Women are putting a period in the stigma of menopause - Marva Williams

For far too long, the natural life-evolving bodily changes of women have been financially, physically, and psychologically marginalised.

It is even more telling about our society when a woman has to leverage her natural experiences to navigate corporate boardrooms to access time, or freedom from male colleagues.

Recently feminism and womanism have taken another step forward in the area of menopause awareness and empathy.

International Women's Day 2022 (IWD) saw the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announce a new initiative: City Hall staff are to be given 'world-leading' menopause leave.  Staff experiencing menopause will also be entitled to request suitable support and workplace adjustments.

This could mean ensuring that the working environment is comfortable wherever possible, for instance with temperature-controlled areas, as well as flexible adjustments to the working day to accommodate the need to take breaks if symptoms become severe, time off to attend medical appointments, or suitable changes to work tasks when experiencing symptoms.

These steps will help ensure that anyone experiencing menopausal symptoms gets the same support and understanding as if they had any other health issue.

Yet while the mayor’s groundbreaking announcement is a welcome one, it nonetheless continues to promote menopause as a problem — rather than the evolution of a human's life experience.

Collectively women don’t want menopause to be perceived as a problem, but as a stage of life that every single woman will go through — much like periods and puberty.

Women around the world will no doubt be rejoicing that the menopause taboo is finally being broken. Now that the shroud of secrecy has finally started to lift, women are able to openly acknowledge and discuss their experiences.

With women no longer having to suffer in silence, their partners may be able to help them with their menopausal transition.

Menopause affects over half the population so we need to keep talking about it as loudly as we can and exploring effective treatment options. Not everyone can take HRT: women need to be offered natural alternatives.

As founder of Shhh… Menopause Wellness,  I want every woman to be able to make the menopausal decision that is best for them.  I want women to be able to make informed decisions,” she shared. Choices that are informed and accepted as norms for all women.

Shhh… Menopause Wellness is a helping hand!