Mimicking myths of menopause. A critical phenomenological perspective on ageing and femininity in fiction TV shows
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11340902 |
|---|---|
| Authors | M L De Boer (0000-0003-4249-0485, Tilburg University), Marjolein de Boer (Tilburg University, the Netherlands), Annemie Halsema (0000-0002-6778-0537, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Publication date | 2024-02-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophy & Social Criticism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0191-4537 • E-ISSN: 1461-734X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/01914537241232586 |
| OpenAlex | W4391971311 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 29 |
This article offers a critical phenomenological analysis of prevailing myths of menopause. By drawing on Simone de Beauvoir's conceptions of myths that essentialize existence, we have analyzed contemporary TV series in which menopause is portrayed. We identified the following myths of menopause: the myth of the liberated woman, the unnesting (s)mother, the old, ugly, and sexless witch, the mild, wise, and uncarnal woman. We first describe these myths and analyze how they may be interpreted as marginalizing in various and sometimes ambiguous ways. Then, we trace out two distinct ways in which some TV shows expose these myths as essentializing myths, which is important for allowing us to take a distance from them, and thereby to resist them. The first one is in line with what Beauvoir herself suggested as a fruitful dealing with myths: replacing mythical thinking with actual experiences. The second way is conceptualized on the basis of Irigaray’s thinking about mimicking myths. Such dealings with myths of menopause, we argue, may open the road to less marginalizing and more pluriform thinking about menopause
Aesthetics · Ageing · Art · Femininity · Literature · Menopause · Mythology · Perspective (graphical · Sociology · Visual arts · Aging and Gerontology Research · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Medicine · Philosophy · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
Luce Irigaray
Gender, Health, and Healing, 1250–1550
The Feminist Futures of Reading Diffractively
Encounters with Aging
Nomadic subjects
A New Dawn for the Second Sex
On Female Body Experience
Virile Infertile Men, and Other Representations of In/Fertile Hegemonic Masculinity in Fiction Television Series
In/Fertile Monsters
Menopausal rage, erotic power and gaga feminist possibilities
A Feminist Discourse Analysis of Popular-Press Accounts of Postmaternity
Toward a discourse shift in social gerontology
It Happens, But I’m Not There”
A Phenomenology of Excorporation, Bodily Alienation, and Resistance
Je, tu, nous
Simone de Beauvoir and Jean–Paul Sartre
Becoming a wise old woman
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |