Reframing Aging

Insights from Biology and Culture of Midlife Japanese

Melissa K. Melby

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English

Routledge
10 September 2025

Regional studies; Anthropology; Personal & public health; Geriatric medicine; Medical anthropology

Series: New Biological Anthropology

How do we age? Why do we age? How and why does menopause happen? Do different cultures have different approaches and attitudes to, and experiences of, aging and menopause? Reframing Aging: Insights from Biology and Culture of Midlife Japanese uses a biocultural framework to try to answer these questions, and gain insights on aging and menopause in Japan, the United States, and beyond.

Drawing on years of fieldwork and lab work in Japan, and over a decade of living and working in Japan at several universities and the National Institute of Health and Nutrition, with follow‑up interviews spanning over 20 years, Melissa Melby challenges what are often considered “normal” experiences of aging and menopause. This book introduces a proximate‑ultimate biocultural framework to guide the reader through questions of how (proximate) and why (ultimate) we age, and experience menopause, as we do. Drawing insights from evolutionary biology and societal‑level phenomena, and the language of lived experience, it explores how cross‑cultural variation in expectations, medicalization, collectivism, lifestyles, and other factors may influence how symptoms of aging and menopause are perceived, experienced, and treated.

Reframing Aging: Insights from Biology and Culture of Midlife Japanese offers new approaches and insightful perspectives for students of biological/cultural/medical anthropology, gerontology, Asian studies, women and gender studies, medicine, and public health.

By: Melissa K. Melby
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 540g
ISBN: 9781041082453
ISBN 10: 1041082452
Series: New Biological Anthropology
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 10 September 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. Introduction PART I: PROXIMATE BIOLOGY 2. Proximate Biology: Introduction 3. Proximate Biology of Aging 4. Proximate Biology of Menopause PART II: PROXIMATE CULTURAL 5. Proximate Culture: Introduction 6. Proximate Culture of Aging 7. Proximate Culture of Menopause PART III: ULTIMATE BIOLOGICAL 8. Ultimate Biology: Introduction 9. Ultimate Biology of Aging 10. Ultimate Biology of Menopause PART IV: ULTIMATE CULTURAL 11. Ultimate Culture: Introduction 12. Ultimate Culture of Aging 13. Ultimate Culture of Menopause 14. Questions & Future Explorations

Melissa K. Melby is a medical anthropologist and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Delaware, USA. She has been conducting research on biocultural understandings of, and approaches to, aging and menopause for over 25 years, with a particular focus on Japan.

Reviews for Reframing Aging: Insights from Biology and Culture of Midlife Japanese

“Melby’s book is an engaging demonstration of what holistic anthropology can do. Melby uses multiple complementary levels of analysis, integrating theoretical perspectives from biomedicine, biocultural anthropology, evolutionary biology, and public health, to prompt the reader to look at menopause and aging in a new light.” - Karen Rosenberg, Professor at the Department of Anthropology, University of Delaware, USA “Many scholars write about interdisciplinary science, but Melby’s accessible book walks the walk! She skillfully weaves insights from her participant-observer research with theory to fully articulate her comprehensive Proximate-Ultimate Biocultural framework. A must-read for all those interested in human development, culture, and their intersections.” - Julie Hicks Patrick, Professor of Life-Span Developmental Psychology at West Virginia University, USA