What took me aback the most were two things; how significant a condition menopause is, and the fact that we lose more than 10 per cent of women from the workforce prematurely because of it.
How are we not up in arms about this statistic?
If only menopause affected men, I thought to myself. There would be millions of dollars thrown at it quicker than you can say Adelaide 500.
Menopause typically affects women aged between 45 and 55, an age when many men really hit their prime. In fact, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency found that while a greater proportion of men move into leadership positions as they age, the proportion of women who occupy leadership roles increases between 18 and 44 years and then significantly decreases.
Women become invisible as they age. While women are literally disappearing from the workforce due to menopause, women over 50 are also the fastest-growing cohort of homeless people, and First Nations women and those with disabilities are particularly vulnerable.
Women I know experiencing menopause also face the double burden of responsibility of care for both their children and elderly parents. These women are not only making valuable contributions to the workforce but are also playing important (unpaid) roles in the lives of others.
Women’s bodies are unique in that they are regulated and legislated in a way that men’s are not.
If some policymakers put the same attention and effort into promoting policies that address health inequities as they currently put into trying to control women’s bodies, we would be so much closer to gender equality.
[Ed: Sadly this article degenerates into an advertisement for HRT and thereby pathologises menopause. Is it really menopause that causes loss of women from the workforce or is it the toll of juggling care responsibilities in an inflexible work environment and unreasonable expectations on women maintaining a permanently youthful appearance?]
Source: Too hot to handle: Women’s health still taboo in Australia
Menopause is not a desease. It’s just getting older (which is not socially valuable in particular for women who feel obliged to conceal it as much as possible). It could be a vey liberating period of time for women instead of being alienating by life « treatment », obsession for youth and fears. I ´ll be 50 soon :-), my body aches more, my periods has become a surprise, my mind is liberated at last and my spirit full of joy in front of all these things I can do now.