Menopause: The Female Taboo

With her head in the fridge, Claire Underwood, wife of the U.S. President, tries to calm a hot flush. The series House of Cards, a major hit in the 2000s, doesn’t stray far from the cliché: menopause equals heat.

For many women, the conversation about menopause ends there. Around the age of fifty, you might experience some hot flashes—unpleasant but temporary—and after a few months, no more periods and, naturally, no more babies.

Menopause is a natural phenomenon that affects all women, typically between the ages of 45 and 55. The ovaries, which have been gradually producing fewer eggs, eventually stop altogether. Estrogen levels drop, and menstruation ceases.

If only it were that simple.

Perimenopause: The Bitter Prelude

Before reaching this stage, women experience perimenopause. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this can last several years and impact physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being.

During perimenopause, periods become unpredictable—sometimes arriving every two months, sometimes twice in one month, often with erratic flow. They might present themselves discreetly or, in contrast, as a torrential flood.

Hot flushes are rarely as glamorous as portrayed on TV. The WHO describes them as “sudden sensations of heat in the face, neck, and chest, often accompanied by reddening of the skin, sweating, palpitations, and intense physical discomfort that can last for several minutes.”

At night, these symptoms can mean waking up several times, sometimes in sweat-soaked sheets, and facing the next day exhausted. To this, we can add joint pain, weight gain, and, of course… irritability. It’s hard to stay calm with irregular periods, uncontrollable sweating, sleepless nights, and aches all over.

Let’s not forget breast tenderness, vaginal dryness that can make sex painful, and hair that gradually disappears from under the arms only to reappear beneath the chin.

The global population of postmenopausal women is growing. Women aged 50 and over accounted for 26% of all women and girls globally, yet many will never talk about the challenges of menopause.

Breaking the Silence

If we talked about it more openly, if information were better shared, women might feel better understood, supported, and equipped to navigate this phase. Perhaps they would even feel less “irritable.”

What about women, sometimes very young, who find themselves thrust into menopause due to cancer treatment or other illnesses? How many discuss it with their partners, friends, doctors, or employers when the symptoms become overwhelming?

Why do only 6% of women use hormone replacement therapies? While they may not be suitable in cases like a history of breast cancer, they remain rarely prescribed. Non-hormonal therapies also exist.

To break this taboo and encourage open discussion, the WHO created World Menopause Day and continues to spread information on the subject.