Opinion
Tania Ewing
Freelance writer
The announcement of a Senate inquiry into the impact of menopause on workplace policies, on the face of it, looks like another win for working women. It is not.
Beneath the “feminist solidarity” of this global push to recognise menopause and its impact on our health, finances and lives is, in fact, another example of siloing women out of the workplace, and off career ladders, because of their biology. This gives men a reason to use our biology to keep us out of the workplace, to “explain” why in our 50s, 60s and 70s we are different to them, and not quite up to leading a business or country.
Actor Naomi Watts helped launch a range of menopause-themed greeting cards last year.Credit: Getty Images
It’s impossible to escape this growing obsession with menopause. Celebrities like Naomi Watts – who recently headlined a SXSW panel in Sydney aimed at just this topic – are embracing the condition as though they are the first to live through it. She has reflected on how she experienced shame, panic and loneliness and, as a Hollywood actor, faced the real prospect of what she was going through impacting her career.
“I went into, ‘Oh my God, I’m finished,’” she said. “’I’m no longer sexy. I work in Hollywood. And if you’re not fertile, you’re unf—able.”
The problem with this new movement of “menopausal feminist solidarity” is that it is doing exactly what it aims to prevent, and it has global implications.
Earlier this month, the 2023 National Women’s Health Survey was published, asking more than 3500 Australian women about their experiences of menopause. The report argued that menopause coverage in the media overemphasised its severity and symptoms, and that this catastrophising “could have the unintended consequences of eroding women’s resilience and stigmatising women as they approach midlife”.
Scratch the surface globally and you will find the median age of current (largely male) national leaders is 62 (of course, next year’s US presidential race will most likely be between two white, male octogenarians).
According to a 2022 report by the Pew Research Centre in the US, when grouped by decade, the largest share of global leaders today (35 per cent) are in their 60s. Roughly a quarter (22 per cent) are in their 50s, while 18 per cent each are in their 40s or 70s. Joe Biden is among the 5 per cent of leaders who are in their 80s. Women leaders tend to be younger than male leaders.
Although only 13 countries currently have a woman in the top office, the median age of these women is 57. Of course, there are women over 65 in positions of power – Nancy Pelosi, who still holds significant sway despite no longer being Speaker for the US House of Representatives, is 83. Then there’s Christine Lagarde, the first woman to head the European Central Bank, who is 67; Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen is 67; Carol Tomé, the chief executive of the United States Postal Service is 66 and Australia’s own mining magnate, Gina Rinehart is 69.
According to Forbes 2022 World’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women only five are well into their 70s – singer/songwriter Dolly Parton, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and, Pelosi. Meanwhile, 18 per cent of male world leaders are in their 70s.
I’m guessing Nancy and Janet didn’t take time out to send menopause cards (yes, they are a thing) to their friends going through the change. They were busy elsewhere. Regarding Dolly? Who knows? I’m guessing she just wrote another hit with a smile.
Women die later than men – globally we live on average seven years longer, we are thinner, have fewer heart attacks, we are less likely to commit suicide and are more socially connected. Yet we are poorly represented when it comes to positions of power even though we are clearly biologically better equipped for our older years.
No surprise it’s because of societal norms and expectations. As women in our 20s and 30s we commonly slip off the career ladder to have, and raise, children.
Now this movement to catastrophise or at best to “normalise” an obsession with menopause only serves to keep us out of positions of power just when we have finally jettisoned the kids, now grown, the partner, now likely divorced, and we have put the runs back on the board for our careers. This is the perfect time to show we can compete against the men.
So why silo ourselves because of our biology? Why give men in power further reason to discard women in their 50s and 60s? If there is a narrative about menopause, surely it’s just another example of the shit we endure to survive.
Sure, push for your company to bring in menopause policies to prevent the loss of women in their 50s and 60s from the workplace. But don’t make menopause another reason for men to dismiss our capacity to work, lead and progress in our careers into our 70s and beyond.
When Forbes does its 100 Most Powerful Women in 2040, let’s hope that there are much more than three north of 70 on the list.
Tania Ewing is a freelance writer.
