Thank you! I liked your piece, too. It's much better to see a doc who will look over your file because there are contraindications a telemed doc might miss.
Pink tax capitalism 🙃 + The "bandwagon effect" aka "herd mentality" or "social proof": a psychological phenomenon where individuals adopt behaviors, beliefs, or preferences simply because others are doing so, often prioritizing collective opinion over their own.
Gag. They won’t act anymore so they have to make money off us sheeple who think we need that crap. Go to your doctor and get a tube of estrogen if your vag is dry. Seriously it’s like $10. I can’t stand Hollywood.
I have been credentialed as a menopause practitioner by NAMS ( now The Menopause Society) since 2002. For decades, I was speaking into the void, pushing to educate my colleagues and my patients about the menopause transition. It was such an uphill battle. A few years ago, I was so pleased we started talking about menopause again; then celebrities and everyone else started cashing in on this... It's a sad state of affairs.
These women, I’m guessing, have had personal trainers, private chefs, aestheticians, hair stylists, doctors and other beauty/health/wellness professionals at their disposal for decades. Jennifer Aniston’s body has looked like that since she was in her 30s. It makes sense she would look like that in her 50s.
There’s a saying that’s 100% true. You’re not ugly. You’re just poor.
Genx journalist here! Great roundup. The wealthy worried well will scare us into spending any amount on their products. It’s like everyone wants us to forget that eventually we all die and there ain’t nothing we can do about it. (Thinking of Prenuvo) There’s this great way to know if you are healthy … it’s monitoring how you feel and how much energy you have.
Dunno why but I went through this earthshaking thing w/o any major upheaval. Worked out hard almost daily and I believe that was the reason I felt almost normal. No hormones, no supplements, lots of coffee and what really helped was a non focus on myself. Maybe stop freaking out and be grateful to be alive unlike all the women in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and other places that are about survival not denying the good fortune of getting older. Sorry for the lack of interest in this situation but as this country sinks into chaos growing older seems benign.
I'm so glad I just discovered you! 52 F here, going through it all like so many of us are. And I'm SO sick of our bodies being monetized, even though I understand that for us non-celeb folks, a living must be made. Yes, we need to highlight (peri)menopause, but enough with the shilling already!! And menopause is not magical, m'kay? It's mostly shifty.
People have been asking the question lately, "Has menopause become too medicalized?" But the real question is, "Has menopause become too commercialized?" YES, it has.
I'm a perimenopause educator and write a perimenopause Substack. I see daily what's going on out there, where celebrities become overnight advocates to sell their products. Sure, it has brought awareness to the issues, but it also filled their pockets by preying on our vulnerabilities. Very few of these products matter.
It’s interesting to me everyone gets away with promoting products in lieu of actual labs. I started having hormonal issues I knew I was too young for, and the only answers I got were from the DUTCH test. Those results led to additional testing.
Turns out, I had multiple hidden bacterial infections in my gut that were depleting my hormones. The doctor told me the insane menopausal symptoms women have are usually due to hidden issues like this, but women are told, “You’re at that age.” I only found out because I’m not “at that age.” How many women never find out? Scary.
I came across this article in my feed and am SO glad I did! This is like Jessica DeFino for the Gen X people (please follow her if you don't already - her writing and analysis of the beauty industry is spot on!!). I need to go back and re-read and use the myriad of links that you guys included as examples, but thank you for writing something like this!!! The world is collapsing but nay, we need to be spending money on more nonsense!!! And I loved your clarification that some women do need products like this (just maybe not these particular ones) rather than writing off the entire need for treatments during MP. Much appreciation from a 48 year old who is muddling her way through all of this and would like to come out the other side feeling strong, happy and with some money still in her pocket :)
Thank you for these kind words!!! I’m familiar with Jessica’s work! I’m more tolerant of the beauty industry’s BS than this menopause stuff, which somehow feels more dystopian to me
I wrote about celebrities getting into the menopause biz for The Cut in 2022. https://www.thecut.com/2022/11/menopause-celebrity-business-stacy-london-naomi-watts-judy-greer.html
It's since gone wild!
Great story. I really don’t love the telemedicine aspect of it all!
Thank you! I liked your piece, too. It's much better to see a doc who will look over your file because there are contraindications a telemed doc might miss.
Pink tax capitalism 🙃 + The "bandwagon effect" aka "herd mentality" or "social proof": a psychological phenomenon where individuals adopt behaviors, beliefs, or preferences simply because others are doing so, often prioritizing collective opinion over their own.
The commercialization of menopause is just gross.
Gag. They won’t act anymore so they have to make money off us sheeple who think we need that crap. Go to your doctor and get a tube of estrogen if your vag is dry. Seriously it’s like $10. I can’t stand Hollywood.
I have been credentialed as a menopause practitioner by NAMS ( now The Menopause Society) since 2002. For decades, I was speaking into the void, pushing to educate my colleagues and my patients about the menopause transition. It was such an uphill battle. A few years ago, I was so pleased we started talking about menopause again; then celebrities and everyone else started cashing in on this... It's a sad state of affairs.
Thank you for such a great article!
Thank you so much for reading and for taking the time to comment here. And thank you for trying to bring legit info to people!
These women, I’m guessing, have had personal trainers, private chefs, aestheticians, hair stylists, doctors and other beauty/health/wellness professionals at their disposal for decades. Jennifer Aniston’s body has looked like that since she was in her 30s. It makes sense she would look like that in her 50s.
There’s a saying that’s 100% true. You’re not ugly. You’re just poor.
Genx journalist here! Great roundup. The wealthy worried well will scare us into spending any amount on their products. It’s like everyone wants us to forget that eventually we all die and there ain’t nothing we can do about it. (Thinking of Prenuvo) There’s this great way to know if you are healthy … it’s monitoring how you feel and how much energy you have.
Thanks for reading! I really wonder how this will all shake out
Dunno why but I went through this earthshaking thing w/o any major upheaval. Worked out hard almost daily and I believe that was the reason I felt almost normal. No hormones, no supplements, lots of coffee and what really helped was a non focus on myself. Maybe stop freaking out and be grateful to be alive unlike all the women in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and other places that are about survival not denying the good fortune of getting older. Sorry for the lack of interest in this situation but as this country sinks into chaos growing older seems benign.
I'm so glad I just discovered you! 52 F here, going through it all like so many of us are. And I'm SO sick of our bodies being monetized, even though I understand that for us non-celeb folks, a living must be made. Yes, we need to highlight (peri)menopause, but enough with the shilling already!! And menopause is not magical, m'kay? It's mostly shifty.
Thank you and welcome to our little corner!! More stories to come about menopause and the beauty industry too…
I have to bookmark this for later, but wanted to share that the title made me chuckle. Loudly.
I just gave you your 100th like on this article!
People have been asking the question lately, "Has menopause become too medicalized?" But the real question is, "Has menopause become too commercialized?" YES, it has.
I'm a perimenopause educator and write a perimenopause Substack. I see daily what's going on out there, where celebrities become overnight advocates to sell their products. Sure, it has brought awareness to the issues, but it also filled their pockets by preying on our vulnerabilities. Very few of these products matter.
Ahh thank you! It definitely has become too commercialized
It’s interesting to me everyone gets away with promoting products in lieu of actual labs. I started having hormonal issues I knew I was too young for, and the only answers I got were from the DUTCH test. Those results led to additional testing.
Turns out, I had multiple hidden bacterial infections in my gut that were depleting my hormones. The doctor told me the insane menopausal symptoms women have are usually due to hidden issues like this, but women are told, “You’re at that age.” I only found out because I’m not “at that age.” How many women never find out? Scary.
Need a natural lube that works really well and is cheap? Use coconut oil.
The way I knew capitalism was coming for the uterus more and more this year..
this is the time I wish Substack had a🤣 emoji
Honest to God, these women have found a menopausal goldmine. Halle Berry’s site sells the VFIT+ RED LIGHT INTIMATE WELLNESS DEVICE for
$495.00! WTH
I’m working on reporting on that thing as we speak
Great!
I came across this article in my feed and am SO glad I did! This is like Jessica DeFino for the Gen X people (please follow her if you don't already - her writing and analysis of the beauty industry is spot on!!). I need to go back and re-read and use the myriad of links that you guys included as examples, but thank you for writing something like this!!! The world is collapsing but nay, we need to be spending money on more nonsense!!! And I loved your clarification that some women do need products like this (just maybe not these particular ones) rather than writing off the entire need for treatments during MP. Much appreciation from a 48 year old who is muddling her way through all of this and would like to come out the other side feeling strong, happy and with some money still in her pocket :)
Thank you for these kind words!!! I’m familiar with Jessica’s work! I’m more tolerant of the beauty industry’s BS than this menopause stuff, which somehow feels more dystopian to me