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Read a Gen-Z opinion on why most people don't need to care about menopause.
Last Wednesday I attended a wellbeing in the workplace event with Wildflowers of London run by the wonderful and hilarious Lou Nylander. I was expecting there would be general tips on counting to ten when you’re stressed or telling people to not get burned out. Instead, what I found was perspective on a new topic I’ve never had to care about, and some prosecco of course!
Emma Newman was brave enough to open the conversation and share her story around menopause. As I listened to Emma’s story about the brain fog, mood swings and change in personality - I realised something. Menopause is something I don’t know much about. I’m only 23 and it feels so far away. That freaked me out. Because menopause is going to happen to me, and had I not gone to this seminar I might not have known what I could be in for.
Along with the physical symptoms, Emma had to deal with the symptoms of people not understanding menopause. The uncomfortable responses, the lack of knowledge around how to support her from managers and although she didn’t say it- at some points probably unfounded shame or guilt for nothing more than being a woman.
A number of women are going through menopause at any moment, and the side effects affect up to 75% of women (BMS). Because it’s not affecting most of us and we’re not hearing about it enough, we don't really have to care about it, but we should.
We should care about menopause, and for more than altruistic reasons. The Menopause itself isn't life threatening but the impact of not managing hormones correctly can be - increased risk of heart disease, increased risk / early onset of dementia are two potentially life threatening consequences of unbalanced hormones. The Human Resource space is taking on a different role in companies than it used to. As people feel more financially insecure and have less trust in governments, they’re putting their faith in corporations for a better society. As diversity and inclusion initiatives increase, so do the amount of qualified and highly effective women in the workplace, meaning that about half of staff will go through menopause at some point. To be an effective HR leader and an effective team member, there should be more understanding around changing behaviours and how to handle them in a way that’s actually helpful.
