Rewriting Menopause: Challenging the Medical Paradigm to Reflect Menopausal Women's Experiences

Ferguson, Susan; Parry, Carla

doi:10.2307/3347130

Cited by 25 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Many, primarily sociological, anthropological and feminist researchers have shown that menopause has become increasingly medicalized in the western world since the discovery of sex hormones in the late 1930s (Bell, 1987;Ferguson and Parry, 1998;Greer, 1991;Kaufert and Lock, 1997;Lock, 1993;Lupton, 1996;Stephens et al, 2004). In the prevailing, predominantly biomedical discourse, menopause is most often couched in negative terms focusing on hormone defi ciency, symptoms, risk factors, treatment, disease and decay.…”

Section: Menopausal Discourses Described In Earlier Studiesmentioning

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: Menopausal Discourses Described In Earlier Studiesmentioning

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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“…Women's destinies (indeed, women themselves) have been defined by their abilities to reproduce (Lorber, 1998;Zita, 1997). Over time, men's control of the practice of science, their development of technology and their establishment of modern medicine 2 caused women's ("healthy," "normal," "natural") reproductive processes to be constructed as "pathological," "abnormal," and "unnatural," or at least in need of continual monitoring (Bell, 1987;Ferguson & Parry, 1998;Kaufert & Gilbert, 1986;Kaufert & McKinlay, 1985;Martin, 1992;McCrea, 1983;Riessman, 1983;Zita, 1997).…”

Section: Menopause As Negative Changementioning

confidence: 99%

(Un)Changing Menopausal Bodies: How Women Think and Act in the Face of a Reproductive Transition and Gendered Beauty Ideals

Dillaway

2005

Sex Roles

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Biomedical literature suggests that menopause primarily represents negative change in women's lives. Feminist literature on menopause proposes that it can represent positive change or is a neutral experience for individual women. Conflicting characterizations result from different empirical emphases; biomedical research has focused on bodily change, and feminist research has highlighted social contexts for menopause. Results from interviews with a snowball sample of 61 women in 2001 illustrate how a change discourse on menopause and gendered beauty ideals combine to create a context within which some women believe that changes in their physical appearances can be attributed to menopause and that bodily change is problematic. In addition, during focus groups and in-depth interviews, women suggested that, in the face of these discourses or ideologies and changing external bodies, they face a "category crisis." Interviewees also discussed how they attempt to prevent/mask bodily change in order to remain attractive, visibly feminine, and desirable in the eyes of men. Findings from this qualitative study illustrate that we must continue to explore women's perceptions and experiences of bodily change during menopause, as we lack a full understanding of this developmental transition and its biosocial contexts.

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“…Hasta este punto se han descrito algunos de los principales recursos discursivos de un enfoque basado en medicalizar y estigmatizar al cese menstrual (Ferguson & Parry, 1998;Mitchinson, 2006), fenómeno que puede ser comprendido como la ratificación de la menopausia en calidad de condición médico-biológica estricta (Moncarz, 1999;Uberoi y Badahur, 2001). De acuerdo con Ferguson y Parry (1998) El término medicalizar refiere a dos procesos interrelacionados.…”

Section: La Violencia Simbólica Presente En El Discurso Y En La Atencunclassified

Menopausia y violencia simbólica: un cuestionamiento al saber médico

Vargas

Badilla²

2015

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Resumen: El siguiente artículo analiza las expresiones de violencia simbólica que el discurso médico tradicional ha promovido en torno a las mujeres en edad mediana que experimentan la menopausia. Con tal objetivo, se especifican inicialmente las características de este tipo de violencia, seguido de un breve análisis en torno a sus principales manifestaciones, para posteriormente concluir con una reflexión alrededor de las bases culturales que dan sustento a la misma. Los hallazgos encontrados, sugieren la necesidad de promover una visión menos estigmatizante de la menopausia, para lo cual resulta imprescindible recurrir a enfoques críticos y no reduccionistas que permitan visualizar los dispositivos culturales que subyacen a los discursos profesionales, con miras a cuestionar y deconstruir las expresiones de violencia simbólica con las que se ha revestido durante tantos años la ausencia menstrual.Palabras clave: Menopausia, violencia simbólica, edad mediana femenina, discurso médico, enfoque de género. Abstract:This article discusses about expressions of symbolic violence promoted by traditional medical discourse regarding middle aged women who experience menopause. For this purpose, we specify the characteristics of this type of violence, followed by a brief analysis of its main manifestations, concluding with a reflection on cultural foundations that support it. The findings suggest the importance of promoting a broader view of menopause, using both critical and non-reductionist approaches to display cultural devices underlying professional discourse, in order to deconstruct expressions of symbolic violence assumed for many years in relation to the absence of menstruation. IntroducciónEl reconocimiento de la violencia contra las mujeres ha sido una de las principales luchas que el movimiento feminista ha encabezado a lo largo de la historia, afortunadamente, a partir de dicho reconocimiento se han logrado plasmar en diversos instrumentos internacionales, los derechos humanos que poseen todas las mujeres sin distinción de credo, etnia, edad, orientación sexual, situación migratoria, estatus económico, entre otras variables. Aunado a ello, se han logrado denunciar y visibilizar las distintas maneras en que las mujeres son violentadas socialmente, algunas de las cuales son consideradas en la actualidad como formas de esclavitud moderna.Sin embargo, a pesar de dichos avances, la violencia contra las mujeres ha logrado permanecer a través del tiempo, abarcando espacios que trascienden la esfera real o concreta de la opresión (Bourdieu, 2000), perpetuando un tipo de violencia que opera en las esferas comunicativas de la cultura, en sus signos y símbolos, esto es, la violencia simbólica.La violencia simbólica es una de las violencias más sutiles y difíciles de identificar al presentarse en espacios de representación y comunicación social (Plaza, 2007). Justamente, esta condición hace que todos los seres humanos se encuentren -de una u otra forma-expuestos a ella.Otra de las características que ha distinguido el eje...

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Rewriting Menopause: Challenging the Medical Paradigm to Reflect Menopausal Women's Experiences

Cited by 25 publications

References 22 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

(Un)Changing Menopausal Bodies: How Women Think and Act in the Face of a Reproductive Transition and Gendered Beauty Ideals

Menopausia y violencia simbólica: un cuestionamiento al saber médico

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