Menopause in different cultures

The nature-culture divide of the Western biomedical and feminist models of the menopausal woman is challenged by the presentation of the results of various anthropological studies of the menopausal transition. Perspectives on women's ageing bodies may differ across cultures. In individual narratives culturally dominant perspectives on women's ageing bodies may be either reproduced or challenged. Variation in the social position of women is but one of the factors to explain inter- and intracultural differences in the symptomatology and experience of the menopause, and the meaning given to this life-cycle transition. Other factors to be considered in the study of the menopause cross-culturally are psychological factors, genetics, the entire reproductive history including pregnancy and lactation, patterns of menstrual fluctuation throughout a life-cycle, level of physical activity diet and physical environment. Based on the knowledge currently available no clear conclusions can be drawn with respect to the causal connections between the different factors relating to intra- and intercultural variations or similarities in response to the menopause, and to the possible linkages between the menopause and illnesses of ageing like osteoporosis and heart disease. It is stressed that in future studies serious attention must be paid to the various methodological problems at stake in the cross-cultural study of the experience and symptomatology of the menopause as a biocultural and political process.