Although it is now widely recognized that the middle years are a time of development and transition rather than of stasis followed by decline, existing literature tends to portray middle-aged women as generally unattractive, uninteresting, unintelligent and as dependent "labels" rather than persons in the process of growth. To gain a greater understanding of this population, women aged 50-75 (N=60) leading normal, active and successful lives (by community definition) completed a mailed, open-ended questionnaire developed through oral history techniques. Analyses of results showed: (1) women had self-perceptions highly congruent with social perceptions of them; (2) a significant number came from rural backgrounds and from families with strong mother figures; (3) there was a process of disengagement from family dependency toward friendship support groups; (4) unmarried women rated sexuality as more important than did married women; and (5) a surprising number rated activities above their children as more important contributors to satisfying lives. Differences between decade cohorts which occurred in this sample suggest further research to illuminate possible decade patterns which might be related to historical circumstances. (WAS)