured interviews with young and young adult middle-class women aged 25 to 40 years living in St. Petersburg were collected and analyzed. As part of the analysis of empirical material, markers of sexual and biographical adulthood, the meaning of sex and sexuality of women, and the peculiarities of the organization of daily sexual life were identified. The types of sexual scripts that young and young adult women from St. Petersburg follow in different periods of their lives were also highlighted: an exploring script, a partner script, a marriage script and a hedonistic script. Based on the analysis of biographies, turning points were identified, as a result of which the type of sexual script changes.