The male menopause: lifestyle and sexuality

Abstract

The existence of a variety of disturbing symptoms, sometimes loosely described as ‘the male menopause’, has received wide confirmation in both professional and lay literature over the last few years. Whilst there is no conclusive empirical evidence that the majority of men undergo a hormonal ‘change of life’ equivalent to that found in women, it has become clear that a significant number do experience psychological and social difficulties at some point in middle age. It has also become clear that in certain respects, these negative experiences resemble those typically associated with a traumatic menopause in middle-aged women. Amongst the various symptoms reported, one is of particular interest: the recurring expression of male sexual anxiety and/or dissatisfaction with sex-life. This paper draws upon a comparative analysis of professional and lay publications concerning the male menopause and menopause, which appeared in the U.K. and U.S.A. between approx. 1930–1983, to locate this expression of sexual anxiety in the context of a changing conception of middle age in the western world. The main focus is on the influence of contemporary models of sexualised lifestyle on sexual expectations and relations between the sexes during mid-life. Attention is also paid to the possible future implications of changing images of middle age for the diagnosis and treatment of the male menopause/climacteric or mid-life crisis.