Even these days, menopause is a period in women’s life about which women are ashamed to discuss. Maybe this is due to myths and misinterpretations, or to misinformation. Regardless of the reasons, this doesn’t help women live through the period of menopause naturally and to know what to expect when menopause starts or how to live through it more comfortably.
In the article “Women Can Have a Better Menopause,” published in The New York Times, Dr. Jen Gunter expresses her thoughts on how women can have a better menopause. She
writes that
“Menopause has long been treated as a pre-death, a metamorphosis from a woman to a crone with her exit ticket already punched. This is because a woman’s worth was measured by her reproductive ability and by extension her femininity, as defined by a narrow, misogynistic standard”.
According to Dr. Gunter, to escape wrong interpretations of menopause such as “the end of woman’s reproductive life represents the end of her productive life”, the medical community should provide women with more information about:
how their hormones change in middle life;
what they should expect and;
what can be addressed with medical treatment.
Dr. Gunter expresses the importance of the role that doctors play in providing the necessary information for women about menopause. It is important not only what information doctors provide, but their attitude and the way they interpret menopause.
According to Dr. Gunter, many women felt that their doctors could not or would not answer their questions about changes in their bodies related to menopause saying “it isn’t that bad” “ or “that’s just part of being a woman.”
Dr. Gunter describes a gap between interpreting menopause and the real experience women face during the period of menopause and the importance of the knowledge not only about the symptoms but the possible proven and effective treatments for many symptoms of menopause.
According to Dr. Gunter,
“Menopause isn’t a death sentence. We must dispel the misogynistic notion that a woman’s worth is tied to her estrogen and her age. Instead, we should think of menopause as a new phase of life and the last period as just one landmark along the way. When women need help navigating their symptoms and the health implications of menopause, clear, non-sexist information and proven therapies should be available. At some point getting help for menopause won’t require an act of feminism, but that will never happen if we stay silent”.
For more information on menopause from Dr. Jen Gunter, please see a video on What really happens to your body during menopause
Source
The New York Times. 25 May 2021