The female menopause is well-documented, but the male menopause is less well acknowledged, although many health professionals have pointed to its existence.
We have all heard of the charming woman who becomes bitchy and antagonistic once she gets to forty or fifty, but men are less likely to admit to their problems, which has always been a fact.
In contrast to the stereotypical image of a cantankerous menopausal middle-aged woman, middle-aged men going through their menopause are said to abandon their aging wife for a younger one, dress in clothes that are decades younger than suits them and purchase a sports car.
But are these stereotypes an exact depiction of middle-age life? Cliches are often accurate descriptions of life, which is why they became cliches in the first case but are they caricatures of how most people live?
A fact is that numerous men, who are in their fifties and sixties, start to suspect their sexual prowess. This doubt can lead to a husband stopping making love with his wife in case she compares his current performance unfavourably with when she first met him.
Rather than go through a possibly humiliating question and answer session with his wife (in which he may have his fears confirmed), he goes with another woman.
He will always go with a younger woman - why not? And he will always wine, dine and spoil this younger girlfriend, so she is not likely to tell him the truth, if he is not doing so well. Thinking with his nether parts and his ego, he is unlikely to perceive the truth.
There are around 18 million Americans going through this situation just now - they are worried that they are being ridiculed by their wives because of under performance and they want their prowess confirmed (by an external source).
This deficiency of self-confidence can out itself in different ways. A middle-aged man might start being very critical of his wife or / and any other woman and this may lead to misogyny in extreme cases. At the other extreme, a man may become an outrageous flirt and endeavour to get off with his wife's girlfriends.
Lower levels of testosterone in older age might be partially to blame for a reduced sex drive, which is frequently the root cause for worries about sexual performance. Older men know that they are not capable of doing what they used to.
A popular expression among older men is self-defacing: 'I used to spend all night doing what it now takes me all night to do'.
Women tend to underestimate this lack of self-confidence in aging men's sexuality and when people are not taken seriously there can be dire consequences. Men tend to take the lead role in bed, so women do not notice so much that they are losing stamina as well.
The fact is that female and male menopause might have an effect on us in a different manner (and some individuals seem to be unaffected at all), but couples need to become more aware that hormonal changes will occur around mid-life and that is why there is the cliche of a mid-life crisis.
We have all heard of the charming woman who becomes bitchy and antagonistic once she gets to forty or fifty, but men are less likely to admit to their problems, which has always been a fact.
In contrast to the stereotypical image of a cantankerous menopausal middle-aged woman, middle-aged men going through their menopause are said to abandon their aging wife for a younger one, dress in clothes that are decades younger than suits them and purchase a sports car.
But are these stereotypes an exact depiction of middle-age life? Cliches are often accurate descriptions of life, which is why they became cliches in the first case but are they caricatures of how most people live?
A fact is that numerous men, who are in their fifties and sixties, start to suspect their sexual prowess. This doubt can lead to a husband stopping making love with his wife in case she compares his current performance unfavourably with when she first met him.
Rather than go through a possibly humiliating question and answer session with his wife (in which he may have his fears confirmed), he goes with another woman.
He will always go with a younger woman - why not? And he will always wine, dine and spoil this younger girlfriend, so she is not likely to tell him the truth, if he is not doing so well. Thinking with his nether parts and his ego, he is unlikely to perceive the truth.
There are around 18 million Americans going through this situation just now - they are worried that they are being ridiculed by their wives because of under performance and they want their prowess confirmed (by an external source).
This deficiency of self-confidence can out itself in different ways. A middle-aged man might start being very critical of his wife or / and any other woman and this may lead to misogyny in extreme cases. At the other extreme, a man may become an outrageous flirt and endeavour to get off with his wife's girlfriends.
Lower levels of testosterone in older age might be partially to blame for a reduced sex drive, which is frequently the root cause for worries about sexual performance. Older men know that they are not capable of doing what they used to.
A popular expression among older men is self-defacing: 'I used to spend all night doing what it now takes me all night to do'.
Women tend to underestimate this lack of self-confidence in aging men's sexuality and when people are not taken seriously there can be dire consequences. Men tend to take the lead role in bed, so women do not notice so much that they are losing stamina as well.
The fact is that female and male menopause might have an effect on us in a different manner (and some individuals seem to be unaffected at all), but couples need to become more aware that hormonal changes will occur around mid-life and that is why there is the cliche of a mid-life crisis.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a variety of topics, but is now involved with hormonal treatment for prostate cancer. If you want to know more go to What is the Treatment for Prostate Cancer?
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