Flash Count Diary: Menopause and the Vindication of Natural Life
Flash Count Diary: Menopause and the Vindication of Natural Life by Darcey Steinke, faculty, MFA in Creative Writing program at The New School
Sarah Crichton Books, 2019
Menopause hit Darcey Steinke hard. First came hot flashes. Then insomnia. Then depression. As she struggled to express what was happening to her, she came up against a culture of silence. Throughout history, the natural physical transition of menopause has been viewed as something to deny, fear, and eradicate. Menstruation signals fertility and life, and childbirth is revered as the ultimate expression of womanhood. Menopause is seen as a harbinger of death. Some books Steinke found promoted hormone replacement therapy. Others encouraged acceptance. But Steinke longed to understand menopause in a more complex, spiritual, and intellectually engaged way.