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Does Menopause Cause Many Women To Initiate A Divorce?
Submitted by Greg on September 19, 2007 - 3:13pm.
A book just out in paperback says forget all those '70's notions that women are identical to men. Female hormones affect women's brain's in evolutionarily advantageous ways, but they may also spur older women to start new lives -- even if that means leaving their husbands behind. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Louanne Brizendine argues in "The Female Brain" that:
"The Female Brain" was first published in August 2006 and drew immediate controversy, principally from critics who felt that Louanne Brizendine's argument that women's brains are different could be misused as an argument that they're not as "good" as men's. The paperback edition was published last month. Brizendine is Yale- and Harvard educated neuropsychiatrist who is currently director of the UC San Francisco Women's and Teen Girls' Mood and Hormone Clinic. Aside from worrying about the misuse of her conclusions, critics have decried her over-reliance on self-help books to buttress her case. Writing in The Boston Globe, Mark Liberman found no scientific support for Brizendine's claim that women use 20,000 words per day versus 7,000 for men, or that girls speak faster than boys. It seems to be true that 2/3 of all divorces are initiated by women, and the Sydney Morning Herald says "statistics worldwide ... claim the majority of divorces in couples over the age of 40 are initiated by women." A survey by AARP Magazine of almost 1,200 people who divorced in their 40s, 50s, or 60s found that women initiated 2/3 of the divorces. Kate Vetrano, chair of the ABA's Elder Law Committee, told the magazine that "They're shedding their marriages in the quest for happiness." Is menopause to blame? The AARP survey also found that most women sought divorce for specific reasons such as their spouse's abuse (physical or emotional), infidelity, or substance abuse. That's not incompatible with Brizendine's argument that hormonal changes cause older women to put up with less than when they were in their childraising years. And although LifeTwo believes that there is no one problem called a "midlife crisis," Brizendine's book does argue that women at midlife may have biochemical reasons to be less happy than they once were, and to be ready to make dramatic changes. Read Similar LifeTwo Stories:
Find More By Clicking On These Links:Topic: Midlife Crisis | Brain Health | Relationships
Tags: women | menopause | marriage | happiness | divorce Actions »
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Interesting conclusion....
Thank you for your review of this book. Could this be a "reason" for it all??? All this confusion and the "I care more about me" syndrome????
Could be an explanation for why we women are being so self-centered during this time in our life.
I will have to pick up a copy of this book even if just for curiousity's sake.
Thanks for your review.
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