AJUMMA WELLBEING CLINIC is a participatory art–science performance installation that reimagines menopause and Korean Ajumma identity through a speculative Social Prescribing framework.
What and who are Ajumma?
Ajumma sitting in a row on a public bench, sharing food. Notice their comfortable clothes, shoes, tight perm. Most of them are wearing hats to protect themselves from the sun. Image: Pinterest
Ajumma [Ah-Joom-Mah] means a Korean gender and age-related derogatory term depicting women in menopause. It is a title for Korean menopausal women to attribute them as ‘over the hill’, ‘no longer worthy of the male gaze’, ‘too loud, crazy, outspoken’, ‘they’ve let themselves go with their appearance as they’ve become too pudgy and no longer wear trendy clothes’. Currently, no woman wants to be called Ajumma as they are considered beyond the attractive age. I suppose ‘the attractive age’ must mean the reproductive age because the societal value for women is usually confined within the range of the reproductive period.
In partnership with ANAT through their Bespoke Program 2026—an opportunity I feel deeply privileged to receive—AJUMMA WELLBEING CLINIC challenges the stigmatising perceptions of menopausal women and Ajumma, whose experiences of dismissal, stereotyping, and invisibility closely mirror those of many menopausal women in Australia. Continue reading
