Old Age, Cultural Complexity, and Narrative Interpretation

Blaakilde, Anne Leonora

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-0677-3_11

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 5 publications

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“…(Magazine interview, with an executive in a pharmaceutical company, Skodsborg, 2001: 13) Central to late modern western society is the ideal of staying youthful. Youth and youthfulness are admired and longevity promoted, while ageing and old people are belittled and made invisible (Blaakilde, 2001). In this discourse menopause is a negative symbol of age, and the last menstruation is considered a threat, a milestone in an unwanted ageing process.…”

Section: Some Radiate Lust Others Accept the Inner Nun It Is A Quesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Hvas

Gannik

2008

Health (London)

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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.

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Section: Some Radiate Lust Others Accept the Inner Nun It Is A Quesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Hvas

Gannik

2008

Health (London)

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Ethical challenges in geriatric care

Lucente

2009

Otolaryngol.--head neck surg.

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The growth of the elderly population presents numerous challenges to the practicing otolaryngologist. This commentary reviews some of the issues that come up in dealing with geriatric patients, reiterates some classic ethical principles, and looks to some philosophers who have addressed relevant issues over the past centuries. It is based on a presentation "Ethical Challenges in Geriatric Otolaryngology," delivered at the annual meeting of the American Society of Geriatric Otolaryngology on April 30, 2008.

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Old Age, Cultural Complexity, and Narrative Interpretation

Cited by 2 publications

References 5 publications

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

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

Ethical challenges in geriatric care

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