First of all, I want to say that I rarely respond to comments online because often it seems that one's response implies there is a 'right' or 'wrong' point of view on any issue.
In my opinion, it is infrequent when one opinion can logically be deemed either right or wrong. Like you Anna, I, too, hold a Masters degree and am a feminist, as are my three adult children, but I am very much aware of how my credentials and life achievements fall flat when I am attempting to address the concerns of menopause. I am not, I have discovered after living for 56 years, an expert on anything. I do, however, use my social and experiential learning to help inform about the discourse surrounding women's issues and issues of living in genral.
To a certain extent, I agree with the comments you make and those of the author of Our Bodies, Ourselves, and I respect you for raising those opinions. However, the arguments against medical interventions for dealing with menopausal concerns sound somewhat like the old adage: "Which came first...?"
While menopause is a natural biological phenomenon that women must experience, if they are lucky enough to live to a certain age, it does not follow that menopause is therefore always a joyful or healthy experience. Women's concerns during menopause are real. Vaginal atrophy, painful intercourse, lack of libido, anorgasmia, mood swings that take women from elation to rage, bone loss and fractures, hair loss, insomnia and hot flashes (the list goes on) are not pleasant, and they are often real physical disabilities for women. Is it not these complaints lodged by women themselves that has spurred the pharmaceutical industry to attempt to address these concerns?
Yes, corporations and industries seek to make financial profits in a variety of ways and attempt to position women to think of menopause as a medical problem. I do not think though that every medical researcher is simply 'out for the money'. Some do want to help alleviate women's suffering.
Women today are living longer than those of past generations. Is it 'wrong' to want to live out one's life free of physical and mental anguish, to continue to enjoy their sexuality and intimate relations? For me, there is no viable substitution for my loss of libido and sexual enjoyment. Although I am involved in myriad other activities, they cannot replace what has been taken from me naturally. I want to live out what short time I have on this earth savouring every minute and fully enjoying all aspects of being human. I suspect other women feel as I do.
So what course of action is open to menopausal and post-menopausal women who may feel as I do? Medical intervention by means of hormone replacement drugs, herbal remedies? To my mind, it is whatever works. While I resent being positioned to think that menopause is an illness, and bristle when I consider the pharmaceutical industry viewing me as a possible source for profit, I am glad that my concerns as a woman are at least being discussed and researched.
The conversation about these real concerns needs to continue. For too long women's complaints have been cast aside, cruelly labelled as whining. Just because something is natural biologically, no woman's real concerns should be ignored. New knowledge needs to be created, and likely will be if the conversation continues.
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First of all, I want to say that I rarely respond to comments online because often it seems that one's response implies there is a 'right' or 'wrong' point of view on any issue.
In my opinion, it is infrequent when one opinion can logically be deemed either right or wrong. Like you Anna, I, too, hold a Masters degree and am a feminist, as are my three adult children, but I am very much aware of how my credentials and life achievements fall flat when I am attempting to address the concerns of menopause. I am not, I have discovered after living for 56 years, an expert on anything. I do, however, use my social and experiential learning to help inform about the discourse surrounding women's issues and issues of living in genral.
To a certain extent, I agree with the comments you make and those of the author of Our Bodies, Ourselves, and I respect you for raising those opinions. However, the arguments against medical interventions for dealing with menopausal concerns sound somewhat like the old adage: "Which came first...?"
While menopause is a natural biological phenomenon that women must experience, if they are lucky enough to live to a certain age, it does not follow that menopause is therefore always a joyful or healthy experience. Women's concerns during menopause are real. Vaginal atrophy, painful intercourse, lack of libido, anorgasmia, mood swings that take women from elation to rage, bone loss and fractures, hair loss, insomnia and hot flashes (the list goes on) are not pleasant, and they are often real physical disabilities for women. Is it not these complaints lodged by women themselves that has spurred the pharmaceutical industry to attempt to address these concerns?
Yes, corporations and industries seek to make financial profits in a variety of ways and attempt to position women to think of menopause as a medical problem. I do not think though that every medical researcher is simply 'out for the money'. Some do want to help alleviate women's suffering.
Women today are living longer than those of past generations. Is it 'wrong' to want to live out one's life free of physical and mental anguish, to continue to enjoy their sexuality and intimate relations? For me, there is no viable substitution for my loss of libido and sexual enjoyment. Although I am involved in myriad other activities, they cannot replace what has been taken from me naturally. I want to live out what short time I have on this earth savouring every minute and fully enjoying all aspects of being human. I suspect other women feel as I do.
So what course of action is open to menopausal and post-menopausal women who may feel as I do? Medical intervention by means of hormone replacement drugs, herbal remedies? To my mind, it is whatever works. While I resent being positioned to think that menopause is an illness, and bristle when I consider the pharmaceutical industry viewing me as a possible source for profit, I am glad that my concerns as a woman are at least being discussed and researched.
The conversation about these real concerns needs to continue. For too long women's complaints have been cast aside, cruelly labelled as whining. Just because something is natural biologically, no woman's real concerns should be ignored. New knowledge needs to be created, and likely will be if the conversation continues.
Michele
May 16, 2010 - 7:28amThis Comment
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