Not Your Mama’s Menopause, Part 2

In part one I wrote you about some of the unique challenges we face as women navigating peri/menopause here and now in the 21st century. We covered the perfect storm of young children, aging parents and peri/menopause that is now commonplace.

In part two we will be looking at how we women find our value in the world as traditional roles shift and our economic freedoms increase.

Like it or not, the mirrors of culture reflect our value back to us. I understand this, but I don’t like it. As I look in those mirrors, there isn’t a role that I am satisfied with.

Many of us, married or otherwise, have chosen not to have kids or to have kids on our own,  and/or are economically independent, with our own businesses or careers. As we enter into peri/menopause, we have an unprecedented freedom and mobility—and a good 50 years ahead of us to pursue it.

We find ourselves on  more equal footing with the opposite sex – without children or grandchildren on the horizon, and with our own source of income, there is no economic need to be supported and protected.

As a result, the traditional roles of mother and wife are being questioned and reinterpreted. Our education, work, and careers are beginning to take priority.

We may also feel, as our bodies change and gravity begins to take effect, that our sexual power is changing, if not diminishing. Also, like it or not, much of our value as younger women is placed on our sexuality.

All of these realities come together as we transition from our reproductive to post-reproductive years. Without the traditional roles of mother, grandmother, wife, sex object, we are confronted with the need to redefine ourselves and our value as human beings.

The most important part of this equation, is not how the world defines us or sees us. The most important part is how we see ourselves. As 40, 50, or 60 somethings in the 21st century, the world is our oyster. We get to redefine what it means to a woman in world, at this time, at this stage in our lives.

 Go here to read part three of this thread!