No Time for Despair: The Geopolitics of (Peri)Menopause

Hakemuksen tiivistelmä

Hot flashes. Mood swings. Osteoporosis. These are just some of the experiences associated with menopause, in both popular and medical narratives. Nothing could be further from wars, displacement, and other major disasters that pertain to the domain of geopolitics. Or could it? In recent years, research on the social determinants of health has explored the influence political crises have on women’s bodies and their perceptions of health and disease. At the same time, scientific awareness about the socio-political and economic salience of (peri)menopause is emerging. Across disciplines, however, research on (peri)menopause remains limited, and mostly centers white, middle-class bodies in affluent societies. In a dialogue with feminist political geographical literature, the project focuses on the relation between geopolitics and the many lives that precede and follow the end of menstruation for Arabic-speaking women – both women with a migrant background in Finland, and those who speak through a burgeoning transnational body of popular cultural production on (peri)menopause - in Arabic, a major international language not bound by borders of any kind. What does performing (re)productive labour while undergoing the changes associated with midlife entail, particularly through crises? What does humour in Arab popular culture and art tell us about the politics of (peri)menopause? These are some of the questions we ask. We use interviews, co-creative workshops, and content analysis of literary work and visual and audio productions to muse about the intersecting chaotic zones of menses-no-more and geopolitical crises, making space for women to pause and share their rage, relief and despair on both matters. Sustained by the Arabic-speaking researchers’ expertise in migration studies and political geography, the project raises awareness about women’s health among minoritised groups, and provides crucial insights for healthcare professionals and policymakers in Finland.