Cultural Perspectives on Menopause

Yes, I know. It's coming eventually. That time in my life when monthly menstruation is a thing of the past, and where birth control ceases to be a concern. Yay! Right?

Well, it seems that this period (hehe) of a woman's life is viewed in pretty negative terms by many Western women. Many seem to feel that it marks the end of their "productive" lives as mothers, and that they are old and washed up. Useless.

According to Dr. Dixie Mills (2007), however, this prejudiced view of menopausal women stems from Sigmund Freud's male-dominant perspective, which underpins a great deal of Western thought and medicine. For example, whereas many in our society place child-bearing as the litmus test of a woman's social and biological productivity, the Japanese and Mayan peoples believe that menopause frees women from their greatest burden and enables them to become "wise women," living repositories of family history and a valuable resource.

Mills (2007) wrote, "Menopause in Japan, or konenki, is thought to begin in the early 40’s and last until around 60 years of age. . .Literally translated, ko means “renewal and regeneration,” nen means “year” or “years,” and ki means “season” or “energy.” While translated into English as “menopause,” konenki connotes a much lengthier, gradual transition where the end of periods is just one contributing feature."

That is a fundamentally different viewpoint than what many Westerners hold. Whereas many of us see menopause as a time of declining importance and increasing irrelevancy, the Japanese see it is a time when one is entering her zenith. Age and experience are much respected among the Japanese (and Mayan) culture, and I believe that this is probably the biggest reason why women there do not fear menopause or want to avoid it: they are honored for their position. In the U.S., the message that is constantly fed to women is that if you aren't young and beautiful, you are unimportant. It seems that living in such a facile society as ours, it is going to be particularly galling for the Baby Boomers, who once despised the older "establishment" to be faced with their own decline.

For myself, I ascribe to the ideals which many Celtic pagans and American Natives believed: that to be female is to be part of a circle, and a cycle, marked by three stages. These are maiden, mother, and crone. Each stage holds its own importance to the tribe, and is valuable. I'm in the "mother" stage now, but I look forward to the days when as a crone, I can devote my energies more fully to my surround community, as well as to providing whatever guidance or help to my adult son (and eventually his family) as I can.


Source:

Mills, D. (2007). Woman to woman: menopause and perimenopause. Retrieved on October 18, 2008 from http://www.womentowomen.com/menopause/menopauseacrosscultures.aspx