In the 1930' s, with the development of endocrinology, the interpretation of menopa-usal symptoms changed dramatically. Menopause had been thought to be a life process that could eas-ily lead to illness. Now it was defined as an estrogen deficiency disease, and required estrogen sup-plements. Due to publicity by the pharmaceutical industry and the medical community, estrogen re-placement therapy became not only a hot topic for women, but also a right to fight for. By the middle of the 1970' s, a link between estrogen and cancer had been posited, and people began to re-examine the advantages and disadvantages of hormonal treatment. This paper reviews the evolution of the med-icalization of menopause, and believes that while giving women medical help, it also reinforced the stereotype that women's bodies are inferior to men's. Menopausal syndrome is caused by social, cul-tural and physiological factors, but has been reduced to individual physiological changes. While re-lieving certain symptoms, women have been exposed to an unknown risk.%20世纪30年代,随着内分泌学的发展,医学界对于绝经期症状的解释发生了急剧的变化,绝经从一个易于患病的生命阶段,到被定义为一种激素缺乏性疾病,需要补充雌激素加以治疗.在制药商和医学界的宣传下,雌激素替代疗法不仅成为妇女们热议的话题,更成为其为之奔走争取的权利.直到20世纪70年代中期,雌激素致癌风波兴起,人们才开始反思激素治疗绝经的利弊得失.本文回顾了绝经医学化的演变过程,认为其在给予女性医疗帮助的同时,也将社会、文化、生理因素综合作用下的不适症状简约为个体的生理性改变,固化了女性身体机能较弱的刻板印象,有可能将女性置于更大的健康风险之中.
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