Experiencing menopause in the context of cancer: Women’s constructions of gendered subjectivities

Abstract

Objective: Many women experience premature menopause following cancer treatment, accompanied by psychological distress, and poor health-related quality of life. In this qualitative study, we examined how women construct their gendered subjectivities – their sense of self as a woman – in the context of premature menopause after cancer.

Design: We analysed data from open-ended survey items and semi-structured interviews with women who had experienced cancer. Six hundred and ninety-five women completed the online survey and 61 took part in a semi-structured interview. A thematic decomposition was conducted to identify the subject positions associated with menopause taken up by the women.

Results: Three overall themes were identified: ‘The Incomplete Woman,’ ‘The Abject, Asexual Woman’ and ‘Out of Time and Social Isolation.’ Menopause was predominantly constructed as a negative experience, similar to older post-menopausal women and dissimilar to peers, contributing to experiences of social isolation. Menopause also signified the presence of a medically diagnosed cancer condition, and uncertainty around cancer prognosis.

Conclusion: It is important for cancer support group leaders and other service providers to be sensitive to women’s negotiation of menopause following cancer, in the context of broader cultural constructions, in order to provide appropriate information and support.

Keywords:

• menopause
• cancer
• gender identity
• fertility
• qualitative research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant, LP110200153 in conjunction with the Cancer Council New South Wales, the National Breast Cancer Foundation and CanTeen. We received in-kind support from Family Planning NSW, Westmead Hospital and Nepean Hospital. The chief investigators on the project were Jane Ussher and Janette Perz, and the partner investigators were Gerard Wain, Gill Batt, Kim Hobbs, Catherine Mason, Laura Kirsten, Edith Weisberg and Pandora Patterson. We thank Joanne Cummings, Kathryn Nattress and Andrew Kellett for research support in collecting and analysing the data.