This is a first of a two-part series about reflections on women’s health and medicalization of women’s bodies.
This reflection is based on my work with women over the past 7 years, connecting in circles, supporting women 1:1, and my master’s thesis research on experiences of decision-making during pregnancy and birth. I’ve heard so many stories of women and their relationship with their body and their menstrual cycle. And while their stories reflect a sense of loss, pain and disconnection from their body, there is a deeper knowing that these perceptions and beliefs are no longer serving them and that there are other ways to come in contact with their body and approach women’s health.
This is also my own reflection of the paradox of living in a society that emphasizes production and growth, while being a cyclical being, experiencing cycles of work, rest and regeneration. The contradictions brought by social constructions, patriarchy, capitalism and the ideology of technology, that emphasize the idea that our bodies are faulty machines that can be dismantled, and their parts isolated to be fixed or replaced.
Here, is a summary of my experience of women’s perceptions and the medicalization aspects connected to women’s different vital life cycles:
MENARCHY- The Inner Spring-The Warrior Archetype
- perceiving menstruation as a curse
- lack of self-worth
- depression, loss of purpose, feeling lost and disconnected
- too much or too little bleeding
- too short of too long cycles (symptomas of hormonal imbalances)
- focus on hormonal contraception and lack of knowledge of our own bodies
- medicalization of PMS symptoms, usually with birth control and without addressing the root causes
- not honoring puberty/menarchy as rite of passage
MOTHERHOOD-The Inner Summer- The Mother Archetype
- perceiving fertility as a threat and responsibility put solely on the woman
- pressure to be a mother
- criticism for not wanting of be a mother
- lack of support for mothers
- experiencing fertility issues (not able to get pregnant)
- miscarriage
- abortion
- over-medicalization of birth (epidural, inductions, cesarean)
- high numbers of unnecessary cesareans
- post-partum depression
- not honoring motherhood as rite of passage
MENOPAUSE- The Inner Autumn- The Priestess Archetype
- Percieving a sense of lossing one’s value as a woman tied to the loss of fertility
- Sense of loss, lack of self-worth
- Not valuing the wisdom of transformation
- High numbers of unnecessary hysterectomies
- Uterus not needed, seen only in regards to fertility
- Not honoring menopause as a rite of passage
CRONEHOOD-ELDERHOOD-The Inner Winter-The Crone Archetype
- Loneliness
- Medicalization of grief and undermining of our capacity to honor loss
- Not taking care of our elders with respect
- Fear of death
- Disconnection from the cycles of life-death-rebirth
I would love to hear your own reflection, how these have showed up in your life and how you reached out for support.
Photo Credit: Margarida Paiva
Read part two here.
