Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias can make it difficult for women to move ahead. The menopause affects half the population but it’s a largely neglected issue.
Breaking the taboos around the menopause is the only way to ensure that society supports women through this life milestone rather than leaving them to deal with it alone.
There is a lie that there is something wrong with menstruation that it is inherently unclean weird and unnatural.
In surveying, nearly 3500 girls and women about their experience of menstration and menopause it was found that negative attitude dominated the results.across the age group from menarche to post menopause , but what also came through was a lack of knowledge and where there is vacuum , good and reliable information cant flourish.
It is a bitter sweet scenario when menopause is mentioned amongst the Tiv people of North central Nigeria.
This Ethnic Nationality can be seen in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states. The Tiv look at menopausal women as if they are workers who have reached retirement age and so their husbands seldom want to have sex with them. The women in turn engage in amorous relationships with younger boys in the compound which has many households with people of diverse relationships. So these boys satisfy their sexual needs. This is usually a well kept secret open only to the involved parties.
In a bid to conceal their act from their husband’s, these menopausal women marry young girls for their husbands. Despite the secrecy menopausal women go through in other to satisfy their sexual needs, the Tiv society holds very highly this category of women to the extent that some traditional charms and rituals can only be performed by menopausal women alone. And this is because they are believed to be a symbol of purity due to societal belief of their abstinence from sexual activity.
Pharmacist Anweh Basil Ter FPCPharm
Tiv, Benue state
Furthermore, it is universely believed by men especially amongst the Yoruba’s (the ijebus and the Ekitis that when women gets to the menopausal stage their husbands have disfunctional Errection and that is why they go for second wives.
As long as Menstral taboo operates everybody suffers
Because menopause occurs when many women are in their peak earning years the fears of being unable to function in their job and being replaced by younger talent are very real.
Western Societies favour youth over age and, getting older is seen as a progression of loss rather than gain.
Because, the knowledge of menopause is not enough it is perceived wrongly and negatively and this leads to a negative or neutral attitude towards MENOPAUSE ….L