Dear colleagues,

you may be aware that I do not promote books and other products on
this listserv. Well, apologies to all of you, but here's a book I believe
needs to be read by many women and men. It's based on an
international comparative study on women's health and it approaches a
topic currently occupied by pharmaceutical companies and perhaps a
larger portion of the medical profession.

In this book you may find some disturbing information.

Again, apologies for this "advertisment", but I do believe this is an
exception acceptable in regard to the standards of the list.

Eberhard

*****************

Menopause and Culture

by Gabriella E. Berger

Published 1999 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA, UK
and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012, USA
Paperback ISBN 0-7453-1483-X
Hardcover ISBN 0-7453-1489-0

In Menopause and Culture, Gabriella Berger questions the view of
menopause as an estrogen-deficiency disease by examining how other
vital influences, such as culture, mediate the menopause transition.
Her positive and refreshing approach culminates in a cross-cultural
examination of Australian and Filipino women's menopause
experiences and concludes in an elegant demonstration of how
intricate sociocultural belief systems impact on menopause.  Set
against a broad review of current and often contradictory literature in
the fields of biomedicine, psychiatry, psychology, anthropology and
sociology, her findings serve to demystify long-held stereotypical and
misogynist views of women as diseased and useless.  Menopause is
unequivocally more about wellness than illness; this book is at the
cutting edge of medical sociology.

"An extremely significant contribution to the field of medical
sociology...Menopause is an area which has been somewhat
neglected in social science discourse." Dr Megan Jennaway,
Department of Asian Studies, University of Queensland, Brisbane.

"Original...well argued...at the cutting edge of the field of sociology and
health." Dr Mina Roces, School of History, University of New South
Wales.

"An excellent examination of how culture mediates bodily
experiences." Dr Cordia Chu, Director, Institute of the Environment,
Health and Development for the Asia Pacific, Griffith University,
Brisbane.


Table of Contents

     1.Menopause and Medicalisation
     2.The Quick-fix Controversy
     3.Menopause Across Cultures
     4.Conceptualising Culture
     5.Physical and Psychological Menopause Experience
     6.The Sociocultural Mediation of Menopause
     7.Analysing Menopause: A Change for the Better
       Glossary
       References
       Index

How to order the book

Ask your local bookseller for a copy of the book.  Provide them with the
title, author, publisher and ISBN.
       In Australia, you may order the book from Eleanor Brasch
Enterprises, P.O. Box 586, Artamon, N.S.W.
       2064; Phone (02) 9419 8717; [log in to unmask]


Eberhard Wenzel MA PhD
Griffith University
School of Public Health
Meadowbrook, Qld. 4131
Australia
Tel.:  +61-7-3382 1026
Fax:  +61-7-3382 1034
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
WWW Virtual Library Public Health at:
    http://www.ldb.org/vl/index.htm
WWW Virtual Library Circumpolar Peoples
    http://www.ldb.org/vl/cp/index.htm

Every wave is new until it breaks.
Neil Young