Western representations of menopause are marked by a disqualification rooted in the gender system (Martin, 1987; Kaufert, 1988; Arber and Ginn, 1991). The “double standard of aging” (Sontag, 1972) produces a hierarchy of legitimacy for female and male bodies: while male aging is synonymous with maturity, female aging is associated with loss (of fertility, of attractiveness). In contrast to the young and fertile body of “hegemonic femininity” (Schippers, 2007), the menopausal body appears minor and invisible. The biomedical perspective associates menopause with hormonal deficiency, symptoms, and risks (Lock, 1993), a narrative long echoed by traditional media. The 2000s, marked by a resurgence of feminist movements (Bard and Chaperon, 2017), provided the framework for a repoliticization of bodies and physiologies. Alternative discourses to the previously dominant ones challenged the invisibility of female aging. Online spaces (podcasts, websites, Instagram accounts, Facebook pages), created by "lay" women, bear witness to a movement of emancipation from the biomedical perspective. Based on online ethnography and a lexicometric analysis of a French corpus of Facebook and Instagram posts collected between 2018 and 2024, we propose to examine how these digital platforms are used in relation to menopause and the resulting effects on the social construction of the menopausal body. We will show that menopause-related content on Facebook and Instagram is structured around three themes that do not elicit the same levels of engagement: personal development, biomedicine and the legitimization of menopause. We will then demonstrate how the most visible publications advocate for a “discipline” of the body (Foucault, 1975) within a landscape of “online care” (Botero, Sedda, and Husson, 2023). Finally, we will see that, in these digital spaces, menopause becomes a prime arena for self-presentation, the renegotiation of “stigma” (Goffman, 1975), and its potential monetization by new figures emerging from online discussions on female aging.
Previous Article in event
Next Article in event
De-invisibility of female aging or commodification of care? Menopause on Facebook and Instagram
Published:
25 May 2026
by MDPI
in The 1st International Online Conference on Social Sciences
session Gender Studies
Abstract:
Keywords: Menopause; Gender and ageing; Social representations; Online ethnography
