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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| The role of the menopause in women's experiences of the "change of life" | | Author(s) | Karen D Ballard, Diana J Kuh, Michael E J Wadsworth |
| Journal title | Sociology of Health & Illness, vol 23, no 4, 2001 |
| Pages | pp 397-424 |
| Keywords | Menopause ; Older women ; Attitude ; Adjustment. |
| Annotation | The menopause has come to be viewed by the medical profession as a hormone deficiency state. This understates the importance of the social context in which the menopause is experienced. Drawing on women's accounts of the menopause, as described in the comments section of a longitudinal national survey, this paper describes the experience of the menopause transition as a status passage (Glaser and Strauss 1971) whereby women move through five stages: expectation of symptoms; experience of symptoms and loss of control; confirmation of the menopause; regaining control; and freedom from menstruation. The social changes experienced by women during this time are considered as parallel status passages, often competing for attention with the menopause transition. The free comments made by women emphasise the importance of changing social relationships with partners, children and parents and changes at work. Whilst women conceive the menopause to be a medical event, they themselves place importance on the social context in which the menopause is experienced. The "change of life" is appropriate in capturing the multiplicity of biological and social changes that occur during midlife, of which menopause is only one part. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-010809202 A |
| Classmark | CC:BD: BD: DP: DR |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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