Menopause: Down with stereotypes and misinformation!

For a long time, menopause has been a taboo subject. Currently, society is experiencing a certain openness towards this phase of female life, and many renowned women speak unabashedly of the symptoms related to it.

Hollywood star Salma Hayek, 55, explained in an interview that her breasts have grown considerably due to menopause. Former American First Lady Michelle Obama, 58, also talks about her experiences in an episode of her podcast: “It's like I have an oven in me.”

The Scottish Head of Government, Nicola Sturgeon, said in an interview with the British newspaper “The Guardian” that she felt compelled to talk about menopause. The British Countess Sophia of Wessex (57) advocates the elimination of the taboo surrounding this phase of female life in the world of work.

The reason: According to estimates, around 900,000 women in the UK have left their jobs during menopause, for example, because they could not reconcile their tasks with the symptoms of the climacteric.

The book “Woman on Fire”, in which the American gynecologist Sheila de Liz knocks down the topics about menopause, landed on the best-seller lists. The song also plays a role in the new season of the iconic American series “Sex and the City”, renamed “And Just Like That”: their respective characters are already over 50 years old and are precisely at this stage.

But if you ask yourself on the street what exactly menopause is, the answer of many, especially young people, is usually something like: “I'd have to look it up on Google.”

Katrin Schaudig, gynaecologist and president of the German Menopause Society, however, has the impression that menopause, or climacteric, has become more socially acceptable. “There is a certain shake-up in society that makes women less ashamed of their menopause and more likely to say: 'What is going to be done to her, you have to take it with patience. '

Or to put it more concretely: women have simply become more confident in themselves. However, according to Schaudig, there is another rather banal reason: “This is the generation of 'baby boomers' (born between 1957 and 1977). It is the generation with the largest number of women in history. So it's the pure mass that makes the difference.”

Schadig notes that the impression that menopause has become more acceptable is not a fact that has been found in the consultation, since it has always been a protected space. “Women have always talked about it openly here,” says Schaudig, adding that it is rather that the issue has reached society.

Although there is still the topic “he has menopause, he is old”, he has finally lost his fear of the climacteric, he points out.

Why does this equation still exist in times of advertisements for tampons in which blood is no longer blue but red, and last year's boycott of pink latex gloves developed by two German businessmen to dispose of sanitary ware?

“In contrast to menstruation, associated with femininity and fertility and therefore accepted in society, menopause is a reminder of transience,” says Diana Helfrich, a pharmacist, science journalist and author of a book on the subject.

Helfrich sees a new opening towards menopause, especially on the Internet. “I especially notice this on the new Instagram accounts,” explains the expert, explaining that this social network allows women to share their experiences and create networks. In his opinion, this advantage also carries over to real life. “Like any Internet phenomenon, it inevitably ends up reaching real life,” he says.

According to Klaus Doubek, president of the Association of Gynecologists of Germany, the Internet is also the ideal place to exchange opinions on personal and particularly stigmatized issues. “The possibility of anonymous communication and the consequent reduction of stigmatisation should promote openness,” he says.

In addition to celebrities such as Salma Hayek or Michelle Obama, many other women also show that the equation “has menopause, it's old” often doesn't work. Under the hashtag "#menopausia “, there are countless photographs on Instagram that prove otherwise.

dpa