First, they blamed our periods. Now they’re blaming our menopause. They’ve even coined a new term: Menodivorce.

Join Coach Kristy Lynn as she argues that blaming menopause for rising divorce rates among those 50 and older is ridiculous. She acknowledges that while overall divorce rates are dropping, divorces among those 50+ did rise from nearly 10% in 1990 to over 25% in 2019, but she attributes that to expanded legal and economic options and changing cultural expectations, not hormones.

She reviews cultural history of women’s economic oppression, marital rape legality, and past psychiatric institutionalization for “menopause insanity,” plus the shift enabled by no-fault divorce, noting these factors shaped women’s ability to leave.

She makes the case for menopause acting as a catalyst that unmasks long-ignored issues in health, careers, and relationships and cites other common drivers like men’s midlife crises and divorces for asset protection during illness as alternative contributors to the increase in divorce rates.

00:00 Menodivorce Myth Busted

00:44 Menopause Unmasks Truths

01:39 History of Women's Oppression

02:08 Marriage Control and Asylums

03:11 Grandmother Hypothesis and Freedom

04:52 Divorce Stats and Generations

06:30 Other Drivers of Gray Divorce

07:20 Menopause as Catalyst Not Cause

08:49 Clarity Across All Relationships

09:50 Wrap Up and Next Episode

If you’d like to check out sources for further reading, get it on the blog!

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