HLTC02H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Medicalization, Neurosis, Physical Attractiveness
Document Summary
Menopause, local biologies and cultures of aging by margaret lock & patricia kaufert. The end of menstruation is a complex biosocial and bicultural process but clinical researchers and physicians believe it is an almost universal process. Variations are thought to be caused by psychological, social and cultural differences that are layered over an invariant biological base. Dominant view sees menopause as a pathological condition that is seeing this biological process become increasingly medicalized consistent with the current over medicalization of female bodies throughout the life course. Paper looks at varying differences in symptoms and experience of menopause in north. This paper hopes to describe the discomfort in menopause in north american societies is not universal. Menopause is not a fact, it is a cultural construct shaped by social roles, norms and experiences. It is not a singular event but rather a prolonged process and the current medical definition of menopause as a women"s last menses doesn"t fit.
