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white_hartI've encountered Dr Jen Gunter's forthright, feminist take on gynaecological matters on Twitter before, and recently I heard a podcast interview where she talked about her new book, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health With Facts and Feminism. The feminist slant appealed to me, so when I was thinking about menopause a couple of weeks ago I thought I'd order a copy and see what Dr Gunter had to say.
The Menopause Manifesto is divided into three sections. The first provides a cultural and biological overview of the hormonal shifts which cause menopause and the changes in how it has been understood over the last two hundred years. The second section covers the physical and mental changes associated with menopause, and the third covers treatments for menopause symptoms, both hormonal and non-hormonal. I found the first two sections interesting and informative (I still think I've had a very easy menopause, although apparently I'm one of only 6% of women to experience daily hot flushes, and there were some useful reminders about the importance of exercise); the third was much less relevant to me, though would be useful to anyone who is considering hormone therapy, or generally finding their symptoms difficult to deal with. I liked the general approach of demystifying menopause and trying to get away from the patriarchal view of women's value as being defined by fertility, though I would note that for a book which is clearly trying to be inclusive (the chapter on contraception, for instance, suggests a male partner being a trans man as one reason why contraception wouldn't be needed) there is a surprising lack of acknowledgement that trans men and some non-binary people also experience menopause - throughout, Gunter refers only to women, so this isn't the book to choose if you have a uterus and don't identify as female.
The Menopause Manifesto is divided into three sections. The first provides a cultural and biological overview of the hormonal shifts which cause menopause and the changes in how it has been understood over the last two hundred years. The second section covers the physical and mental changes associated with menopause, and the third covers treatments for menopause symptoms, both hormonal and non-hormonal. I found the first two sections interesting and informative (I still think I've had a very easy menopause, although apparently I'm one of only 6% of women to experience daily hot flushes, and there were some useful reminders about the importance of exercise); the third was much less relevant to me, though would be useful to anyone who is considering hormone therapy, or generally finding their symptoms difficult to deal with. I liked the general approach of demystifying menopause and trying to get away from the patriarchal view of women's value as being defined by fertility, though I would note that for a book which is clearly trying to be inclusive (the chapter on contraception, for instance, suggests a male partner being a trans man as one reason why contraception wouldn't be needed) there is a surprising lack of acknowledgement that trans men and some non-binary people also experience menopause - throughout, Gunter refers only to women, so this isn't the book to choose if you have a uterus and don't identify as female.
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Date: 2021-08-30 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
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