Estelle Fuchs presents an anthropological view of woman's experience in middle age and menopause. She deals with the social, cultural, sexual and physical realities of these years and draws on the experience of women in different times and cultures to do so. She dispels many of the myths commonly attached to the physical state of menopause and provides a factual account of the effect of menopause on women's many roles with particular emphasis on what the American woman can expect to experience and achieve during these years. Among the topics covered are women and sex, the physiological fact of menopause, middle age and health, pregnancy and babies, hysterectomy, divorce and widowhood, and growing older in style.