Psychology, aging women and the life course : women's negotiation of menopause

Western biomedical and cultural discourse depicts menopausal women as subject to hormonal loss, suffering psychological upheaval, and deficiency or decay. Women in later life are positioned within this discourse as unattractive and asexual, with implications for women's experiences and subjectivity. However, many women find alternative ways to make meaning of their menopausal and postmenopausal experiences, taking up subjectivities that resist negative cultural constructions of menopausal and older women. Recognizing embodied change during menopause, as well as the impact of such change on wellbeing, does not inevitably lead to a medicalized solution for those who wish to ameliorate women's distress. Menopause, midlife, and aging can be a time of psychological health and wellbeing for women. As much of the existing research has focused on able bodied, heterosexual, white women, there is a need for further research on negotiation of menopause by lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, disabled women, and migrant or refugee women. There is also a need for further research on positive aspects of menopause and women's coping with reproductive aging.