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The Regulation of Gender in Menopause Theory

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Abstract

‘The regulation of gender in menopause theory’ offers a critical commentary on some key theories of menopause experience. It aims to show that the theorisation of menopause keeps to the same epistemic and ideological lines as hegemonic understandings of gender identity. Narratives of menopause (that is: what one says about one’s menopause experience) has become one of the means by which one can learn to cite women’s gender correctly. In reverse, relating menopause experience against the grain of established narratives is becoming the means by which one may resist epistemic bias and dominant ideology of gender. Moreover, I am proposing that while menopause experience is an important aspect of gender identity formation and its resistance, it is also becoming a new area for identity politics in general, and more particularly the site of dissident narratives.

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Notes

  1. Sarah meaning ‘princess’, implying Abraham’s interest as ‘prince’.

  2. The Holy Bible (1875)

  3. See Von Bingen (1990)

  4. See Zuckerman et al. (2013)

  5. See Gambaudo (2012)

  6. See my ‘Julia Kristeva, ‘woman’s primary homosexuality’ and homophobia’.

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Correspondence to Sylvie Gambaudo.

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Gambaudo, S. The Regulation of Gender in Menopause Theory. Topoi 36, 549–559 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-015-9351-2

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