Abstract
<jats:p>The article focuses on the formation of women’s gender identity during the Soviet period, as well as the dynam-ics of the transformation of women’s social roles influenced by changes in the formal legal status of women in the USSR as a result of the implemented cultural policy. The sources under study are examined from a gender perspective. In the course of the research, the author suggests a periodization regarding the formation of Soviet female gender identity and concludes that there is a paradox regarding gender equality in Soviet society. In the context of officially promoted equality in all spheres of public life, in practice there is a gradual return to patriar-chy. The author concludes that the degree of discrepancy between a woman’s formal and real status is not crit-ical, but does not deny the role of this discrepancy in the formation of women’s gender identity.</jats:p>