Menopause

[Gray Rose]

I am writing a new story about a woman giving birth in her early forties.

My world has about 16-17th century level of technology, and the magic has quite a "technological" feel to it. The people's knowledge of physiology is very advanced due to the nature of the magic. The particular country I am writing about feels somewhat medieval.

My heroine can give birth that late because people with magic (usually nobles) are able to heal and maintain their bodies very well, and have a longer lifespan than people without magic (usually plebes). They also have birth control, but only if they have the magic (so about 10% of the population - including my MC).

A male insults my MC, attributing her mood swings to menopause. They know what menopause is, and they know that after menopause women cannot give birth.

I feel unsure about using the word "menopause." Do you think I should go ahead and use it, or will it feel anachronistic somehow? Should I use some kind of metaphor for it, like "hot waves"? I want my readers to be very clear on what is being implied. I cannot sweep this under the carpet (I am going to talk about birth control too, but that is going to be relatively easy).

Thank you for your advice.

[seniorjudge]

Try "blood-ending" or "cycle-ending" or "the quiet phase" or something along those lines.

It depends on what type of atmosphere you are trying to make.

[IdiotsRUs]

Well they wouldn't use the word menopause unles they had greeks to give them the word ;)

Hot Waves, the Change, the Flush, something like that would be perfectly clear, as long as the context made it so.

[czjaba]

I agree with IdiotsRUs about 'the Change.' I just think that if I were reading a story set in the 16 - 17th century and came across the word 'menopause,' I would stop and think 'huh?'

[Karen Duvall]

Better make your character more like fifty, then. Because that's usually when menopause starts. I have several friends in their forties who are having first babies and they're nowhere near menopause yet. Just an f.y.i.

[Appalachian Writer]

I also vote for the change. Even in our technological, wondrous medical, modern times, there are still people who refer to menopause as the "change of life."

[IdiotsRUs]

Better make your character more like fifty, then. Because that's usually when menopause starts. I have several friends in their forties who are having first babies and they're nowhere near menopause yet. Just an f.y.i.

Nuts, I'm an anomaly!

Not yet forty, and getting pre menopausal ( my mum was 42 when she started, I was 15. That was not a good year.)

[Karen Duvall]

Nuts, I'm an anomaly!

Not yet forty, and getting pre menopausal ( my mum was 42 when she started, I was 15. That was not a good year.)

Ah! You poor girl. :( How awful for you. A friend of mine had to start taking hormones when she was 35 because her symptoms were so bad. But it is unusual for menopause to start much earlier than 50. The average is between 48 and 52.

[Gray Rose]

Awesome answers, everyone. Thank you so much!

I agree with IdiotsRUs about 'the Change.' I just think that if I were reading a story set in the 16 - 17th century and came across the word 'menopause,' I would stop and think 'huh?'

It is not set in 16-17 century. It is set in a fully developed secondary world. But certainly they did not have Greeks, so I'd rather use some other word. "The Flush," I think, will work well.

The heroine is not yet menopausal. She is 41, and indeed is going to have a baby. But she is being insulted by a young male and that is what he says.

If only 10% of the population has access to healthcare (i.e. magic), then menopause will start early for 90% of the population, and thus the insult will really sting. I think.

cheers,
Rose

[Plot Device]

I like "the change." And yet I'd also like to suggest he get all flowery with his insult in a Shakespearean way:

"Perhaps the flower of youth has withered, and its seeds have long since perished."

"Your flights of passion suggest that passion itself shall soon depart from your abilities."

[Saanen]

I hear people call it "the change" or "the change of life" at least as often as I hear the word menopause. I think I'd be confused if I came across "the flush" unless it was absolutely clear in context.

Also, I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure the age at which a woman enters menopause has more to do with genetics than with physical health. And lack of modern/magical health care doesn't mean everyone becomes decrepit the moment they hit 40.

[Gray Rose]

I hear people call it "the change" or "the change of life" at least as often as I hear the word menopause. I think I'd be confused if I came across "the flush" unless it was absolutely clear in context.

Also, I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure the age at which a woman enters menopause has more to do with genetics than with physical health. And lack of modern/magical health care doesn't mean everyone becomes decrepit the moment they hit 40.

I've never heard "the change," but it is good to know. I am not a native speaker.

Let me reiterate again, this is not a fact, it is an insult. I think it is not a stretch that a man in his twenties would insult a woman in her forties by dismissing her rage for a menopausal mood swing. Please tell me if it is wrong, and if so, why.

My society is very layered, and indeed I am not implying that everyone becomes decrepit by 40.

[Saanen]

You might actually consider if your 20-year-old male would even know enough about menopause to use it as an insult. How coy is your society when it comes to reproduction, and how widespread is knowledge about reproduction? It's one thing to know that older women can't have babies and another to understand that menopause comes with a variety of hormonal fluctuations that can cause irritability and mood swings. Unless you've got a specific reason for the insult to be about menopause, you might just make it a more general age-related insult (something like "old people are so crabby" or the like).

Anyway, it's an interesting point. I've never thought about menopause in a fantasy setting before.

[Gray Rose]

You might actually consider if your 20-year-old male would even know enough about menopause to use it as an insult. How coy is your society when it comes to reproduction, and how widespread is knowledge about reproduction? It's one thing to know that older women can't have babies and another to understand that menopause comes with a variety of hormonal fluctuations that can cause irritability and mood swings. Unless you've got a specific reason for the insult to be about menopause, you might just make it a more general age-related insult (something like "old people are so crabby" or the like).

Anyway, it's an interesting point. I've never thought about menopause in a fantasy setting before.

As I said, the nobles' knowledge of physiology and life-cycles is very good, due to the nature of the magic. The nobility has birth control and very open sexual morals. Spouses of both sexes can and do keep lovers. Such behavior is not considered infidelity as long as they have children within the marriage and do not engage in bestiality (i.e. have a relationship with a person of different race). The morals of course are different for magic-less plebes.

The woman in question had been heavily pressured for years to settle down and give birth, which she had resisted, so yes, her reproductive patterns had very much been the topic of discussion in the family for years. The young man in question is her nephew and liege-lord.

No, I cannot swap this insult for any other. You are right in saying these issues are not often found in fantasy, and this is the story where they will be explored.

[Mel]

My "change of life" started in my late 30's. Knew what menopause was, just called it the other. My mom began hers in her 30's but both my sisters had hysterectomies.

I guess I'd say use what fits for your story. If everything is set in place in the background and history of your world then it shouldn't be a problem.

[Matera the Mad]

Some term meaning change, a gateway with no turning back

And yes, it can begin almost anywhen, and it does not get over with quickly! I had my last period eight years ago and I still flash and sometimes have a monthly-like headache. Some changes started in my mid-to-late forties.

[crrazyjane]

I'd say it depends on the syle of your dialogue - are you using an archaic style, tryng to mimic the texture of 16th or 17th century English? Or do your characters generally speak in pretty modern terms - more of a "translated" way of writing their words? But "the change", like some of the other posters have suggested, covers both bases - it's got a traditional, potentially archaic sort of sound, or at least wouldn't feel out of place in archaic language, but it's also still very much in modern use. When I was living over in Ireland I remember people talking (usually in a pretty lighthearted or joking sort of way) about older women going through "the change".

And funny enough - sometimes it actually sets in with women as early as their twenties. A good friend of mine is currently on medication because she's started going through menopause, and she's 24.

It's probably something they're putting in the water. ;)

[maxmordon]

From a Spanish book of the Golden Century: The Monthly [Red-Violet] Stain

[Shweta]

Could he say she's becoming a crone, GrayRose? Because as I understand it that's what the term meant, a post-menopausal woman.

ETA: I like "The Change" too, though I wonder if readers might think he meant "pregnancy". I'm just throwing out an additional thought.

[giusti]

*jumps in to figure out what thread titled "menopause" is doing in the SF/F section*

You may find it crude of me, but I actually do find myself leaning towards something like "blood-ending" or "cycle-ending" as was suggested way up there.

That said, I really liked Device's more poetic method. If you're going to have a character make a veiled insult, it helps if it's very thinly veiled.

-giusti

[Nightfall]

I wonder how much a twenty year old guy would actually know about a woman's biological life cycle and especially menopause. I'd think that his knowledge would be confined to what has 'inconvenienced' him personally like he can't/doesn't like to have sex with a girl on her period or that women on their periods can be moody.

Menopause wasn't really on the radar of most of the twenty year old guys I've known so I'd think he might be more likely to insult her by saying something about her being moody because she's on her period rather than being menopausal (which, I hope, will get him punched in the nose after he says it).

Either that or he insults her for being a crabby old woman (see punch in the nose comment above). ;-)

[giusti]

idk, why wouldn't a twenty-year-old guy know about menopause? I know plenty of twenty-year-olds (approx.) and they all seem pretty informed.

-giusti

[Robert Toy]

I wonder how much a twenty year old guy would actually know about a woman's biological life cycle and especially menopause. I'd think that his knowledge would be confined to what has 'inconvenienced' him personally like he can't/doesn't like to have sex with a girl on her period or that women on their periods can be moody.

Menopause wasn't really on the radar of most of the twenty year old guys I've known so I'd think he might be more likely to insult her by saying something about her being moody because she's on her period rather than being menopausal (which, I hope, will get him punched in the nose after he says it).

Either that or he insults her for being a crabby old woman (see punch in the nose comment above). ;-)
Interesting, you ask about "...how many twenty year old guys..." In my experience very few woman fully understand menopause, the sudden and sometimes frequent hot flashes seem to take most women by surprise. My wife went through this many years back, any "mood swings" (fortunately very few) were due to pure discomfort that her internal thermostat was broken...;)

[The_Grand_Duchess]

I was going to suggest 'change of life'. That is actually what my grandma calls it so it has a sorta ancient feel to me.