Menopause is a process having a social meaning in which both men and women themselves play an equitable role. The life experience of menopause combines body and menstruation representations, the social role of woman, the way in which the ageing process is perceived, and the information available. The main purpose of the present study was to characterize the meanings attributed to menopause by women living in different zones of the Cuernavaca District, in the State of Morelos, Mexico. A qualitative study was designed and semi-structured interviews were conducted for 20 women, using a guideline which included the following items: social and demographic information, diagnosis, feelings and sensations, changes in lifestyle, physiological changes and knowledge. Organicist explanations reproducing the medical speech prevailed. The cease of menstruation results in a psychological relief related to the concern about becoming pregnant and the burden of menstruation. Menopause is associated to the biological death of the organism in relation with age, thus it is conferred a negative and lone nuance. If the information regarding menopause is being transmitted through health care services and community media, then it does not incorporate the cultural elements that gather women's life experience, and therefore, the representation of menopause will warrant its medicalization.
Keywords:
menopause, women, social representations, qualitative approach, Mexico
Pelcastre Villafuerte, B., Ruelas, G., Rojas, J., & Martínez, L. M. (2008). "Everything is dying now"., meanings of menopause among a group of women from Morelos, Mexico. Revista Chilena De Salud Pública, 12(2), p. 73–82. Retrieved from https://revistaei.uchile.cl/index.php/RCSP/article/view/1706
