Menopause - Society and Culture

Society and Culture

The cultural context within which a woman lives can have a significant impact on the way she experiences the menopausal transition. Within the United States, social location affects the way women perceive menopause and its related biological effects. Research indicates that whether a woman views menopause as a medical issue or an expected life change is correlated with her socio-economic status. The paradigm within which a woman considers menopause also influences the way she views it: women who understand menopause as a medical condition rate it significantly more negatively than those who view it as a life transition or a symbol of aging.

Ethnicity and geographical location also play a role in the experience of menopause. U.S. women of different ethnicities report significantly different types of menopausal effects. One major study found Caucasian women most likely to report what are sometimes described as psychosomatic symptoms, while African-American women were more likely to report vasomotor symptoms. Additionally, while most women in the United States have a negative view of menopause as a time of deterioration or decline, some studies seem to indicate that Asian women have an understanding of menopause that focuses on a sense of liberation, and celebrates the freedom from the risk of pregnancy. Diverging from these conclusions however, one study appeared to show that many U.S. women "experience this time as one of liberation and self-actualization." Postmenopausal Indian women can enter Hindu temples and participate in rituals, marking it as a celebration for reaching an age of wisdom and experience.

Generally speaking, women raised in the Western world live long enough so that a third of their life is spent in post-menopause. For some women, the menopausal transition represents a major life change, similar to menarche in the magnitude of its social and psychological significance. Although the significance of the changes that surround menarche is fairly well recognized, in countries such as the USA, the social and psychological ramifications of the menopause transition are frequently ignored or underestimated.