To share this gem about the menopause with you all!

[PyongyangKipperbang]

Taken from a book I found today in a charity shop. So much to say that its hard to know where to start!

The Radio Doctor's Dictionary of Health by Charles Hill, published in 1952.

There may or many not be seven stages of man. There are certainly three phases in the life of a woman. The first is the phase of childhood which passes with the physical and mental changes occurring at puberty into the second or middle phase of womanhood.
The third phase begins, usually between the ages of forty and forty-five, with the so-called menopause or change of life. Puberty, which may begin at the age of twelve or thirteen, come on with amazing quickness. The menopause on the other hand, develops slowly and deliberately. It marks the end of menstruation which first becomes irregular and later disappears. The change of life completed, there can no longer be childbearing.
The menopause is marked by both mental and physical changes. The warmth of physical feelings gives way to the calmness of serene affection, and quite often to a wider interest in the affairs of the world. The change may take one or two years, varying in length in different people. The reproductive organs, no longer functioning, become smaller. There may be symptoms which for a while unpleasant. For example, there may be sweating and giddiness, heats or flushes. These sensations may come on without warning. For most women, this is all that happens. Occasionally, however, there may be trying headaches and uneasy sensations, particularly in the breasts. At this time some women begin to put on weight. Much more rarely there are nervous troubles, particularly amongst those whose days are too leisured.
What can be done? For the most part, nothing need be done. It is best, though this is not always easy, to ignore what is happening and to carry on a normal life. The sympathy of others is no good. Giving in is a mistake. The less notice is taken of the change of life, the more quickly it seems to pass.
It helps to cut down diet, although nowadays our rations do that for us. Alcohol affords no relief. Indeed, it may make matters worse rather than better. The change of life, it must be remembered, is a normal, natural thing. It is not an illness or the beginning of an illness. It's a milestone, not a millstone.
The change may bring with it a release of energy, a need for activity in many new directions. Occasionally it makes a woman appear a little too managing, because she is filled with a desire to reform the lives of other. But most women suffer little or nothing. Eighty-five out of every hundred women pass through the menopause without being troubled by it. This is the occasion for an important warning. If the periods, having stopped, should appear to start again, a doctor should always be consulted,. There may be something wrong.

The third phase of life is sometimes the richest phase, the one in which to find tranquillity, and a full peaceful happiness.

A man wrote this, you say? 😁

There are actually many parts of this I really like!

What can be done? For the most part, nothing need be done. It is best, though this is not always easy, to ignore what is happening and to carry on a normal life. The sympathy of others is no good. Giving in is a mistake. The less notice is taken of the change of life, the more quickly it seems to pass.

Wonder how Mrs Hill (if there was one) felt about Charles ignoring her and offering no sympathy.

Mansplaining was around in 1952 then….excellent.

See, this is interesting.
At that time, it may have been that women had children earlier, so by this point would have flown.
Parents may not have survived that long or needed such complex care.
There wouldn’t have been full time careers to navigate or 18,368 apps to navigate and keep on top of.

Maybe life would have been a little slower for some women?
I do wonder if living in the 2020s and navigating menopause now is particularly complex and demanding.

Maybe she got rid of him because she realised he was right when he said,

The third phase of life is sometimes the richest phase, the one in which to find tranquillity, and a full peaceful happiness…….without her twatty husband!

I’m hearing this on Harry Enfield’s voice.

BTW I did see something recently to the effect that ovaries don’t just shut down after menopause, they go on to their own 2nd phase of life as part of the immune system.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02065-8

I wondered that, and about the part that some women want to reform others lives!

"The warmth of physical feelings gives way to the calmness of serene affection, and quite often to a wider interest in the affairs of the world."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm 16 years post-menopause. I still have the RAGE.

😡😬👿

Occasionally it makes a woman appear a little too managing, because she is filled with a desire to reform the lives of other.

Lol

He got this nugget no doubt from his chums Giles and Geoffrey who'd been driven dashed mad by Marigold and Mildred who'd taken stock and realised than Giles and Geoffrey had been slacking and things must change.

'Calmness of serene affection' made me guffaw so loud people on the train platform are staring.
I think I may have rather experienced the "pulling a bear apart with my hands fury" kind of affection.
Brilliant, thank you for sharing.

Apparently, in societies where women finished work early, and old age is more respected, menopause is generally tolerated better!
And women of 45 would often be grandmothers in 1952, living close to their family and probably more honoured than they are now.
At least he admits weight gain can be a real issue, and of metabolic conditions, like lipedema, even if he doesn't use those terms-the number of smug people who act like if you eat well and exercise today you'll definitely stay slim is annoying.

I am dipping in an out and will post any more gems I find, but as a 53 year old woman obviously that was my first search!

Thanks for sharing @PyongyangKipperbang

Middle Aged Spread (doesnt say it is aimed mostly at men, but its pretty clear!)

Where do the middle-aged spread? Of course, some of them don't spread at all. The remain lean all their days. The lean ones live longer, too. But with many of of us the middle years, alas, do bring expanding wast-lines, a more comfortably upholstered sitting-down apparatus, figures which are comfortable rather than coy, double chins, and rounded corners.
The explanation is simple. Under thirty, or maybe even forty, we expend more energy. We play football, tennis, or hockey, we often walk instead of taking a bus, we push out a pram. All this uses up energy. To supply this energy we eat lustily, for what we put out we must take in.
Then, unless we live by our muscles, there comes a change. We begin to slacken off. the arm-chair makes a greater appeal than the playing field. We vegetate a bit. We get lazy. We ride where we used to walk. Our output of energy wanes, but all too often our appetites remain hearty.
Make no mistake, the source of our fat is our food. Don't blame some supernatural force for the fullness of your figure. The plain fact is that, if you are putting on weight, your intake exceeds your output. The result of an excess of intake over output is, as in your cash account, a deposit, in this case a deposit of fat.
What can you do? First, don't worry, don't be too depressed by a little extra upholstery. don't cast too covetous eyes on the lamp-post like forms of the young. Exercise can help - the trouble is that it increases your appetite as well as your output. There is a good tummy exercise. Hold your tummy as stiff as a board and let it go. Do it again. Do it twenty times, either standing up or lying down. Do it twenty times every day.
Cut down your intake. Cut down the carbo-hydrates and the fats. Puddings, cakes, and sweets are off the menu. Cut the sugar out of tea and coffee. Cut down margarine, butter, and dripping and all things friend. Keep off alcohol. Beer is a fattener. It's particularly good at fattening the neck, and making your collars too small for you. Cut out the things that increase your appetite, such as pickles. You're after a smaller appetite, yours is big enough.
Cut down on salt, for salt is a water holder and most of our human frames are water. Two-thirds of us is water, anyway. Take your meals dry rather than wet. Steaming baths won't help. You sweat it out one minute and replace it the next.

Typing this out, its clear it was dictated! No typist would choose to use that much punctuation!

This is so funny! Thanks for sharing.

This attitude would certainly fuck my own life up a lot less than the women who currently insist that we're destined to be mad useless basket cases

Is the author still alive by any chance?? Can a few of us visit him to discuss the matter?

I don’t think anyone insists that. They just acknowledge that some women really struggle, just as some women don’t. Your experience of it will be your own.

This is clearly code for some women becoming interfering busy bodies!

I have a book something like this that once belonged to my grandmother. My eyebrows nearly disappeared into my hair when I read some of it. I seem to recall the advice on what to do if you suspect your husband is having an affair was very, er... interesting. I'll see if I can find it.

They absolutely do. "Women will experience brain fog and generalised uselessness and it's feminist to say so!"

Get it right collectively up you imo

Regardless of my experience I'll be undermined and marginalised by the hysterics (word chosen on purpose)

Blimey, was only posting something lighthearted.

The thing about alcohol making things worse is correct, unfortunately. Another pleasure in life taken away due to the "change"....😭

“The third phase of life is sometimes the richest phase, the one in which to find tranquillity, and a full peaceful happiness.”

I actually really relate to this. 😊