My relationships have changed because I've changed

Biographical Disruption, Personal Relationships and the Formation of an Early Menopausal Subjectivity

Bibliographic Data

ID2249762
AuthorsKate Johnston‐ataata (0000-0003-4853-651X, Social and Global Studies Centre RMIT University Melbourne VIC Australia, corresponding author), J Flores (0009-0003-0443-4113, corresponding author), Jacinthe Flore (0000-0002-3136-9236, Social and Global Studies Centre RMIT University Melbourne VIC Australia, corresponding author), Renata Kokanović (0000-0002-4308-3403, Social and Global Studies Centre RMIT University Melbourne VIC Australia, corresponding author), Martha Hickey (0000-0002-3941-082X, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology University of Melbourne Melbourne VIC Australia, corresponding author), Helena Teede (0000-0001-7609-577X, Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation Monash University Melbourne VIC Australia, corresponding author), Jacqueline Boyle (0000-0002-3616-1637, Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation Monash University Melbourne VIC Australia, corresponding author), Amanda Vincent (0000-0002-3760-7266, Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation Monash University Melbourne VIC Australia, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume42
Issue7
Pages1516-1531
Publication date2020-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology of Health & Illness (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9889 • E-ISSN: 1467-9566
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-9566.13143
PMID32584443
OpenAlexW3037031055
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited39

Early menopause (EM) or premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) can disrupt gendered and age-related expectations associated with perceived 'normative' biographies for young adult women, with implications for subjectivity and relationships. While previous qualitative research has concentrated on the impacts of EM/POI on biography and sense of self, in this article, we examine the enmeshment of personal relationships with the formation of early menopausal subjectivities. Drawing on research exploring concepts of 'biographical disruption' and personal relationships, and theoretical work on social norms and subject formation, we present findings from a narrative thematic analysis of 25 interviews with women diagnosed with spontaneous or medically induced EM/POI. We identify three main narrative 'types' of subjective and relational experience in response to the 'disruption' of EM/POI: interlude and continuity; disruption and adaptation; and disruption and ambivalence. Women's accounts of their experience of EM/POI indicate that the formation of early menopausal selves is mediated by the extent to which women and those around them identify with gendered norms related to reproduction and age. Consistent with theoretical perspectives that consider the self as relationally produced, we argue that the subjective and relational dimensions of EM/POI are intertwined and must be understood in tandem

Ambivalence · Biography · Developmental psychology · Epistemology · Life course approach · Narrative · Normative · Objectification · Qualitative research · Sociology · Subject (documents · Subjectivity · Thematic analysis · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments · Psychology · Social Psychology