The Socio-Materiality of HRT: Hormones As a Boundary Object in Negotiations of Aging

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) in menopause serves as a critical point of negotiation in defining the boundaries between the normal and the pathological. As a boundary object, HRT becomes a tool through which medical, social, and individual perceptions of aging and health are mediated. It places menopause at the intersection of biomedical management and natural processes. This paper will explore how HRT has become a site of negotiation by focusing on “hormonal narratives”.

Women, in particular, are often called upon to take responsibility for managing their health and HRT is often framed as a choice that requires self-monitoring and decision-making about dosage, duration, and necessity. Drawing on Foucault’s concept of "technologies of the self", we will examine how women are encouraged to take on a proactive role in managing their bodies during menopause as they face social pressures to maintain productivity, health, and youthfulness. This process situates HRT not only as a medical decision but also as an ethical and social one, where women’s subjectivites are entangled with narratives about aging, health, and normality.