IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v75y2012i2p401-409.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Class, gender and culture in the experience of menopause. A comparative survey in Tunisia and France

Author

Listed:
  • Delanoë, Daniel
  • Hajri, Selma
  • Bachelot, Annie
  • Mahfoudh Draoui, Dorra
  • Hassoun, Danielle
  • Marsicano, Elise
  • Ringa, Virginie

Abstract

The experience of menopause can vary strongly from one society to another: frequency of hot flushes, other somatic and psychological symptoms, and changes in family and social relations. Several studies have shown that country of residence, country of birth, ethnicity, and social class all play roles in these variations. But few comparative anthropological studies have analysed the social processes that construct the experience of menopause or considered menopausal women's social and financial autonomy. To study the impact of the social status accorded to menopausal women and their social resources, during 2007 and 2008 we conducted a series of 75 in-depth interviews with women in different sociocultural settings: Tunisian women in Tunisia, Tunisian women in France, and French women in France, all aged from 45 to 70 years. Our methodological approach to the data included content analysis, typology development and socio-demographic analysis. Quite substantial differences appeared, as a function of social class and cultural environment. We identified three principal experiences of menopause. Tunisian working class women, in Tunisia and France, experience menopause with intense symptoms and strong feelings of social degradation. Among Tunisian middle-class women in both countries, menopause was most often accompanied by a severe decline in aesthetic and social value but few symptoms. For most of the French women, menopause involved few symptoms and little change in their social value. The distribution of types of experiences according to social but not geographic or national factors indicates that, in the populations studied here, the differences in symptoms are not biologically determined. Different experiences of menopause are linked to social class and to the degree of male domination. A given level of independence and emancipation allows women an identity beyond their reproductive function and a status unimpaired by menopause.

Suggested Citation

  • Delanoë, Daniel & Hajri, Selma & Bachelot, Annie & Mahfoudh Draoui, Dorra & Hassoun, Danielle & Marsicano, Elise & Ringa, Virginie, 2012. "Class, gender and culture in the experience of menopause. A comparative survey in Tunisia and France," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 401-409.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:2:p:401-409
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.02.051
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953612002730
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.02.051?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Avis, Nancy E. & Stellato, Rebecca & Crawford, Sybil & Bromberger, Joyce & Ganz, Patricia & Cain, Virginia & Kagawa-Singer, Marjorie, 2001. "Is there a menopausal syndrome? Menopausal status and symptoms across racial/ethnic groups," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 345-356, February.
    2. Veerle Miranda, 2011. "Cooking, Caring and Volunteering: Unpaid Work Around the World," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 116, OECD Publishing.
    3. Michel, Joanna L. & Mahady, Gail B. & Veliz, Mario & Soejarto, Doel D. & Caceres, Armando, 2006. "Symptoms, attitudes and treatment choices surrounding menopause among the Q'eqchi Maya of Livingston, Guatemala," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 732-742, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:ibn:ijpsnl:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:45 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Carol Atkinson & Fiona Carmichael & Jo Duberley, 2021. "The Menopause Taboo at Work: Examining Women’s Embodied Experiences of Menopause in the UK Police Service," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(4), pages 657-676, August.
    3. Clare Butler, 2020. "Managing the Menopause through ‘Abjection Work’: When Boobs Can Become Embarrassingly Useful, Again," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(4), pages 696-712, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bernhard Hammer & Alexia Prskawetz & Inga Freund, 2013. "Reallocation of Resources Across Age in a Comparative European Setting. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 13," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46865, January.
    2. Olivier Thévenon & Angela Luci, 2012. "Reconciling Work, Family and Child Outcomes: What Implications for Family Support Policies?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(6), pages 855-882, December.
    3. Aresu, Simone & Monfardini, Patrizio, 2023. "Oppressed by consumerism: The emancipatory role of household accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    4. Kar-Fai Gee, 2015. "Development of Estimates for Household Production of Non-Market Services in OECD Countries for the Index of Economic Well-Being," CSLS Research Reports 2015-09, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    5. Kelin, Ema & Istenič, Tanja & Sambt, Jože, 2023. "The role of educational attainment in production and transfers in the form of unpaid household work," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    6. Naidu, Sirisha C., 2011. "Rural Livelihoods, Forest Access and Time Use: A Study of Forest Communities in Northwest India," MPRA Paper 31060, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Elżbieta Grochans & Małgorzata Szkup & Artur Kotwas & Jacek Kopeć & Beata Karakiewicz & Anna Jurczak, 2018. "Analysis of Sociodemographic, Psychological, and Genetic Factors Contributing to Depressive symptoms in Pre-, Peri- and Postmenopausal Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, April.
    8. Rianne Mahon, 2013. "Social Investment According to the OECD/DELSA: A Discourse in the Making," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 4(2), pages 150-159, May.
    9. Aleksandra Ciesielska & Aida Kusiak & Agata Ossowska & Magdalena Emilia Grzybowska, 2021. "Changes in the Oral Cavity in Menopausal Women—A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, December.
    10. Gabriela Flores & Clémence Kieny & Jürgen Maurer, 2022. "Deconstructing Gender Differences in Experienced Well-Being Among Older Adults in the Developing World: The Roles of Time Use and Activity-Specific Affective Experiences," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 757-790, April.
    11. Sara Viotti & Gloria Guidetti & Ilaria Sottimano & Lucia Travierso & Mara Martini & Daniela Converso, 2021. "Do Menopausal Symptoms Affect the Relationship between Job Demands, Work Ability, and Exhaustion? Testing a Moderated Mediation Model in a Sample of Italian Administrative Employees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-14, September.
    12. Ximena Del Carpio & Ha Nguyen & Laura Pabon & Liang Wang, 2015. "Do minimum wages affect employment? Evidence from the manufacturing sector in Indonesia," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-30, December.
    13. Bridgman, Benjamin, 2022. "Is Productivity On Vacation? The Impact Of The Digital Economy On The Value Of Leisure," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 127-148, January.
    14. Uchida, Hirotsugu & Roheim, Cathy A. & Wakamatsu, Hiroki & Anderson, Christopher M., 2014. "Do Japanese consumers care about sustainable fisheries? Evidence from an auction of ecolabelled seafood," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 58(2), April.
    15. Gupta, Pallavi & Kothe, Satyanarayan, 2024. "Gender discrimination and the biased Indian labour market: Evidence from the National Sample Survey," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    16. Mann, Stefan & Wüstemann, Henry, 2012. "The fading scope of labour – remarks about the lost rationale of a common term," MPRA Paper 39401, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Barbara Cavalletti & Matteo Corsi, 2018. "“Beyond GDP” Effects on National Subjective Well-Being of OECD Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 931-966, April.
    18. Thoresen, Thor O. & Vattø, Trine E., 2019. "An up-to-date joint labor supply and child care choice model," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 51-73.
    19. Adema, Willem, 2012. "Setting the scene: The mix of family policy objectives and packages across the OECD," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 487-498.
    20. Roshna Thapa & Youngran Yang, 2022. "Attitude Toward and Associating Factors of Menopause: A Study on Cambodian Women," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:2:p:401-409. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.