PERCEPTIONS OF MENOPAUSE IN NORTHEAST THAILAND - CONTESTED MEANING AND PRACTICE

This paper draws on data collected from village-based ethnographic res earch conducted in northeast Thailand in 1990-1991 and highlights the polarities and contradictions of perceptions of menopause that exist b etween village women and health personnel with whom these women intera ct. For village women until recently, the menopause has been regarded as a simple and natural biological event; for health professionals, it is consistently represented as a 'medical problem' indicating treatme nt. The paper highlights women's construction of menopause, and their recognition and management of its physical symptoms. It draws attentio n too to differences among women and to the dynamic nature of their un derstandings and consequent health-seeking behaviour. The paper also d escribes the way in which health providers, through their own training and reading of professional and popular journals, increasingly repres ent the menopause as a pathological process and treatable condition. T hrough the exploration of conflicting perceptions of the menopause amo ng contemporary Thai women, the paper draws attention to the heterogen eity and fluidity in understandings of biological processes that are r elated to and reflect the wider social and economic changes to which t hey are subject.