女人與中年的對話

A Woman’s Dialog with Mid-life Transitions

「中年轉換」系指發生於個體40歲至60歲之間內在與外在的轉變，中年轉換發生於女性身上，部分學者抱持「中年危機」論，探討更年期和空巢併發症等女性身心與角色變化；然而持「中年轉機」論者亦不在少數，認為中年轉換提供女性揮別過去與開創未來的契機。中年轉換究竟是危機還是轉機？此議題如何在臺灣女性身上展現？研究者帶著對「中年女性」的好奇，開始一段認識中年女性的旅程。這篇生命故事呈現的是一位中年女性的生命史，發現驅動她生命階段更替的力量並非只有生理上的改變，還有生命事件彼此的扣連；其次，女性面對中年轉換可以有更多樣的面向可供探討，而非只局限在更年期與空巢期這幾個議題。本生命故事其實一併呈現了兩位女性的故事，一為受訪者朱女士，另外也呈現年輕的研究者對於「研究」本身的省思，並誠實記錄研究框架的建構與解構歷程。

Mid-life transition means a series of psychological and physical changes occurring during one’s middle age. In the case of women, some researchers see it as a mid-life crisis, while others see it as a turning point to become “one’s own woman,”--meaning women will have a new beginning after mid-life transition. My questions are - how does a woman in Taiwan make sense of mid-life transition? Does it mean a crisis or a turning point? Here the life story of Ms. Chou is presented and interpreted. It is life occurrences rather than physical changes that drive her life stage to transit. Furthermore, instead of focusing on the menopause and empty-nest syndrome, new perspectives reviewing a woman’s middle life are uncovered. This life story is actually two women’s life journeys. One is the life story of Ms. Chou, the other being the heart-searching introspection of a young researcher. This is also a truthful document of the construction and de-construction of a research framework.