Menopause Cultural Differences

Cultural differences play a big part in how a woman will experience the end of menstruation. Every woman will cease to bleed, but how we perceive what is happening to us and the intensity of our symptoms is dependent on our cultural values.Comparative research is difficult as there is no definition for menopause that everyone agrees on. Some cultures do not even have the word menopause in their vocabulary. The definition used by most researchers equates menopause to the cessation of the monthly period. This is a recent medical model definition that emerged in the mid twentieth century and does not fit the perception of this midlife global process. Menopause needs to be viewed across a woman's lifespan; not as a single event detached from the rest of her life. It is much more than something that happens to women physically.
Women who live in a culture that values the wisdom and experience of aging actually celebrate this time of their life as a process with more relevance than the end of monthly bleeding. They see it as a time of freedom, exhilaration, and honor. They become the leaders, wise women, and healers for their community. Community can be your immediate geographical local or the world. How big you play is up to you! This is a transition time to give back to impact future generations.
In cultures where women are valued primarily for their ability to birth children, aging is not celebrated. After your childbearing years, you are viewed as useless, unattractive, and unhappy. If a society does not place value on older women, your wisdom, your life experiences, your power, and your sensuality, menopause takes on a whole different perspective. Because of lack of a broader picture of the entire process, the single focus becomes the end of fertility. Too often we play small, never tap into our potential, and fail to make the differences that we are capable of making. Youth oriented cultures fail to realize that women birth more than babies. After the childbearing years, wise women birth businesses and projects that impact the quality of life for all humanity.
Cultural differences in Japan are characterized by the word konenki which translates into a renewal year of energy. The Japanese women do not look at estrogen depletion, but at hormone balance for the entire body. They only recently created a word for hot flash, and they still have fewer hot flashes than white Americans or Japanese Americans. Japanese women have very few chronic health problems resulting in the longest life expectancy in the world. They view menopause as a gradual transition into their elder years where they are respected for their life wisdom.
Indigenous cultures celebrate older women as spiritual leaders for their communities. Women in these cultures see this as their time to step into their role as priestess or healer who keeps her wise blood inside. Women in Papua New Guinea experience no symptoms as they welcome the end of their childbearing years similar to many Native Americans and sub continental Indians. In northern Sudan, menopause welcomes increased social power and respect.
Cultural Differences at a Glance:
Menopause as Problematic:
25% of African American women see it as problematic50% of Caucasian women see menopause as problematic
Hot Flashes:
80% of American women have hot flashesAfrican American women have more hot flashes than CaucasiansJapanese women have fewer hot flashesJapanese women have more cold flashes than hot flashesMayan women in the Yucatan peninsula have no hot flashes
Mood Swings:
African American, Japanese American, Chinese American have lower odds for mood symptomsNon-Hispanic Caucasians are at higher odds for experiencing sadness and irritability
Sex:
Non-Hispanic White women, Chinese and Japanese American women are more apt to say that sex is not that importantAfrican American women report sex as an important part of their life
Every woman will stop bleeding at midlife. Cultural differences show us that how we perceive this experience is how we will experience it. Our attitude creates our reality. The societies that celebrate older women, move them into authority roles, and seek them out as spiritual leaders have fewer symptoms or even no symptoms compared to societies that negate aging. Viewing these cultural differences opens our eyes to contemplate the possibilities open to us as women and a society. The menopause journey is impacted by societal beliefs. The most important factor though is how each of us chooses to view our rebirth as wise women and how we each chose to live the second half of our life.
Suzy Manning asks..Do you need to press the pause button on life? Sizzzl celebrates women finding life balance, embracing their magnificence, and living with passion & purpose. Let's Hit the Pause Button Together! Become Sizzzlicious! Free guide http://sizzzl.com/

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