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Hrt: how you see yourself HRT: HOW YOU SEE YOURSELF
Women in parts of India who are kept in purdah welcome the arrival of the menopause as an era of new freedom; now they can cast off their veils, mix with men and travel freely. In China, the sixtieth birthday is a momentous event, celebrating the status and wisdom of the old person. After the menopause, Bantu women may take part in activities previously forbidden to them, and women in Bali can join in ceremonies from which they were barred during their childbearing years. From India to Africa, from China to South America, the end of menstruation brings new freedom to women. Middle-aged and elderly women are an active part of the extended family, they help on the land, they feel useful, needed and valued. Ageing is a gain in wisdom, not just the loss of youth; in the same way that many cultures celebrate the start of a girl's menstruation, so its ending is a positive event, too. And in countries where older people have enhanced privilege and status, menopausal symptoms are almost unknown.
How different things are in our 'advanced' societies of the West. Ours is a society that gives status and emphasis to physical prowess, to attractiveness and to youth. Men and women (but especially men) lose status when they are no longer defined by the job they do. Children grow up and move away, and the busy mother/chauffeur/cook/nanny/ supporter of the PTA/and helper at Brownies suddenly finds her role has disappeared. In these societies, where getting older is seen as a definite minus, 80 per cent of women suffer from menopausal symptoms.
You probably remember the days when 'black' was a term of abuse towards people of African and Caribbean origin. Most black people living in white cultures at that time felt themselves to be inferior to whites, accepting their status as second-class citizens. Then black people themselves coined the phrase 'Black is Beautiful', and suddenly their image changed. They felt proud of their black heritage and culture, and of the colour of their skin.
Why shouldn't older people, too, change how they see themselves, and how society sees them? The Gray Panther movement in the United States is a powerful lobby for the rights of retired people, and they certainly don't see themselves as has-beens.
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What your doctor should know; women tell their stories