Manopause

Book excerpt: There are countless books about menopause on the market. We’ve all accepted that women change at midlife. However, there is another much ignored change that affects hundreds of millions of women across the globe: manopause—the changes that all men go through starting at about age 40. In this groundbreaking book, Lisa Friedman Bloch and Kathy Kirtland Silverman look at men’s changes from a new and uplifting perspective. Aimed at women, Manopause explores how biological and psychological factors collide with the societal pressures men face, and provides advice on how women can help themselves and their men move through and enjoy this sometimes challenging phase. Laying out the commonly accepted rules of what it means to "be a man"—rules like "Your worth is only as great as your power, money, and status," "Push down your emotions," and "Always be aggressive and strong"—the authors explore how men strive to live up to these expectations, and how shouldering this burden becomes harder at midlife. Both physical changes and emotional realizations play in to men’s fear that they are losing their grip. And yet, as the authors explain, it is these very changes that can open the door to a far richer and more fulfilling life. With a goal of creating greater understanding and compassion for the subject of manopause, Bloch and Silverman solidly ground readers with information about men’s changes before guiding them through a practical discussion of how to handle the outward effects they experience. They address emotional reactions, behavioral issues, hormone loss, sex and intimacy, and family and work relationships with an eye to how all can be immeasurably improved. By bringing this topic more into the public eye, they hope to help women and men everywhere learn to better alleviate the confusion, misunderstanding, and discontent of manopause.