Empower The Pause

Gloria Steinem was not a menopause campaigner.

But the menopause movement owes a considerable debt to women like her.

For decades, Steinem challenged the systems that determined how women’s bodies were understood, discussed and valued.

In her famous 1978 essay If Men Could Menstruate, she turned the tables on something regarded as an embarrassing female bodily function and asked us to imagine how differently it might be treated if men experienced it instead.

It was satire. But underneath it was a serious question about gender, biology and power.

Today, as menopause has finally started to occupy space in medicine, workplaces, research, politics and public conversation, perhaps we should remember the women who helped make that space possible.

Gloria Steinem may not have built the menopause movement.

But she was instrumental in building the platform from which it could gain traction.

She spent a lifetime challenging the idea that women’s experiences should be diminished, dismissed or defined for them.

That work helped generations of women speak more loudly about their bodies, their rights and their lives.

Gloria Steinem died today, aged 92.

What a platform she leaves behind. Gloria Steinem

MISOGYNY MONDAY 📦 The Corporate Edition.

We frequently talk about equality for women at work. Some organisations are genuinely forward thinking, including supporting women experiencing perimenopause and menopause symptoms that affect their working lives.

And at the same time, an advert from a global brand depicting a man shoving a woman to the ground over a golf club made it through a corporate approval process.

How are we here in 2026?

What happened to respecting women?

The people making these decisions have mothers. Grandmothers. Daughters. Wives. Female colleagues.

How did we dial things backwards?

And no, this isn’t every organisation.

I’ve worked with brilliant leaders who genuinely want to stamp out sexism, bullying, harassment and poor behaviour.

But there are enough women bringing legal action against major organisations alleging discrimination, harassment and hostile workplace cultures to know we still have a problem.

So when we talk about workplace wellbeing, including menopause support, perhaps we need to look beyond policies, awareness days and menopause champions.

How well can we support women through an unavoidable stage of life if we haven’t addressed how women are regarded at work in the first place?

My work isn’t gender specific. I support women and men trying to make sense of what’s happening within themselves, at home, in relationships and at work.

I’ve sat in the senior HR seat. I know how organisations work and what can be said behind closed doors.

I’ve also investigated cases involving harassment, discrimination, sexual assault, people losing jobs unfairly and people whose lives and relationships have unravelled under the stress of what was happening at work.

Sometimes my job is to hold space, help someone understand their options and empower them to choose what happens next.

Sometimes it means being comfortable enough to challenge the uncomfortable.

Because you can’t change what you haven’t unpacked. 📦💜

Image created using AI from my original concept, prompts and creative direction.

Making menopause mainstream, and absolutely normal!

Parked the car. Went to work. Came back 8.5 hours later and I’d left the car running

Bonus was only a small amount of petrol had gone.

Normal behaviour when going through hormone change. What’s yours (and not the ones rinsed and repeated by the oodles of menopause parody accounts!)

Sometimes two people who love each other stop recognising the relationship they’re living in.

One is thinking, “Why don’t you understand what I need?”

The other, “I don’t know who I’m supposed to be in this anymore.”

And somewhere between needing space, wanting closeness, feeling rejected, trying to help and getting it spectacularly wrong, they stop talking about what’s actually happening.

Because hormonal change doesn’t only change how you feel.

It can change the meaning you give to each other’s behaviour.

Space can feel like rejection.
Concern can feel like pressure.
Silence can feel like indifference.

Sometimes support is 36 hours of space.

Sometimes it’s finally talking about “it."

And sometimes it’s simply asking:

"Do you want me to listen, help, or just be here?"

Perhaps the question isn’t only “What’s happening to me?”

It’s “What’s happening to us, while this is happening to me?” 💜

Sometimes love isn’t the problem. Sometimes two people who love each other stop recognising the relationship they’re living in. One is thinking, “Why don’t you understand what I need?” The other, “I don’t know who I’m supposed to be in this anymore.” And somewhere between needing space, wanting closeness, feeling rejected, trying to help and getting it spectacularly wrong, they stop talking about what’s actually happening. Because hormonal change doesn’t only change how you feel. It can change the meaning you give to each other’s behaviour. Space can feel like rejection. Concern can feel like pressure. Silence can feel like indifference. Sometimes support is 36 hours of space. Sometimes it’s finally talking about “it." And sometimes it’s simply asking: "Do you want me to listen, help, or just be here?" Perhaps the question isn’t only “What’s happening to me?” It’s “What’s happening to us, while this is happening to me?” 💜 #EmpowerThePause #Menopause #Perimenopause #Andropause #Relationships #MidlifeRelationships #HormonalHealth #life #love #Relationships #relationshipsupport #counselling #coaching #yourpause #yourpower #yourway

MISOGYNY MONDAY

Menopause is not a mental illness.

Yet for generations, women’s anxiety, low mood, poor sleep, brain fog and irritability have too often been treated as psychological problems without hormones even entering the conversation.

That’s the bit I want to talk about.

Not because every woman in her 40s or 50s needs HRT.

Not because antidepressants are bad medicines.

But because both hormonal and non hormonal causes deserve proper investigation.

We shouldn’t assume it’s menopause.

We shouldn’t assume it isn’t either.

Perhaps the real question for Misogyny Monday is this:

How did something that potentially affects half the population become such a blind spot in medicine in the first place?

Introducing: Unpacking Misogyny 📦 Every Monday

It’s 2026.

If we want to shape a better future, we need to understand some of what came before us and ask how much of it we’re still carrying.

So every Monday, I’m going to unpack a piece of misogyny from our history and ask …. has this been left in the past?

Let’s start with medicine.

For centuries, women’s pain and physical symptoms have been dismissed, underestimated or attributed to their emotions.

“It’s all in your head.” Surely this doesn’t happen now, right?

Well…

A 2024 study examining 21,851 emergency department records found that women presenting with pain were less likely than men to receive pain medication, even after accounting for their reported pain scores and other clinical factors.

Women’s pain scores were also 10% less likely to be recorded and they spent around 30 minutes longer in the emergency department.

And the difference was found among both male and female doctors.

So perhaps the more interesting question isn’t simply who is misogynistic.

It’s what happens when assumptions about women become embedded into systems, thinking and decision making, sometimes without us even realising they’re there.

That’s what Unpacking Misogyny is about.

Not blaming.

Understanding what came before us, recognising what we may still be carrying and using our voices, self advocacy and working together to make sure we have equality. Not too much to ask is it??

Because you can’t change what you haven’t unpacked. 📦💜

Source: Guzikevits et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2024.

Image created using AI from my original concept, prompts and creative direction.

No s**t. 😂

And it’s not all that changes.

As we get older, we start looking beyond the things we thought mattered when we were younger.

Less stuff. Less status. Less proving.

More meaning. More peace. More people and experiences that actually matter.

Turns out getting older changes what we want from life too.



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Menopause changes a lot of things. Sleep gets weird. Patience thins. Body temperature becomes a personal vendetta. According to new research, it may also change what women notice and respond to when they look at men.