Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh sebuah mitos Sudaya yang tcrjadi di Jawa Tengah, masyarakat beranggapan bahwa wanita yang telah memasuki masa menopause tidak membutuhkan kebutuhan seksual sehingga setiap orang tua yang ditinggal mati oleh salah satu pasangannya bila hendak menikah lagi selalu mendapat rintangan dari anak - anaknya. Penelitian ini bertujuan mencari tahu tentang gambaran perilaku wanita Jawa dalam menjalani masa menopause termasuk di dalamnya perilaku seksual. Penelitian ini didesain dengan metode kualitatif etnografi, metode pengambilan partisipan atau sampel dengan metode purposif sampling tehnik pengambilan data dengan cara wawancara mendalam dan observasi sedangkan analisis data dengan menggunakan metode toksonomi, hasil penelitian ini bahwa wanita Jawa belum memahami apa itu menopause dan perubahan yang terjadi. Perilaku atau kegiatan seharii-hari wanita Jawa adalah melakukan kegiatan yang berhubungan dengan pekerjaan rumah tangga, termasuk memasak, upaya perawatan diri dan kesehatan reproduksi dilakukan dengan minum jamu Jawa sedangkan untuk aktifitas seksual, semua partisipan masih aktif melakukan hubungan seksual, meskipun frekuensinya menurun. Intake nutrisi yang dilakukan wanita Jawa selama masa menopause mengalami penurunan terutama porsi makan.

---

This study was triggered by a cultural myth which is believed among the people in Central Java that the needs of sexual activity of women who are in the menopause period is not longer necessary. Consequently, there are always barriers especially from the children of any menopause widows of death husband to remarry. The purpose of this study is to explore Central Javanese women's behaviors as well as their sexual behaviors in dealing with menopause period. A qualitative ethnographic method was applied to this study. The participants were selected using purposive sampling methods. The data was obtained from an in depth interview and observations. Taxonomy methods were performed to analyze data. The results of this study suggested that the Central Javanese women had little understanding on the nature of menopause and the possibly changes occurred at that period. The main activity of those women were doing household activities including cooking, taking Javanese traditional herbs (jamu) to maintain reproductive health, and all the participants remained active sexually even though the frequency of the activities decreased. There was also reducing in the nutritional intake during menopause period among Central Javanese women.