The focus on grandmothering also casts the menopause in a new light, suggesting that it isn’t some biological blip or routine curse of old age, but that it’s there for a distinct evolutionary purpose. The image of the useless crone is replaced by a useful woman. Rather than being a burden on society, retreating into a quieter life, she is front and centre. She is propping up her family. Indeed, such is our need of her that her very existence may be living proof of it.
