The Philosophy of Menopause: Understanding Women's Experience

Gloria Origgi is an Italian philosopher from the National Center for Scientific Research (Paris). She specializes in the theory of mind, epistemology, and the impact of new technologies on social sciences. In the middle of a woman's life, a period of varying duration begins—sometimes quiet and smooth, and sometimes abrupt and shocking. This is the climacteric period, which typically lasts from 45 to 55 years of age. It represents a prolonged hormonal transformation that culminates in menopause—the cessation of menstruation and loss of fertility. The book raises two key issues. The first is the lack of knowledge about the processes of this transformation. The second is its multifaceted nature: biological, psychological, and social. It is a profound journey that changes one's perception of the world and of oneself, capable of overturning all life orientations. Yet this topic remains taboo. However, since menopause is an experience that radically alters the essence of our being, we need a new philosophy, a new epistemology, and a new vision of female identity.