While many areas of reproductive health have been radically transformed by social and medical progress, menopause has remained stubbornly attached to conventional scripts and social norms about gender, sexuality, and the life course.

Project aims are:

  • To build new connections between health sociology, gender and sexuality studies, and creative arts researchers with an interest in critical menopause studies.
  • To develop speculative probes and workshop activities for healthcare providers to understand the dynamic menopause experiences of gender, sexuality, and bodily diverse people.
  • To develop protocols for healthcare providers to provide advice on menopause that is aligned with gender affirmation principles among gender diverse people.
Research Centre

Centre for Social Research in Health

Supported by a TASA workshop grant, UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture (Paddington campus) hosted a workshop exploring how narratives and responses to menopause, and other acute hormonal fluctuations in later life, can be made more inclusive of those whose bodies, identities or experiences are an uneasy fit with social norms, particularly compulsory heterosexuality, cisgenderism, and parenthood.

The Australian Sociological Association’s Gary Bouma Memorial Workshop Program

Research Team

Professor and Associate Dean (Engagement and Impact) Christy Newman
Professor and Associate Dean (Engagement and Impact)