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Studies on life-span psychology suggest that menopause can be seen as both biological and a socio-cultural event. Women's experiences of changes in their bodies and in relationships are deeply influenced by social beliefs, expectations and stereotypes. Besides, the latter factors influence changes occurring in any other period of the life-cycle, giving rise to the concept of social-somatic culture. In this context, different social groups contribute to creating new stereotypes or modifying old ones. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the social representations of menopause in different groups by means of a questionnaire.
347 women aged 15-70 and 194 men Aged 19-70 (including a group of male gynaecologists) were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire involving: information about menopause, changes and expectations during menopause, attitude towards body changes and modification of the partner's relationship.
An old cultural stereotype identifies the loss of fertility with the loss of femininity. This concept appears to be still present in all male groups interviewed, including male gynaecologists. In contrast, for both young and middle-aged women menopause is seen rather as a normal phase of life cycle which does not imply a loss of femininity (and sexuality), but a different way of living it.