Antik Yunan’dan Üreme Adaletine: Menopozun Toplumsal ve Biyo-Politik Tarihçesi

Abstract

Bu çalışma, menopozun anlamının eksiklikten riske, hastalıktan seçime doğru evrilen tarihsel seyrini ele alarak, bu dönüşümlerin ardındaki toplumsal, kültürel ve politik dinamikleri analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Menopoz, Antik Çağ’da ritüellerle toplumsal statü kazandıran bir geçiş biçimi olarak görülmüş; Orta Çağ’da dinsel kirlenme–arınma ikiliği içinde tanımlanmış; Erken Modern dönemde hormonal iflas metaforuyla eksiklik modeli olarak kodlanmıştır. 19. ve 20. yüzyıllarda tıbbileştirme ve biyopolitik denetim mekanizmaları, menopozu patolojik bir hastalık ve yönetilmesi gereken bir risk alanına dönüştürmüştür. 2000’li yılların başında WHI çalışması, menopozu hastalık modelinden risk yönetimi paradigmasına taşımış ve HRT reçetelerinde düşüşlere yol açmıştır. 2015 sonrası artan kamusal görünürlük; medya, sivil toplum aktivizmi ve neoliberal feminizm ekseninde şekillenmiş; “menopoz kapitalizmi” olarak adlandırılan ticari sömürü ve homojen anlatılar yoluyla kültürel çeşitliliği dışlayan çelişkileri ortaya koymuştur. Tıbbi söylemin yarattığı epistemik susturmaya karşı “Yeni Menopoz Hareketi” ve “Menopoz Kafeleri” gibi dayanışma pratikleri, kadın deneyimlerini merkeze alan alternatif bilgi alanları oluşturmaktadır. Çalışma, menopozun tarihsel ve sosyopolitik dönüşümlerini ortaya koyarak, kadınların deneyimlerine dayalı adil, kapsayıcı ve alan bazlı politika ve pratiklerin geliştirilmesi gerektiğini vurgulamaktadır.

Keywords

• Menopoz
• Sosyal İnşa
• Tıbbileştirme
• Biyopolitika
• Risk Toplumu

From Ancient Greece to Reproductive Justice: The Socio-Political and Biopolitical History of Menopause

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the historical trajectory of menopause—whose meaning has evolved from deficiency to risk and from disease to choice—by examining the social, cultural, and political dynamics underlying these transformations. In Antiquity, menopause was regarded as a rite of passage conferring social status through ritual; in the Middle Ages, it was framed within the religious duality of defilement–purification; and in the Early Modern period, it was coded as a deficiency model via the “hormonal failure” metaphor. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, medicalization and biopolitical control mechanisms transformed menopause into a pathological disease and a risk domain requiring management. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the Women’s Health Initiative shifted menopause from a disease model to a risk-management paradigm, prompting declines in HRT prescriptions. Since 2015, rising public visibility—shaped by media, civil society activism, and neoliberal feminism—has exposed contradictions that exclude cultural diversity through commercial exploitation termed “menopause capitalism” and homogenizing narratives. In response to the epistemic silencing generated by medical discourse, solidarity practices such as the “New Menopause Movement” and “Menopause Cafés” have created alternative knowledge spaces centered on women’s experiences. By revealing these historical and sociopolitical transformations, the study underscores the necessity of developing fair, inclusive, and context-based policies and practices grounded in women’s lived experiences.

Keywords

• Menopause
• Social Construction
• Medicalization
• Biopolitics
• Risk Society

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