Using Hermeneutic Phenomenology to Elicit a Sense of Body at Mid-life

Résumé

In this article, the author demonstrates how a phenomenological approach may be used to describe the changes of women's bodies at menopause. In Korea, the middle age of Korean women has been referred as the golden age and autumn season, and which means Korean thing highly of internal mature rather than external facts. When Korean women experience menopausal, they feel they are in the middle of storm, and just have passed by in the time. They can expert and feel tomorrow's weather by the changes of their body. While the experience menopausal, they can extremely perceive changes of their body, and at the same time, incidence rate of breast cancer is no the increase. Mastectomy has serious effects on both women's body and spirit. Phenomenological analysis on the changes of body shows that the middle age women of Korea feel "Evidently visible scratches of years", "My body is a live weather forecaster", "Khi is getting weaker", "Being fearful suddenly but too late", "The more aged, the more precious life becomes", "Being comfortable is better than being beautiful", "Wish to go back to their past", "Intense desire for re- challenging life", "Better friends than husband". In conclusion, there of no way to fully understand someone without knowing one's lived experience within the cultural context. To understand artificial changes by surgery as well as natural ones, and even to do holistic nursing, qualitative research is essentially required.