Toothed whales and humans are some of the few species we know of on Earth in which females outlive their fertility. Humans may be the only females on this planet to experience menopause in a patriarchal culture.
If that doesn't blow your mind, I don't know what will...
I was just introduced to a wonderful resource, The Menopause Brain, about aging female bodies. And even this book, which contains a wealth of vital information, acknowledges that the evolutionary drivers behind menopause are still poorly understood.
Really?! Wow. Just wow.
- A naturopathic doctor said she believed this transition in women's bodies facilitated a change in focus, from a narrow exterior gaze to an interior focus paired with a wide exterior gaze.
- That dovetails with the notion that women transition from primarily occupying chronos time to centering ourselves in kairos time as we age.
- My mom observed that the biological imperative seems to shift from birthing others to birthing ourselves.
- Cultural narratives speak of menopause as a threshold women cross into an era where they simply have no more fucks to give. I like to imagine that each egg we loose is one more fuck down the drain until we are ultimately left with none.
- My guess is that our ancient ancestors understood and supported people transitioning through menopause far better than we do now. A shame to have lost that situational wisdom as a species.
No comments:
Post a Comment