The dialectics of menopause inequity: Intersections of normalising and pathologising discourses of menopause in migrant domestic workers’ narratives

This paper focuses on a dialectic interplay of systemic and discursive inequities in the menopause experience of Filipino migrant domestic workers (MDWs) in Hong Kong. Drawing on theme-oriented discourse analysis, the paper examines interviews with 15 MDWs to reveal the tensions between discursive constructions of menopause as simultaneously “normal” and “difficult.” Normalising menopause as an expectable reproductive milestone with relatively mild symptoms serves as a protective strategy, enabling women not to let it affect their employment. However, it hinders timely access to healthcare and reinforces menopause inequity. The pathologising discourse of “difficult” menopause is confined to the women’s immediate social networks of other females; these females serve as sources of information and social support. Pathologising narratives display the women’s high levels of menopausal literacy and symptoms that warrant clinical attention. We argue that addressing health inequities, including linguistic inequities, involves more than attention to systemic barriers and available linguistic resources. It requires attention to discursive processes through which health experiences and inequities are negotiated, reproduced, or resisted.