When Naomi Watts proclaims that menopause is a badge of honor, it is a sign that the tide has finally turned in favor of the older woman.
For three thousand years, menopause has been a shame. But are you even a celebrity now, in 2025, if you don't proudly and joyfully proclaim your lack of hormones?
I've been keeping a close eye on the faint pulse of the topic of women's midlife health for the past decade, and in that time it's risen from annoying and toxic to the top of everyone's hot list.
This week our US book Menopause Is Hot, which I co-wrote with journalist Alice Smellie, is released in the US, with a foreword by the incredible Naomi.
The topic of declining hormones has finally gone global and there are countless reasons why menopause might be the best thing that can happen to you. Moreover, this is a gang that everyone wants to join.
Like I said, it definitely hasn't always been this way. Since the time of the Greek philosophers, female bleeding – and its cessation – has been considered variously: unclean, poisonous, insanity-inducing, and generally disgusting.
The enforced shame of being an older woman, along with the array of terrible treatments that come our way, from leeches to ice water injections to chloroform, means it's not surprising that we barely spoke on the subject.
I first wrote about menopause in 2015 and in 2018 I made a very well-received BBC program about it. I assumed I had done enough and left that particular issue alone (there is still plenty to campaign about when it comes to women's rights!).
Menopause Is Hot, by Mariella Frostrup and journalist Alice Smellie (left), is released in the US this week
Then, five years ago, just before Covid, Alice and I visited a five-star hotel in rural Hampshire. In addition to the wonderful massages and divine food, there was a menopause seminar, organized by a well-known British duo.
We both sat in burgeoning horror as one by one, intelligent and articulate women stood up and said they would 'just get through it' and that they 'wouldn't give in' to HRT – or MHT as it is colloquially known. the USA
There was an overwhelming atmosphere of stunned shame. That was the night we decided to write the book. Women clearly still didn't know what menopause was and what to do about it.
In 2021 our first book Cracking the Menopause was published, in 2022 we launched a Menopause Mandate campaign group and in October 2024 I was appointed Menopause Employment Ambassador by the UK Government.
Five years later, our American book on the subject, significantly updated with experts and interviewees from the United States, is now published in the US. We are very honored to have an excerpt published in Oprah Daily.
The cessation of monthly periods, a natural process that every woman goes through at some point in her life, is finally being recognized and even seen as a cause for celebration.
So, what are the positives? Why the joy? First of all, the transition to menopause is a liminal phase, a few years of hormonal disruption.
Furthermore, most (many potential) symptoms can be treated and the long-term effects (on the heart, bones and brain) of estrogen deficiency can be counteracted with a combination of lifestyle and MHT (menopausal hormone therapy).
Naomi Watts, pictured at this year's Golden Globes, was warned not to reveal she had entered early menopause as it would draw attention to her age
Most of us begin to notice the signs of perimenopause – the years before final closure – in our early to mid-40s, usually with subtle symptoms; changes in menstruation, insomnia and anxiety.
Further symptoms, and it is said to be at least 34 (we counted 50 in a recent article we wrote) are hot flashes, night sweats, dry skin, dry eyes, increased urinary tract infections, pain during sex, headaches… the list is seemingly endless.
The average age at which you enter menopause (you are said to 'go through' menopause 12 months after your last period) is 51 years old, and you will then be post-menopausal for the rest of your life.
But there are tons you can do to relieve physical and emotional symptoms. The global consensus is that MHT carries more benefits than risks for the majority of women.
For those who cannot do this (who have had hormonal cancer) or do not want to use it, there are many other medications and options available.
The book is published in the US this week and reveals why the topic of midlife women's health is no longer toxic
It is essential that menopause is approached holistically. This is a fantastic time to think about lifestyle, not only for the short-term benefits and relief of menopause symptoms, but also for the longevity of health, which is the buzzword of 2025; live longer without chronic health problems.
Muscle, heart and bone health are all directly improved by exercising more, quitting smoking, drinking less and improving diet. You also reduce your risk of diseases such as cancer.
Other benefits of menopause, and this may seem obvious, are relief from periods and the worry of conceiving after years of trying or not trying! No PMT, no bleeding… no unexplained crying one day a month.
We've done a lot of research to determine the position of women in midlife – historically written off as pointless and/or toxic, and to our surprise there's a whole host of research showing that this can be the most exciting time of our lives . .
Traditionally we think that men are having a midlife crisis. It may interest you to know that most divorces – 70% – are initiated by women.
Research has also shown that we are likely to be happier in middle age; we have more control over our personal lives and finances (of course not always) and we often have more freedom.
We lose our need to care and nurture, preferring to find renewed ambition and fire for new experiences. Until we're 70, we've probably built up more wealth, which we're willing to spend (not that this is reflected in advertising, by the way), so we're at our strongest economically.
But it is also true that women refuse to be pigeonholed into the gray elephant graveyard of uselessness that we have historically ended up in.
You can't expect us to work, do most of the household chores and then agree to a social pension just because we have lower fertility hormones.
We're increasingly recognizing that patriarchy isn't – horrors – right about us being less productive and less attractive just because we still have a few wrinkles. It started as a trickle, but now it's a stream of consciousness that midlife isn't endgame.
Women are finally moving – slowly – like a great hormonal glacier – towards greater equality, although I have to accept that the gender gap will unfortunately not disappear in my lifetime.
With Halle Berry on Capitol Hill talking about menopause and Drew Barrymore having her first hot flash on television, is it any wonder that the latest A-list must-have is a proud shout-out about women's health in later life?
It's taken three thousand years, but menopause has finally arrived in the cold and is the hottest topic around. And we are here for it!
Menopause is Hot by Mariella Frostrup and Alice Smellie is available now
