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Laurie and Debbie say:

We were really lucky to come across two very different, very good articles about menopause–a subject which so often gets overlooked, dismissed, and trivialized. Yes! Magazine’s “Menopause Matters” is by Omisade Burney-Scott. Burney-Scott’s credentials are extraordinary: she is the founder of Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause, has been a social justice and reproductive justice advocate for over a quarter century, and she coined the term “Menopausal Multiverse,” which we gratefully borrowed for the title of this post.  Although it is from 2021, Anna North’s “Menopause Is Having a Moment,” published at Vox, covers some of the same territory from a different perspective (and features Burney-Scott as one of the quoted experts).

Burney-Scott, appropriately, focuses on the systemically racist treatment of menopause in popular culture:

Unfortunately, the menopausal experience isn’t often depicted or celebrated as a positive life transition with various stages and expressions; instead, it’s frequently portrayed as a fearful conclusion of menstruation. In mainstream culture, especially in media, people going through menopause are often white, cisgender, heterosexual, middle-aged, and middle-class individuals depicted as hot, sweaty, confused, and angry. Consequently, the expanding landscape of support, services, education, and advocacy lacks intentional representation of the unique menopausal experiences, needs, and struggles faced by those marginalized along lines of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, and socioeconomic status.

Implicit in this characterization is that the “hot, sweaty, confused and angry” white women aren’t getting a reasonable image of themselves either, though as a group they certainly have more access to medical care and options. It’s the “intentional representation” Burney-Scott calls out that is lacking throughout, and — as always — lacking more for the marginalized.

Here’s the one and only Jen Gunter, author of The Menopause Manifesto, quoted in North’s article:

“I hear so many stories from women who’ve been dismissed by doctors,” Gunter said.

The result is that menopausal people often suffer in silence — and the stigma can affect every aspect of their lives. “You hear from women that they’re going to leave the workforce because they can’t handle their menopausal symptoms,” Gunter said. Indeed, in one 2013 survey conducted in the UK, nearly 40 percent of women said menopause symptoms had negatively affected their work, but a majority had never discussed the symptoms with their manager, often because they were embarrassed or because their manager was a man.

“You’re this person who has been incredibly productive and contributed your whole life. And now,” Gunter said, “because of this, you’re sidelined.”

North also quotes Pauline Maki, a professor of psychiatry, psychology, and obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago:

Take, for example, vaginal dryness. It’s not talked about much — in part because the whole idea of older women having sex is considered taboo, Maki says. But treatment is crucial to help patients lead healthy, pain-free lives, including having sex, regardless of their age. “I see this as a woman’s right,” Maki said.

Hot flashes, meanwhile, are often treated as a mere annoyance. But emerging research shows they disrupt people’s sleep, which can increase the risk of cognitive impairment and even Alzheimer’s disease, Maki said. “We need to have enough education for women about what safe treatment options they have.”

The North article is practical, useful, feminist, and compassionate. Nonetheless, Burney-Scott goes far deeper. She draws the very rarely centered connection between general denial of body autonomy and the specifics of menopause:

Across generations, Black, Indigenous, and women of color, as well as those who identify as transgender or have expansive gender identities, have grappled with the profound challenge of asserting agency over their own bodies. Historical injustices, such as the displacement and genocide of Indigenous peoples and the enslavement and racial violence endured by individuals of African descent, have hindered bodily autonomy. These obstacles find their origins in the socially constructed concept of race, where whiteness has been artificially elevated as the societal standard. Consequently, experiences outside of this norm consistently face othering, marginalization, and dehumanization.

[J. Marion] Sims, [known as the “father of gynecology”], honed his newly developing gynecological techniques in the 19th century by practicing on enslaved Black women—including Anarcha, Betsey, Lucy, and others named in the book—without anesthesia. Over the course of four years, Anarcha endured a total of 30 experimental surgeries, while all the women faced the pathologization of their gender and race, reflecting the historical trend of stigmatizing and medicalizing women’s health. 

The persistent impact of structural racism, which involves unequal access to resources, services, and opportunities based on race, significantly contributes to the health disparities observed between Black and white women during midlife. Black women often experience systemic barriers to accessing quality health care, educational opportunities, economic stability, and suitable housing. These disparities can lead to higher levels of stress, limited health care choices, and reduced preventive care. … A 2023 survey from The Menopause Society found that “only 31.3% of responding obstetrics and gynecology program directors reported menopause education was included in their residents’ training,” while a 2019 study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that less than 10% of OB-GYNs felt adequately trained to support menopausal people in their practices.

Having fully acknowledged the seriousness of the situation (with much more detail than we are quoting here), Burney-Scott (as you would expect from her experience and expertise) goes on to look for — and at — solutions:

Addressing these disparities requires a multifaceted approach. It involves promoting inclusivity in research, health care policies, and education. Health care providers need to be culturally sensitive, acknowledging the unique experiences and challenges that marginalized individuals face during menopause. By addressing these disparities and providing equitable health care access, we can work toward a more just and supportive menopausal experience for all.

…

I believe that Black people are the experts of our own bodies. Owning our stories is vital to having agency over our experiences, relationships, and liberation. By integrating reproductive justice, radical Black feminism, and gender liberation, BGG2SM normalizes menopause by centering first-person narratives of those who exist at the margins of the growing menopause landscape. We nurture a community that includes all voices and lived experiences: cis, trans, intersex, queer, straight, affluent, low-wealth, activists, and creatives.

We are committed to a time-bending, expansive, culturally, politically, and spiritually grounded space for all stories and truths to be shared, accessed, and elevated. These principles require us to identify the pathways to new ways of thinking and talking about menopause, grounded in the historical, cultural, and political understanding of the lived experiences, truths, and realities of Black women and people who have a uterus and ovaries. In that sense, we have become cartographers of what I call the “Menopausal Multiverse,” and we are consistently alchemizing what we learn about the “who” inside the menopause and aging landscape.

And she offers several quotations from experts who have thought about this deeply. Here’s our favorite:

In an interview on the [Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause] podcast, Syd Yang, ordained Buddhist minister, movement chaplain, and founder of Blue Jaguar Healing Arts, summarizes this: “As challenging, frustrating, and confounding as perimenopause and menopause may feel—what if this is your body and your sacred center saying ‘I love you, let’s get to know each other better?’”

Read both articles if you can. But if you can only read one, read Burney-Scott.

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