1. THE HISTORY OF MENOPAUSE
a culturally shaped and man made phenomenon
Menopause 101
Today, there are 1.2 billion menopausal women worldwide, and 40 million in the U.S. alone.
60% of women will seek treatment for menopausal symptoms at least once in their life.
The average age of menopause is 51 years old, but it can range from 40 58.
Menopause language reflects the way a culture views menopause
[men-uh-pawz]
DID YOU KNOW? In the Middle Ages, witchcraft was considered a reasonable explanation for the sudden
ENGLISH “menopause,” meno = month, pausis = seize
coined by a male gynocologist from the ancient Greek, connotes the end of something i.e. 1 stoppage of blood.
menstrual cycle, ability to reproduce (75% of U.S. women report hot fllashes)
In Ancient Egypt, a 2000 B.C. medical text recommended the following: “If a
JAPANESE “konenki,” ko = renewal, nen = years, ki = energy
connotes a much lengthier, gradual transition, showing that menopause is a period renewal
2 menopausal woman has pain or makes trouble, pound her hard on the jaw.”
and regeneration (only 25% of Japanese women report hot fllashes)
Until recently, there was no word in Japanese, a language known for its precise detail, for As bloodletting (via leeches) mimicked menstruation, it was thus considered a cure
“hot flash.” 3 for menopause.
Japanese women today rarely ever mention “estrogen depletion,” and instead refer mostly to
Sigmund Freud recommended the liberal use of drugs, namely sedatives, to keep meno-
hormone balance. pausal women calm and collected. Freud described menopausal women as “quarrelsome
A study examining experiences of tribal women in Australia found that there was no word
4 and obstinate, petty and stingy, show typical sadistic and anal-erotic features which
Tribal for menopause, women reported having lighter or no periods, and no emotional symptoms -
they did not show before.”
these women found the concept of emotional difficulties caused by menopause amusing.
TIMELINE
EARLY 19TH : THE PHYSICAL & Moral 1950S 1960S : promise pills
In the Victorian era, extensive medi-
“All menopausal women
cal and biological arguments were used
are castrates” - Robert
1990S 2002 : naturalists
to prove a woman’s supposedly inherent The advocates for natural meno-
PRE 18TH : Ancient TIMES physical and moral weakness.
Wilson, author of Feminine
Forever. HRT becomes fully pause speak louder as extensive
In Ancient times, a woman who commercialized, selling research on the safety of HRT
reached menopausal age was women on the idea of ever- begins. Meanwhile, in 2005, the
John Leakes 1777 text defines menopause as “pain and deemed either wise or evil. lasting femininity, beauty National Institute of Health con-
giddiness of the head, hysteric disorders, colic pain
and youth. cludes that menopause is not a
and mid-life female weakness.”
disease.
Late 18TH: psychology of the female body 1920s 1940S :Hormones to blame TODAY : information overload
The 1848 text, the Psychology of the With the 1925 discovery of the
1970S 1980S Feminist fight
:
A thriving menopause
In 1910, T.W. Shannon wrote that a husband “should have no sexual Female Body, equated menopause with insanity, human hormonal makeup, male Feminist voices emerge, discourse exists today,
relations during the change of life in his wife. If he wishes to project suggesting: “The [change of life] as it is doctors and scientists moved questioning the legitimacy of but women are fllooded
the health of his wife and himself, prolong their lives, increase their
commonly called, frequently leads to periods beyond weakness to deem the ‘disease’ model of meno- with conflicting opinions,
usefulness and happiness he must bring himself to complete self-control.”
of insanity…and the constitution is thereby menopause a full-blown disease pause and emphasizing it too much information, and
always more or less deranged.” that requires treatment. as a natural stage of life. a tumultuous history.