The Role of Leisure in Women’s Experiences of Menopause and Mid-Life DIANA C. PARRY SUSAN M. SHAW University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Much of the recent research on menopause has been criticized for adopting a nar- row medical model, and for failing to recognize the effect of other midlife changes on women’s lives. This study used an alternative feminist framework to explore the ex- periences of menopause and midlife, and to examine the impact of leisure on these experiences. In-depth interviews were conducted with ve women, all of whom were currently experiencing manopause. The ndings indicated that menopause and midlife were inextricably linked for these women, through the emotional challenges that they were experiencing and through the realization of aging. Leisure was shown to have a number of benecial outcomes. Physically active leisure enhanced health and physical and emotional well-being. In addition, although some leisure activities provided women with a sense of familiarity, security, and continuity, other practices allowed women to develop new interests, to focus on themselves, and to improve their self-attitudes. Find- ing an appropriate balance between these various outcomes of leisure may help women to negotiate their journey through the transitional years of menopause and midlife. Keywords health and well-being, leisure benets, menopause, midlife, positive self attitude, sense of familiarity Menopause is an old topic that recently has received new attention. In the past (and some- times even today) menopause was labeled a taboo subject that should not be discussed in polite society (Formanek, 1990a). Moreover, the word menopause itself often required the use of euphemisms, such as “the change of life,” in order for women to talk about its signs and symptoms. Currently, with an aging population, and with a variety of medications being prescribed for menopausal women, menopause is a subject that is more readily dis- cussed. Yet many myths still linger, for example that menopausal difculties are a gment of women’s imagination, or that menopause is a time at which women become emotionally unstable (Godbey, 1993; Greer, 1991; Sheehy, 1995). Confusion also exists over the need or desirability for medical intervention at this stage of life, or whether menopause should be treated as a disease or as a natural process (Ojeda, 1991; Sitruk-Ware & Utian, 1991). Over the past few decades a dramatic increase in research on menopause has oc- curred. Much of this research is from a medical perspective. That is, researchers typically have focused on examination of the physiological and psychological problems that occur (e.g., Korenman, 1990; McKinlay, McKinlay & Brambilla, 1987), as well as on the testing of hormone replacement and other medical therapies (e.g., United States Senate, 1992; Sitruk-Ware & Utian, 1991). Although this research has helped to dispel some of the myths surrounding menopause, it may have contributed, at the same time, to a strengthening of the view of menopause as a medical problem or pathology that requires medical treatment. The emphasis on medical research and the general trend towards the medicalization of menopause has been criticized widely by feminist scholars and activists (e.g., Coney, Received 15 December 1999; accepted 2 June 1999. Address correspondence to Susan M. Shaw, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1. E-mail: sshaw@healthy.uwaterloo.c a Leisure Sciences, 21:205–218, 1999 Copyright C ° 1999 Taylor & Francis 0149-0400/99 $12.00 + .00 205