Menopause Narratives: The Interplay of Women’s Embodied Experiences With Biomedical Discourses

Abstract

Conventional approaches to menopause tend to contrast the biomedical position on menopause with women’s actual experiences of it. Rather than focusing primarily on the tensions between these perspectives (biomedical vs. lay), our emphasis here is on the impact of biomedicine in shaping participants’ perceptions of their status as menopausal. Based on interview data gathered from 39 women in Ireland, we argue that the cultural authority of biomedicine shaped participants’ experiences of the body and how they constituted their health identity. We assert that, ironically, this was particularly the case among those who most strongly contested biomedical definitions of their situation. In addition, biomedical practitioners’ definitions had a strong normalizing power in how the body was experienced. We conclude by noting that our analysis problematizes the notion of privileging “women’s experiences” as advocated by some feminist perspectives. The heavy influence of biomedical discourses in shaping participants’ embodied experiences demonstrates the pervasive impact of prevailing discourses on women’s experiences.

Falling Out: Authoritative Knowledge and Women's Experiences with Pelvic Organ Prolapse

“…In this investigation, we have confirmed that biomedical knowledge is considered authoritative over women's experiential knowledge. Other investigations have raised concerns regarding how biomedical discourses about specific health conditions have become so infused into the lay community that a woman's experience or self‐concept of her condition is devalued and even ignored 21 . This infusion of biomedical knowledge and its unquestioned adoption by the lay community is supported by the women in our study.…”

“…Other investigations have raised concerns regarding how biomedical discourses about specific health conditions have become so infused into the lay community that a woman's experience or self-concept of her condition is devalued and even ignored. 21 This infusion of biomedical knowledge and its unquestioned adoption by the lay community is supported by the women in our study. Although Jordan believes that it is possible to have "equally legitimate, parallel knowledge systems .…”

Lifestyle risk management – a qualitative analysis of women’s descriptions of taking hormone therapy following surgically induced menopause

“…The smaller theme of relying on my body to get me through was heavily influenced by a general reluctance to take medication and a desire to be 'natural'. It reflects the 'natural discourse' used by women experiencing menopause and also identified in other studies (Hvas & Gannick 2008, Hyde et al 2010.…”

Passing Through

“…This before/after logic, present in many narratives of survivorship (Mathews, 2009), does not allow for the multiple identities women experience as they move through the diagnosis, treatment, and posttreatment processes. Such movement involves shifts in subjectivity as women learn the languages of the clinic, experience the world of cancer services, are offered resources for “survivors,” and undergo bodily transformations in response to treatment (Adams, 2010; Hyde, Nee, Howlett, Drennan, & Butler, 2010). The notion of lampasan allows for the interconnectedness of all hardships these women had experienced, including cancer, into the concept of survivorship.…”