Elspeth Killin
On becoming a Beloved Woman - what can Cherokee society teach us about reaching the menopause?.
Abstract
The treatment of the menopause is a current topic under much debate and may be said to have become almost an “industry” in Western culture (Coney, 1995). This study attempts to look at what lies behind the menopause in two cultures – traditional Cherokee society and the modern West.
Firstly, it looks at what menopause means to the women who are anticipating or experiencing it, with a comparison between expectations and descriptions of the menopause in the literature of traditional Cherokee society and of contemporary writings in the West. Cherokee women’s attitudes are underpinned by the different expectations of women and their place in society. Aspects of this, a matrilineal clan structure, with a close family support network, autonomy in personal decision making, “control” of the family and property rights, are discussed.
The role of both men and women in Cherokee society are key and defined on a spiritual level. The nature of the “power” attributed to women and linked directly to their fertility is examined using the work of Churchill (1997). She identified a “binary” model of Western thought that has been applied to Cherokee culture and suggests that the role of menstruation and spiritual power of blood, in Cherokee terms, have been misunderstood by interpretation through Western eyes and philosophy.
The relationship of a people and their place in nature gives information on their healthcare regime, actually their way of life, also intrinsically imbued with the spiritual and marked ceremony.
Two key conclusions are discussed – the predisposition of Cherokee society and women in particular to the concept of ageing, viewed in positive rather than negative terms, and the aspects of a natural lifestyle, which may support that individual in their experience of the ageing process.
