Discourses on menopause — Part I: Menopause described in texts addressed to Danish women 1996—2004

Abstract

a b s t r a c t To understand Danish women's very different ways of interpreting menopausal experiences and the way they construct meaning relating to menopause, it is necessary to include the context in which meaning is constructed as well as the background of cultural attitudes to menopause existing in the Danish society. Using documentary material, the aim of this article was to describe different discourses on menopause in Denmark that present themselves to menopausal women, and to discuss how these discourses may affect women's identity and constitute their scope of action. One hundred and thirty-two pieces of text under the heading or subject of 'menopause' or 'becoming a middle-aged woman', published from 1996 to 2004, were included. All material was addressed to Danish women, and consisted of booklets and informational material, articles from newspapers and magazines and popular science books. Seven different discourses on menopause were identifi ed: the biomedical discourse; the 'eternal youth' discourse; the health-promotion discourse; the consumer discourse; the alternative discourse; the feminist/ critical discourse; and the existential discourse. The biomedical discourse on menopause was found to be dominant, but was expanded or challenged by other discourses by offering different scopes of action and/or resting on different fundamental values. The discourses constructed and positioned individual women differently; thus, the women's position varied noticeably from one discourse to another. Depending on the discourse drawn upon, the woman's position could be that of a passive patient or that of an empowered woman, capable of making her own choices in relation to her health.

Discourses on menopause — Part II: How do women talk about menopause?

“…We have previously described seven different discourses on menopause based on written texts available to Danish women (Hvas and Gannik, 2008), each discourse giving rise to different actions and positions. See Table 1.…”

Climatério, enfrentamento e repercussões no contexto de trabalho: vozes do Extremo Norte do Brasil

“…Talvez, "envelhecer" seja uma razão para o sigilo, na tentativa de esconder os sintomas relativos à menopausa, em uma sociedade que cultiva a aparência física e a boa forma. E aí, também entra o discurso promotor da saúde que enfatiza a importância de manter o corpo apto e livre de osteoporose através de exercício e dieta saudável (Hvas, & Gannik, 2008).…”

“…O discurso, por sua vez, transforma o tratamento e a prevenção de doenças em bens de consumo. Com base nesses discursos, muitas mulheres tomam decisões informadas sobre suas necessidades em saúde (Hvas, & Gannik, 2008). E, como para muitas mulheres, a menopausa é vista como uma doençaque provoca a perda da saúde e o envelhecimento, e pode ser "curada" com a reposição hormonal, capaz de parar o impacto devastador do tempo na aparência e na psiquenão causa estranheza, se ela for explorada para produzir demanda por produtos que abordam preocupações com a saúde física e mental desse período.…”

Precarious beginnings: Gendered risk discourses in psychiatric research literature about postpartum depression

“…In this framework, individuals have agency and engage in the formulation of their own identities, but the choices they make are not limitless or unbounded. People work within the possibilities afforded by cultural discourses to create their social selves and take action in their social worlds (Hvas and Gannick, 2008a;Miller, 2007). Although this article does not focus on specific implications of the discursive constructions of PPD, the adoption of this Foucauldian framework assumes that it is important to deconstruct the concept of PPD because discourses influence how women are treated by the health care system and the possibilities afforded to subjects to develop their own identities.…”