Womanhood in Menopause by Jane McCourt
Shhh… Menopause Wellness has been formed to help women transition through the menopause period with a voice, with tools to help them understand what’s going on, with products to assist in alleviating symptoms of anxiety and lack of sleep. To connect like-minded women for open discussion around the topics which are not often aired through fear, misunderstanding, embarrassment, or because of a societal view that these issues must be dealt with on a private personal level, not for the office, or life outside the home. Shhh… “A group of women from all walks of life, united through the diversity of female experience, to form a vibrant team of sisterhood. It is OK for women to take time out to look after themselves”. Shhh… “is going back to nature, working with ingredients and essential oils that have been used for centuries”. Come and join us, be part of our community, air your views and concerns and above all share the wisdom that comes from experience.
The story of a woman’s role in life has been written about for millennia. In different cultures woman is revered in different ways – as women we are the givers of life, fundamental to the survival of the human race, known also as sages, healers in our later years. We can be referenced as Earth Mothers “the earth conceived as the female principle of fertility and the source of all life, a female spirit or deity serving as a symbol of life or fertility, a sensuous, maternal woman” (source www.dictionary.com).
Yet as we go through menopause, many of us feel that we have lost our way, we no longer seem to know ourselves, our value in society seems to disappear overnight, we are seen as the “grey” people with no valuable contribution, invisible to the advertising and fashion industry. This doesn’t have to be so, we can transition through this period with vibrancy, find our new way forward – laugh with each other and share our stories. “In a famously provocative cornerstone of feminist literature, Susan Griffin explores the identification of women with the earth – both as sustenance for humanity and as victim of male rage. Starting from Plato’s fateful division of the world into spirit and matter, her analysis of how patriarchal Western philosophy and religion have used language and science to bolster their power over both women and nature is brilliant and persuasive, coming alive in poetic prose” (source www.goodreads.com Woman and Nature, The Roaring Inside Her by Susan Griffin).
There are so many angles to view the opinions held about women!!
Statues of fecund women have been reported back as far as 23,000-25,000 years ago and are known as the “Venus Figurines”. These are the oldest known representations of the human female form and are dated back to the upper Paleolithic period. However, most recently a figurine, thought to be 35,000 years old has been recovered from the Hohle Fels Cave in Germany. The full article about this can be read at:
Venus Figurines of the European Paleolithic: Symbols of Fertility or Attractiveness? (hindawi.com)
Women are known as the home makers, at the centre of kinship and family, the creators of sustenance and the nurturer of the family. They are very powerful leaders and contributors to the overall status quo of a culture. Women often use a variety of routes to exercise authority, and it is common to find many women’s groups where women gather to share information and put in processes whereby the community as a whole benefits. Women are often spiritual healers and advisers.
It is said that there are 4 stages of womanhood, teen, maiden, mother and elder or crone. Each phase brings with it a different set of hormonal activity, role, emotional status, and perception of the female in society. In the Finnish Mythology of the Kalevala, they talk about the 7 stages of womanhood, maiden, wife, mother, crone, sage, warrior, and healer. I think that many of us can identify with these 7 phases and certainly know people within each stage.
www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-33-01-02-113.pdf
In Conclusion.
The whole subject of menopause is gaining traction in mainstream media, at government level and in the corporate world – there is a greater understanding emerging as to the life altering symptoms that menopause causes, and a positivity that women are finally being heard – there is no need for the archaic treatment of menopausal women, it is merely a natural biological process, a transition, a process which all women go through.
Davina McCall has done much to help the cause in her Channel 4 programme entitled Davina McCall: Sex, Myths, and the Menopause.
Jo Whiley has talked openly in an interview with The Times, Entertainment & Arts in November 2021, about how she was struggling with menopause symptoms at the same time her Radio 2 show with Simon Mayo was being criticized. She says “I’ll be doing fine then it hits me: low self-esteem, low confidence. I don’t feel like myself at all. It’s quite daunting. It happens every couple of months. I don’t want to see anyone. My eyes are really sore. I get a burning mouth and tongue. I really get the wobbles”.
In an article by Helen Catt, Political Correspondent in The Times, she talks with Adelle Martin who runs a pub in Rochester in Kent about her journey through menopause. Adelle is quoted as saying “The menopause made me feel I was disappearing inside myself”.
Shhh… Menopausal Wellness are here as a sounding board and here to help everyone along the way. Our menopausal product range formulated with natural pure essential oils with the addition of magnesium are here to help.
Reduce feelings of anxiety with our Allay Anxiety Magnesium Mist, or diffuser blend. Sleep more soundly with our Sleep Sound Magnesium H20, or diffuser blend. Relax in bath salts smelling deliciously of essential oils, add a drop or two of bath oil.
