3 Reasons Every Man Should Read this Book about Menopause
Christmas break is when I catch up on books that have been on my to-read list. This year, I read Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause by Dr. Cheryl Bridges Johns (full disclosure, in addition to being a pastor and theologian, she is also my mother-in-law). As a 37-year-old male, a book on menopause does not fall in my normal reading categories. However, after reading Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause, I’m convinced that every man would benefit from reading this book. There are many good reasons to read, but here are three to get the conversation started.
1. It’s about the Gospel. More than anything, Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause is about the Gospel and the Gospel is never merely an abstract principle or idea. It is always grounded in specific reality. Menopause, says Dr. Johns, has carried a stigma of death and the loss of a woman’s value to society. Into that reality comes the Gospel which reorients our understanding of menopause—not a loss of value but a gift to God’s daughters. This book helps us understand the Gospel not merely as an idea, but an embodied reality.
Personally, as a member of a sacramental tradition that holds the belief that matter matters, Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause carries additional Gospel importance. Because God made our bodies and called them good, understanding every aspects of human bodies even when they are not the topic of polite discussion is essential Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause provides Christians with a holistic way of understanding menopause and, as a result, helps counter the influence of Gnosticism on our theology of bodies.
2. Build understanding and empathy. Prior to this book, my understanding of menopause was anemic, to say the least. While I will never experience menopause firsthand, I will certainly experience the effects. My mother, wife and female friends will experience menopause should they live that long. How much more will a man who find himself pastoring a church find himself providing pastoral care and teaching to women preparing for, experiencing, and/or reorienting after menopause? Simply put, it behooves any man who cares about women to understand the biological and spiritual impact of menopause. To ignore menopause while caring for women is a privilege with potentially dangerous consequences. Men who take Jesus seriously should take understanding menopause seriously as well.
3. Confront the toxicity of our cultural heritage. Whether we like it or not, there is a long history of men belittling and subjugating women’s needs for their own benefit. Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause confronts the reader with some of this history. It is shocking to read the anti-women views promoted by scholars and doctors in the recent past. If good men will not step up to acknowledge the unjust and ungodly view of women that has held sway for much of history, then bad men will be able to dismiss women today even more easily. Christian men ought to beware that women’s natural experiences of menopause have been misunderstood. Only then can we add our voices to those of our sisters calling for a Gospel-centered vision of menopause like the one found in Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause.
If those reasons were not enough, the reader will also find Dr. Johns’ writing to be easy to follow, engaging, and wise. In short, there’s really no reason not to read Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause.
If you’re looking, you can find Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause on Amazon or from Baker Book House.