August 17, 2011

The Menopause Industrial Complex

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medicalization, menopause, women's health

Another interesting post by Liz Scherer on her “Flashfree: not your mama’s menopause” blog – this time about:

” a review in the Journal of Aging Studies discussing how the social construct of menopause has shifted to “an increasingly more medicalized perspective that emphasizes the biological deficits of the aging female body.”

Scherer says the review:

“…points to the ‘Menopause Industry:’ a “profit-seeking enterprise comprising pharmaceutical companies and perpetuated by the media intent on “turning 40 million baby boomer women into patients for life by defining menopause as an estrogen deficiency disease requiring significant medical intervention.” While the companies create the drugs, the media (whose increased attention attention to menopause, largely fueled by the wave of 1970s feminism and in part, funded by corporate interests) not only provide women with access to the information and resources that they seek but also contribute to perceptions of personal control among women who do not want to “sit back and let menopause just happen to them.” The result is that the Menopause Industry has not only developed products that these women crave that allows them to win their battle against old-age, but, continues to highlight the need for them.”

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Shannon

August 30, 2011 at 8:38 pm

Just wanted to pop in and give kudos for the phrase “The Menopause Industrial Complex!” Wish I’d have thought that one up because it certainly sums up the truth. Excellent

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