Biological Foundations of Universal Sexual Transition ; There Is No Menopause/Andropause Later Life as Universal Sexual Transition

Bibliographic Details
Title: Biological Foundations of Universal Sexual Transition ; There Is No Menopause/Andropause Later Life as Universal Sexual Transition
Authors: Blatt, Kate Lynn
Contributors: Blatt, Kate Lynn
Publisher Information: Zenodo
Publication Year: 2025
Collection: Zenodo
Subject Terms: Longevity, Longevity/genetics, Longevity/physiology, Longevity/ethics, Longevity/immunology, Longevity/drug effects, Longevity/radiation effects
Description: Biological Foundations of Universal Sexual Transition There Is No Menopause/Andropause Later Life as Universal Sexual Transition The prevailing framework describes “menopause” in women and “andropause” in men as sex-specific declines in reproductive hormones that mark the end of fertility. This framing emphasizes deficit and loss. In this paper, I propose a corrective reinterpretation: menopause and its male analogues are not failures of the body but part of a universal, late-life sexual transition. Across sexes, aging brings systematic changes in hormone levels, secondary sex characteristics, psychological profiles, and social roles. These changes are not pathological but developmental. Late life is a transition from procreative sexual dimorphism to a convergent phenotype blending traits of both sexes. I trace the history of the menopause concept, present biological and sociological evidence for sex convergence with age, and compare these natural processes with gender-affirming hormone therapies to highlight mechanistic parallels. I then define metrics—the Transition Index (TI) and Sex-Characteristic Convergence Score (SCC)—to quantify transition trajectories. Candidate datasets and statistical models are described to make the hypothesis falsifiable. The implications are wide-ranging: new biomarkers for longevity research, new approaches to clinical care, challenges to rigid gender binaries, and recognition of elders as stabilizers in social systems. The central claim is radical but testable: there is no menopause or andropause. There is only universal sexual transition.
Document Type: report
Language: English
Relation: https://zenodo.org/records/17211857; oai:zenodo.org:17211857; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17211857
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17211857
Availability: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17211857
https://zenodo.org/records/17211857
Rights: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International ; cc-by-4.0 ; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode ; Kate Lynn Blatt
Accession Number: edsbas.B56F6E5A
Database: BASE
Description
DOI:10.5281/zenodo.17211857