Every year, World Menopause Day is on 18 October. A year ago, I shared my experience of perimenopause and launched Menopause Over Martinis* as a grassroots project to help make this stage of life less taboo.
It's been so exciting and heartening to see so many other people standing up and speaking out to raise awareness this year on World Menopause Day.
Over the week around Aotearoa, menopause was the focus of radio interviews, online articles, the breakfast show on TVNZ, a blog post on my local library's website, information in newsletters for GPs, heaps of posts and Q&As on social media, and limited-edition, tea towels to support the cause! https://bit.ly/2ZEc9D8 My design and co-campaigning friend Helen Milner and I launched two tea towel designs: ‘Menopause is Hot – join the revolution’ and ‘Me No Pause – let’s talk about it.’ The perfect conversation starter in your kitchen at home or in your workplace!
The tide is really turning. A few things you might like to check out in case you didn’t see them on the public Facebook group for Menopause Over Martinis* recently:
* I pitched to RNZ’s Saturday programme for Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson of Power Pause to talk to Kim Hill about why it’s important for workplaces to be more menopause-friendly. https://bit.ly/31nxHFj
* I wrote some content about menopause and compiled some handy resources which were shared by The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners with its members nationwide.
* TVNZ’s breakfast show presenter Jenny-May Clarkson talked to Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson of Power Pause, and Shirley Șerban, the Kiwi woman behind 'Menopause Rhapsody' - the parody of Queen's 1975 classic 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. You can watch the episode that celebrates World Menopause Day on TVNZ’s app. Check out Monday 18 October’s breakfast show and skip ahead to about 1 hour 18 minutes from the start.
* Podcast – Tracy Minnoch of Sexy Ageing invited me to feature in a special World Menopause Day episode for her podcast. https://bit.ly/3CwSS57
* Opinion article - The business of menopause: It is rarely talked about openly at work. ANZ bank’s CEO in NZ, Antonia Watson, shared her opinion about the role workplaces can play in supporting people going through menopause. https://bit.ly/3jSUfEc
* Blogpost – a collaboration with my local library. I wrote a few words for Wellington City Libraries’ blog and the library team put together a list of books and articles about menopause - in print or as e-books/mags across. They added some other handy resources too. Imagine if every library in Aotearoa did the same! https://bit.ly/2Y0KYC7
The more we talk, listen and read, the more we learn. The more we learn the more we understand. The more we understand the more we can support and celebrate each other.
Thank you for making a donation to my Givealittle page already. Every little bit counts as I volunteer my time to make menopause less taboo. So much progress is being made every day but there are so many more changes we need to see - in homes, workplaces and communities all over Aotearoa. I’d love to see more people going through menopause better informed, understood, supported and celebrated.
Of course if you know anyone who might like to support this cause, I’d love you to share my Givealittle page, website https://bit.ly/3jTp7Eo and public Facebook group. https://bit.ly/3CM6RVb
