WOMEN’S BODY IMAGE DURING THE MENOPAUSAL TRANSITION

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of the body image in women aged 40–60 who are at the stage of menopausal transition, i.e. in premenopause, perimenopause and menopause itself. A study conducted on a group of Russianspeaking women showed that they had a negative image of their own body and experience the so-called "standard discontent with appearance", like women in many other cultures. The women were concerned with their weight and shape and dissatisfied with the functional characteristics of their bodies. The body image, however, was not related to the presence or absence of menstruation, which is consistent with research data around the world demonstrating that "menopause as a disease" is a cultural rather than a biological phenomenon. The study shows that the body image of mature women correlates with the body mass index, but weight is by no means the only factor determining the phenomenon under consideration. The present research demonstrates the cultural specificity of the image of the body in mature women: the authors validated and translated Verbal Commentary on Physical Appearance Scale, and it revealed no Positive Idea of Body Weight and Shape factor.

Keywords

• body image
• menopause
• standard discontent with appearance
• the 34-item body shape questionnaire
• verbal commentary on physical appearance scale