"Midlife Crisis" Or "Midlife Transition"?

In this study,15 middle-aged women aged 40-55 years old were selected for in-depth interviews with midlife women living in Shanghai.After screening the interview materials,combined with the literature,from the perspective of constructivism,through the analysis of the life experience,interaction process and self-adjustment of urban middle-aged professional women at the individual,organizational and social levels,this paper clarifies the constructive nature of the "midlife crisis" of the professional female group and the actual status of the"midlife transition" that it faces,and further emphasizes the positive significance of the midlife stage to the professional female group and the positive effects of the "midlife transition".The study found that the problems faced by middle-aged urban women in the middle age stage mainly include three aspects:physical and mental health imbalance,family burden increase,and the competition in workplace.The society has deviations from the existing imagination and reality of midlife women.This deviation affects the self-awareness of midlife professional women and is the root of the construction of women’s "midlife crisis" discourse.The construction of urban women’s "middle-age crisis" is also constructed by life cycle,consumerism and the Internet,that is,the role and influence of the individual,the market and the society.There is also a logic of power operation in the patriarchal society and the individualized society.However,using the "midlife crisis" to summarize the living conditions of midlife working women is biased,because it not only overestimates and strengthens the problematic nature of professional women in the middle age,but also denies the existence of subjective initiative.Hence,the "midlife transition" is more suitable to summarize the true state and gives greater possibilities of urban professional women in the midlife.