WOMAN`S IMAGE IN THE MENOPAUSAL PERIOD

Present studies on experiencing menopause by women emphasise the importance not only of hormonal and psychological variables but also of socio-cultural ones. This article presents the results of our research, whose aim was to analyse if and in what way age infl uences the image of a woman in her menopausal period. Forty women, ages 40-52, and 64 women, ages 20-35, participated in the research. Qualitative analysis indicates that age infl uences a woman`s image during her menopause. The young women perceived menopause more negatively, stressing its physiology in this life phase. However, the women in the menopausal period had either a positive or a negative image of it. The women with a positive image associated menopause mainly with a natural life phase, as a full-fl edged woman who knew her strengths.