Vogue USA - 04.2020

(singke) #1

112 APRIL 2020 VOGUE.COM


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After decades of existing in the shadows, menopause is trending—among newly
vocal celebrities, product developers, and women who are finally changing the narrative
around the health issue that comes for us all. By Jancee Dunn.

BE THE CHANGE


EMBOLDENED BY MILLENNIAL START-UPS AND CHAT FORUMS


FOCUSED ON ONCE-SECRETIVE FEMALE-CENTRIC TOPICS,


THE OVER-50 SET IS GIVING MENOPAUSE THE REBRAND IT NEEDS.


T


he first time I lurched awake at night, my
body ablaze, I flung off the covers
in a panic. Although perimenopause—
which can begin several years before
menopause—is a certainty for most women
entering their late 40s, it still came as a
shock to me as my symptoms piled up: uncomfortable
hot flashes, suddenly papery skin, pain during sex.
I had my hunches, but I wasn’t quite ready to accept my
transition into “the change,” as menopause is vaguely
referred to in popular culture—if it’s referred to at all.

Like death and taxes, menopause is an inevitability for
women. But despite the fact that there are more than
60 million women aged 50 and above in the United States
(the average onset of menopause is 51), the marketplace
for providing us with both the tools and the knowledge to
navigate this universal health stage is shockingly bare,
which likely contributed to my own denial. If you don’t

ALEX KATZ.


HARBOR # 3


, 1999. OIL ON CANVAS, 309.8” X 387.3”. @ 2020 ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK. PHOTO © CHRISTIE’S IMAGES/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES.

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