Menopause: A Comic Treatment

by MK Czerwiec (Editor)

Overview

Eisner Award Winner for Best Anthology and Best Short Story

New York Times best graphic novel of 2020

Booklist best graphic novel for adults of 2020

Hot flashes. Vaginal atrophy. Social stigma. The comics in this unapologetic anthology prove that when it comes to menopause and its attendant symptoms, no one needs to sweat it alone.

Featuring works by comics luminaries such as Lynda Barry, Joyce Farmer, Ellen Forney, and Carol Tyler, Menopause is the perfect antidote to the simplistic, cheap-joke approach that treats menopause as a cultural taboo. This anthology challenges stereotypes with perspectives from a range of life experiences, ages, gender identities, ethnicities, and health conditions.
Other contributors include Maureen Burdock, Jennifer Camper, KC Councilor, MK Czerwiec, Leslie Ewing, Ann M. Fox, Keet Geniza, Roberta Gregory, Teva Harrison, Rachael House, Leah Jones, Monica Lalanda, Cathy Leamy, Ajuan Mance, Jessica Moran, Mimi Pond, Sharon Rosenzweig, Joyce Schachter, Susan Merrill Squier, Emily Steinberg, Nicola Streeten, A. K. Summers, Kimiko Tobimatsu, Shelley L. Wall, and Dana Walrath.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781637790106
Publisher:	Penn State University Press
Publication date:	01/04/2022
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	719,274
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

MK Czerwiec is a nurse, cartoonist, educator, and co-founder of the field of Graphic Medicine. She is the creator of Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 and a co-author of Graphic Medicine Manifesto. MK is also the comics editor for the journal Literature & Medicine. MK regularly teaches graphic medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg Medical School and the University of Chicago. She has served as a Senior Fellow of the George Washington School of Nursing Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement as well as a Will Eisner Fellow in Applied Cartooning at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. You can see more of her work at her website, www.comicnurse.com.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

MK Czerwiec

Menopause

Maureen Burdock

Menopositive!

Lynda Barry

#crockpotrunner

Ann M. Fox

When My Biological Clock Stopped Ticking

Monica Lalanda

Burning Up

Comic Nurse (MK Czerwiec)

Desertification

A. K. Summers

Zen and the Art of Menopausal Maintenance

Leslie Ewing

Climacteric Calamity

Rachael House

My Menopause Story

Sharon Rosenzweig

“Are You Sexually Active?”: Vaginal Truth Telling

Joyce Schachter and Jessica Moran

Invisible Lady

Carol Tyler

The End, for Now

Roberta Gregory

A Slow Intermittent Leak

Jennifer Camper

2:14 am–4:43 am: Let Me Introduce Myself

Nicola Streeten

Any Day Now

Ajuan Mance

Cycles

KC Councilor

An End Is Not the End

Leah Jones and Cathy Leamy

Ready, Set, “Pause”

Ellen Forney

The Big Change

Teva Harrison

Paused

Emily Steinberg

Kimiko Does Menopause

Kimiko Tobimatsu and Keet Geniza

Surgical Menopause—in Ten Postures

Susan Merrill Squier and Shelley L. Wall

When the Menopause Carnival Comes to Town

Mimi Pond

(A) Men-O-Pause

Dana Walrath

Antique Restoration

Joyce Farmer

Resources

List of Contributors

Editorial Reviews

Playful and enjoyable indeed, as well as moving, affirming, and solidarity-sparking.”

—starred review Booklist

“Often informative, sometimes moving, and ambitious in its frank talk about what is oddly taboo: an inevitable experience for half of humanity.”

—Publishers Weekly

“The cartoons in Menopause: A Comic Treatment depict what is generally considered an unbecoming, if not humiliating, life event. This collection, edited by M.K. Czerwiec, joins the Graphic Medicine Series (Escaping Wars and Waves) in treating a complex topic with candor and creativity. Twenty-five comics represent diverse women and their experiences, in drawing styles as distinctive as the artists.”

—starred review Shelf Awareness

“Shattering the silence and secrecy surrounding the ‘big change,’ Menopause: A Comic Treatment offers an unflinching look at an often stigmatized or taboo topic.”

—International Journal of Comic Art

“This is a new and unique offering for those interested in a humorous look at menopause transition. It serves as a sociocultural prism through which to view menopause and to see its diverse presentations and influences.”

—Barbara Hoffman Doody's Review Service

From the Publisher

01/27/2020

This eclectic anthology in the graphic medicine genre illuminates a subject seldom discussed in comics, as more than 20 creators share their experiences with menopause. The wide range of approaches includes Maureen Burdock’s elegantly illustrated ode to the neopagan triple goddess and “moonblood,” Lynda Barry’s witty recollections of the opinionated old ladies in her Filipino family, Joyce Farmer’s playful answer to the question “Do Menopausal Women Even Get Horny?” and an appearance from Roberta Gregory’s alt-comics heroine, Bitchy Bitch, who deals with “the Change” by snarling, “Has it really been over five hundred gushers?” One of the strongest and funniest pieces, Mimi Pond’s “When the Menopause Carnival Comes to Town,” follows a mother and daughter through a fairground where attractions include the Mood Swing and the Hormone Scrambler. Several pieces are authored by medical professionals, including the editor, a nurse and educator who calls herself Comics Nurse. Trans and genderqueer creators offer perspectives, as do artists who have gone through hysterectomy and early menopause. Like many anthologies, it’s uneven, with the contributors’ artistic abilities ranging from amateur to fully assured. But the volume’s exploration of what Barry calls “un-becoming a woman” is often informative, sometimes moving, and ambitious in its frank talk about what is oddly taboo: an inevitable experience for half of humanity. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Reviewer: Barbara Hoffman, MD (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center)
Description: This is a first-edition, 130-page, hardback compilation of approximately 25 cartoons based on the symptoms of menopause. Cartoons are color or black and white, and most are multipage. A wide range of artistic styles and cultural perspectives are presented.
Purpose: The goal is to humorize the annoying symptoms of menopause yet also present the freeing aspects of this transition. The editor's inspiration was to look at menopause from a different perspective. Given the number of affected women, the goal is certainly worthy.
Audience: This book is written for the layperson transitioning into menopause. It is easy to ready and visually engaging. As a member of their target audience, albeit with not the most developed sense of humor, I did not find most entries particularly funny. Topic redundancy and the wordiness of each cartoon were deterrents. I did find great value in the diversity of perspective and clever presentations. It definitely conveyed that all women traverse the transition differently. The contributors are an eclectic mix of cartoonists, authors, and medical professionals. The book's wide cultural mix provides a broad view of menopause transition and its varied presentations and influences.
Features: In cartoon form, this book presents the experience of menopause transition from a humorous perspective. In toto, the book provides many different perspectives and is very inclusive. The illustration quality and their color-print reproduction are outstanding.
Assessment: This is a new and unique offering for those interested in a humorous look at menopause transition. It serves as a sociocultural prism through which to view menopause and to see its diverse presentations and influences.

Doody's Review Service