Description
Book SynopsisA woman muses about buying lovely new panties; another journeys inward and outward to redefine her life, a blogger offers information, support, and community to perimenopausal women; researchers uncover myths and misconceptions about migrant and refugee women’s experiences of menopause; a gerontology scholar extrapolates for menopause the meanings of cultural representations of childbirth; a sociologist and intersex advocate challenges her medically constructed menopause; young women’s stories inform an inquiry into the health and social repercussions of primary ovarian insufficiency—all in a collection of research papers and personal narratives that moves far beyond the idea of menopause as a mere biological marker. While biomedical and feminist researchers agree that menopause is a time of transition and border crossing, they offer diverse viewpoints about whether perimenopause and menopause signal deficiency and burden, or growth and freedom, or both. So too, contributors to this collection—influenced by factors of age, cultural background, societal context, and physical and psychological experience—vary significantly in their perspectives of this process. Research, analysis, narrative, poetry, and art intermingle to create a multi-textured montage that challenges stereotypes, probes relationships, and defies categorization. Musings on Perimenopause and Menopause: Identity, Experience, Transition, provides insight into how women think about and experience the transition to menopause in contemporary times.
Trade ReviewThis interdisciplinary and multi-genre collection about women’s menopausal transitions is necessary and welcome. The contributors’ collective honesty, curiosity, and conclusions about women’s transitions to the next stages of their lives—whether through poetry, visual art, literature, or their own lived experience—will be valuable for any reader wanting to know more about this topic. I recommend it certainly for people of any age who will or have gone through these transitions, but also for medical personnel and others who should seek more understanding about women’s lives. -Nicole L Willey, Professor of English, Kent State University and editor of Feminist Fathering; Fathering Feminists // With contributions from artists, academics, and actual people; this collection of musings on menopause is like attending a multidisciplinary conference without having to leave your armchair. - Lisa Leger, Justisse fertility educator
Table of ContentsTable of Contents Introduction Laura Wershler and Heather Dillaway 1. MENO-TYPICAL The Anatomy of a Hot Flash Beth Osnes “Gone Girl:” The Menopause in Popular Culture Mary Jane Lupton Myths and Misconceptions: Migrant and Refugee Women’s Constructions and Experiences of Menopause Jane Ussher, Alexandra Hawkey, and Janette Perz The SWAN Study: Race, Gender, Identity, and Menopause Mindy Fried Slouching Toward Menopause Joanne Gilbert 2. OUT OF STEP Before Your Time: When Menopause Comes Too Soon Evelina W. Sterling, Christine Eads, Starr Vuchetich, and Catherine M. Gordon Shadow Story Yolanda Kauffman Just Before Menopause Donna J. Gelagotis Lee Patches Not Pads: An Intersex Experience with Post-Surgical (Pseudo) Menopause Georgiann Davis and Koyel Khan 3. BLOOD RELATIONS Waiting for Seventeen Days Heather Dillaway “Dear Magnolia…..Nobody Really Understands….What Can I Do?”: Reflections on a Perimenopausal Blog as Social Support Gillian Anderson Finding Bedrock Marie Maccagno Menopause Claimed Laura Wershler 4. UNLEASHED Harsh Blessings: On Finding Poetry at Fifty Magali Roy-Féquière Uninhabitable Lives: Narrative Strategies of Menopause Experience in Notes on a Scandal and Carol Sylvie Teillay-Gambaudo Perimenopause: The Body, Mind, and Spirit in Transition Victoria Team From the Crowning to the Crone: Extrapolating Judy Chicago’s Birth Project to Older Women Anne Barrett All New Panties Cayo Gamber Contributor Notes
