Michelle Obama, Naomi Watts and Shania Twain.Photo:Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty; Santiago Felipe/Getty; Kate Green/Getty
Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty; Santiago Felipe/Getty; Kate Green/Getty
Oct. 18 is WorldMenopauseDay, and in recent years, celebrities have helped further open and shape the conversation about the fact of life for all women in their late 40s, 50s and beyond.
Here, hear from Hayek and 18 more stars who are normalizing talking about the once-taboo topic of menopause.
01of 19Shania TwainShania Twain.Kevin Mazur/Getty“I think menopause was a very good thing for me because there were a lot more things changing in everything about me physically that I had to very quickly come to terms with.“Menopause taught me to quickly say, ‘You know, it may only get worse. So just love yourself now. Just get over your insecurities — they’re standing in your way. And fear is standing in your way.’ I always sing about being fearless and all of that. I go there when I write. But I’m not living it the way I’m writing it. And I want to live the way I write. I’m more fierce than I ever was because I really demanded it about myself.”—to theNew York Postjust after her 58th birthday in 2023
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Shania Twain
Shania Twain.Kevin Mazur/Getty
Kevin Mazur/Getty
“I think menopause was a very good thing for me because there were a lot more things changing in everything about me physically that I had to very quickly come to terms with.
“Menopause taught me to quickly say, ‘You know, it may only get worse. So just love yourself now. Just get over your insecurities — they’re standing in your way. And fear is standing in your way.’ I always sing about being fearless and all of that. I go there when I write. But I’m not living it the way I’m writing it. And I want to live the way I write. I’m more fierce than I ever was because I really demanded it about myself.”
—to theNew York Postjust after her 58th birthday in 2023
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Tracee Ellis Ross
Tracee Ellis Ross.Rich Fury/Getty
“I’m going through perimenopause at the moment. It’s really frying my brain. It is really bizarre, but it is the most glorious invitation into a new season and chapter in my life. There’s no information about it. There’s shame talking about it.
—in an interview withHarper’s Bazaar
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Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek.Dave J Hogan/Getty
“[The doctor was] asking me things like, ‘Are your ears growing and there’s hair growing out of them? Are you growing a mustache and a beard? Are you easily irritable? Are you crying for no reason? Are you gaining a lot of weight really fast that doesn’t go away no matter what you do? Are you shrinking?’ And then they ask you, ‘Is your vagina dry?’
“I have gone through [mood swings and hot flashes], I still kind of am, but you got to notice those moments and take a deep breath and kind of say, ‘Okay, it’ll pass. You got to hold it together.’ And the hot flashes aren’t fun.
—onRed Table Talk
04of 19Drew BarrymoreDrew Barrymore.Getty"I realized that I was in perimenopause when I started having my period every two weeks. One doctor also just told me this could last, in the worst case scenario, 10 years. And I was like, I will never make it 10 years like this!"—during the “Facing Fertility” series onCBS Mornings
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Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore.Getty
“I realized that I was in perimenopause when I started having my period every two weeks. One doctor also just told me this could last, in the worst case scenario, 10 years. And I was like, I will never make it 10 years like this!”
—during the “Facing Fertility” series onCBS Mornings
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Gayle King
Gayle King.Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty
“It feels like you’re burning inside. For me, it was just a physical heat and then sometimes you have dripping, drenching sweats that can just happen at the most inopportune times.
06of 19Beverly JohnsonBeverly Johnson.Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty"It was a life changing moment. I went from my swinging forties to full blown menopause and I was not prepared."[My hysterectomy] was a major operation. I didn’t fully understand what the procedure entailed. The doctor didn’t explain and I thought menopause would come on gradually.“My body changed. You start gaining weight in the middle. And I was still modeling. I felt tired. I remember talking to older women and when they’d break out in a sweat, I’d say ‘What’s wrong? Are you okay?’ And the response was always ‘You’ll know about it soon enough.’ I never connected the two. Well, I wasthatwoman now. You’re in the middle of a conversation with an attractive guy — I was single — and all of a sudden, there’s a mustache of sweat, and he’s saying ‘Areyouokay?'“You don’t have the hormones that keep you nice and moist in the areas you want to be nice and moist in. Mentally, you still have a sex drive but physically, there were changes. You’re moist in all the wrong places and that was a big shocker for me. There are all these unexpected consequences."—to PEOPLE about her fibroid-induced hysterectomy in a 2022 interview
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Beverly Johnson
Beverly Johnson.Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty
“It was a life changing moment. I went from my swinging forties to full blown menopause and I was not prepared.
“[My hysterectomy] was a major operation. I didn’t fully understand what the procedure entailed. The doctor didn’t explain and I thought menopause would come on gradually.
“My body changed. You start gaining weight in the middle. And I was still modeling. I felt tired. I remember talking to older women and when they’d break out in a sweat, I’d say ‘What’s wrong? Are you okay?’ And the response was always ‘You’ll know about it soon enough.’ I never connected the two. Well, I wasthatwoman now. You’re in the middle of a conversation with an attractive guy — I was single — and all of a sudden, there’s a mustache of sweat, and he’s saying ‘Areyouokay?’
“You don’t have the hormones that keep you nice and moist in the areas you want to be nice and moist in. Mentally, you still have a sex drive but physically, there were changes. You’re moist in all the wrong places and that was a big shocker for me. There are all these unexpected consequences.”
—to PEOPLE about her fibroid-induced hysterectomy in a 2022 interview
07of 19Michelle ObamaMichelle Obama.Courtesy EllenTube"There is not a lot of conversation about menopause. I’m going through it, and I know all of my friends are going through it. And the information is sparse.“I find that when we get together and we’re moving and we’re laughing, then we spend a little time talking about what we’re going through. ‘What’s a hot flash?’ We have girlfriends around the table who are OBGYNs, who have real information. All of that keeps us lifted up.“I find that I cannot push myself as hard as I used to. That doesn’t work out for me. That when I tear a muscle or pull something and then I’m out. The recovery time is not the same. You wind up balancing between staying fit enough and being kind enough on your body to stay in the game."—in a November 2022 interview with PEOPLE to promoteThe Light We Carry
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Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama.Courtesy EllenTube
“There is not a lot of conversation about menopause. I’m going through it, and I know all of my friends are going through it. And the information is sparse.
“I find that when we get together and we’re moving and we’re laughing, then we spend a little time talking about what we’re going through. ‘What’s a hot flash?’ We have girlfriends around the table who are OBGYNs, who have real information. All of that keeps us lifted up.
“I find that I cannot push myself as hard as I used to. That doesn’t work out for me. That when I tear a muscle or pull something and then I’m out. The recovery time is not the same. You wind up balancing between staying fit enough and being kind enough on your body to stay in the game.”
—in a November 2022 interview with PEOPLE to promoteThe Light We Carry
08of 19Sophie, Countess of WessexSophie, Countess of Wessex.Danny Martindale/WireImage"Women having to leave the workplace because of the menopause is tragic. We are fabulous in our 40s, and we are even more fabulous in our 50s, 60s and 70s and we need to celebrate that and keep opportunities going for women.““Together, we can support the thousands of women out there who form the backbone of our workforce. We cannot let anyone leave the workplace, feeling that they have got to slope off into the shadows. We have to be able to change that.““Really we should be celebrating the fact that we don’t have to have periods anymore — it should be a liberation, but it feels like a shackle. It’s described as something incredibly negative … I think it’s time to say ‘Enough, we need to bring this out onto the table and say, let’s talk about this.’ “—during a roundtable discussionto support the ‘Menopause Workplace Pledge’ campaign with charity Wellbeing of Women
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Sophie, Countess of Wessex
Sophie, Countess of Wessex.Danny Martindale/WireImage
“Women having to leave the workplace because of the menopause is tragic. We are fabulous in our 40s, and we are even more fabulous in our 50s, 60s and 70s and we need to celebrate that and keep opportunities going for women.”
“Together, we can support the thousands of women out there who form the backbone of our workforce. We cannot let anyone leave the workplace, feeling that they have got to slope off into the shadows. We have to be able to change that.”
“Really we should be celebrating the fact that we don’t have to have periods anymore — it should be a liberation, but it feels like a shackle. It’s described as something incredibly negative … I think it’s time to say ‘Enough, we need to bring this out onto the table and say, let’s talk about this.’ "
—during a roundtable discussionto support the ‘Menopause Workplace Pledge’ campaign with charity Wellbeing of Women
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Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts.Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
“Does the word menopause freak you out?
“When I was in my late 30s, I was finally ready to start thinking about creating a family. Then the M word swiftly blew my doors down, it felt like a head-on collision with a Mack truck. 🚚💥How could I figure this out when no one was talking? I was earlier to it than my peers. My mentors and mum didn’t seem up for discussing it, I didn’t know how to ask for help and they didn’t know how to provide…. even doctors had little to say. It’s oddly like an unwritten code of silence: women should suck it up and cope, because that’s how generations passed have done it.
“Getting older is a privilege and a time for us to feel proud of our cumulative experiences — to feel empowered, unapologetically so. I think being part of a change-maker generation is exciting. No more walking through this alone.”
—in a June 2022 Instagram post
10of 19Paulina PorizkovaPaulina Porizkova.Gregory Pace/Shutterstock"Staying in shape after menopause takes a lot of frickin’ work. Especially when you have wonky hips. I’ve had to cut down on my Pilates since I came back for the jungle shooting #beyondtheedge because my hips won’t cooperate. What I’m doing instead, for now, is some serious PT. I found an amazing personal trainer at my local Crunch, Shelly, who alternates hip PT with strength training.“So, yes, there are drawbacks to aging. One has to work a lot harder on things that were taken for granted. On the outside. On the inside, however, all the hard work already done is finally paying off.“I may not be as strong or as supple or as smooth as in my youth, but I am comfortable with my vulnerabilities, conscious of my weaknesses, proud of my strengths - and best of all, have the wisdom to put it all together and delight in the results. #betweenjloandbettywhite #workingout #unstoppable #strength #agingaintforsissies."—on Instagram
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Paulina Porizkova
Paulina Porizkova.Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
“Staying in shape after menopause takes a lot of frickin' work. Especially when you have wonky hips. I’ve had to cut down on my Pilates since I came back for the jungle shooting #beyondtheedge because my hips won’t cooperate. What I’m doing instead, for now, is some serious PT. I found an amazing personal trainer at my local Crunch, Shelly, who alternates hip PT with strength training.
“So, yes, there are drawbacks to aging. One has to work a lot harder on things that were taken for granted. On the outside. On the inside, however, all the hard work already done is finally paying off.
“I may not be as strong or as supple or as smooth as in my youth, but I am comfortable with my vulnerabilities, conscious of my weaknesses, proud of my strengths - and best of all, have the wisdom to put it all together and delight in the results. #betweenjloandbettywhite #workingout #unstoppable #strength #agingaintforsissies.”
—on Instagram
11of 19Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Paltrow.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic"I think when you get into perimenopause, you notice a lot of changes. I can feel the hormonal shifts happening, the sweating, the moods — you’re all of a sudden furious for no reason … Menopause gets a really bad rap and needs a bit of rebranding. I remember when my mother went through menopause and it was such a big deal and I think there was grief around it for her and all these emotions. I don’t think we have in our society a great example of an aspirational menopausal woman."—inGoopin October 2018
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Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
“I think when you get into perimenopause, you notice a lot of changes. I can feel the hormonal shifts happening, the sweating, the moods — you’re all of a sudden furious for no reason … Menopause gets a really bad rap and needs a bit of rebranding. I remember when my mother went through menopause and it was such a big deal and I think there was grief around it for her and all these emotions. I don’t think we have in our society a great example of an aspirational menopausal woman.”
—inGoopin October 2018
12of 19Emma ThompsonEmma Thompson.David M. Benett/Getty"It’s such a cold night. You know, it’s the first time I’ve been actively grateful for the menopause."—while accepting the best actress awardforSaving Mr. Banksat the National Board of Review in 2014
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Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson.David M. Benett/Getty
“It’s such a cold night. You know, it’s the first time I’ve been actively grateful for the menopause.”
—while accepting the best actress awardforSaving Mr. Banksat the National Board of Review in 2014
13of 19Kim CattrallKim Cattrall.Jason Bahr/Getty Images for SeriesFest"I don’t think it’s shameful. It’s as natural as having a child — it really is; it’s part of life. Physically, it’s part of how we’re made; hormonally, it’s how we’re constructed; chemically, it’s how we work. Like anything in nature: The seed is planted, it grows, it comes to fruition, after a period of time it starts to change and age, and it’s scary. You wonder,Will I be attractive, desirable, feminine?What is next chapter of life? I think it’s one of the reasons why it’s so taboo is because we don’t talk about it — it’s too frightening even to talk to a doctor about it. I want to reach out to women to encourage them to educate themselves about this time in their lives."—toCosmopolitanin 2014
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Kim Cattrall
Kim Cattrall.Jason Bahr/Getty Images for SeriesFest
“I don’t think it’s shameful. It’s as natural as having a child — it really is; it’s part of life. Physically, it’s part of how we’re made; hormonally, it’s how we’re constructed; chemically, it’s how we work. Like anything in nature: The seed is planted, it grows, it comes to fruition, after a period of time it starts to change and age, and it’s scary. You wonder,Will I be attractive, desirable, feminine?What is next chapter of life? I think it’s one of the reasons why it’s so taboo is because we don’t talk about it — it’s too frightening even to talk to a doctor about it. I want to reach out to women to encourage them to educate themselves about this time in their lives.”
—toCosmopolitanin 2014
14of 19Gillian AndersonGillian Anderson.Jeff Spicer/Getty"How wonderful would it be if we could get to a place where we are able to have these conversations openly and without shame? Admit, freely, that this is what’s going on. So we don’t feel like we’re going mad or insane or alone in any of the symptoms we are having […] Perimenopause and menopause should be treated as the rites of passage that they are. If not celebrated, then at least accepted and acknowledged and honored."—to PEOPLE in 2017
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Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson.Jeff Spicer/Getty
“How wonderful would it be if we could get to a place where we are able to have these conversations openly and without shame? Admit, freely, that this is what’s going on. So we don’t feel like we’re going mad or insane or alone in any of the symptoms we are having […] Perimenopause and menopause should be treated as the rites of passage that they are. If not celebrated, then at least accepted and acknowledged and honored.”
—to PEOPLE in 2017
15of 19Oprah WinfreyOprah Winfrey.Andrew H Walker/Shutterstock"So many women I’ve talked to see menopause as a blessing. I’ve discovered that this is your moment to reinvent yourself after years of focusing on the needs of everyone else."—inO, The Oprah Magazine
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Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey.Andrew H Walker/Shutterstock
“So many women I’ve talked to see menopause as a blessing. I’ve discovered that this is your moment to reinvent yourself after years of focusing on the needs of everyone else.”
—inO, The Oprah Magazine
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Julie Walters
Julie Walters.Karwai Tang/WireImage
—toSAGAin 2015
17of 19Bette MidlerBette Midler.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images"I don’t suggest that anyone obsess over menopause or aging. Still, it is true that in this culture, they throw you out when you get older. I see it all the time, especially in my business. At my age, you’re playing somebody’s mother — and there aren’t even a lot of those roles!"—in a2001 interviewwith Oprah
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Bette Midler
Bette Midler.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
“I don’t suggest that anyone obsess over menopause or aging. Still, it is true that in this culture, they throw you out when you get older. I see it all the time, especially in my business. At my age, you’re playing somebody’s mother — and there aren’t even a lot of those roles!”
—in a2001 interviewwith Oprah
18of 19Whoopi GoldbergWhoopi Goldberg.Roy Rochlin/Getty"How can you keep a man [erect] for 19 hours and not be able to cool down a hot flash? How is that possible?"—during her stand-up routine
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Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg.Roy Rochlin/Getty
“How can you keep a man [erect] for 19 hours and not be able to cool down a hot flash? How is that possible?”
—during her stand-up routine
19of 19Hillary ClintonHillary Clinton.Michael Loccisano/Getty"After a certain age, we all seem to inherit these new things on our bodies. It was toward the end of [President Bill Clinton’s] second term, after I turned 50 in 1997, that I began to go through menopause, and it was something you didn’t talk about in those days. My friends and I would talk about it or roll our eyes, but not publicly.“Thank goodness we’re getting into a time women’s health — and especially now with all the challenges about reproductive health — [that is] forcing this conversation out of the shadows and into the daylight.“Looking back, I mean, it wasn’t yet at that point in our social or psychic development that I would’ve said, ‘Oh, okay, the first lady’s going through menopause. Here I go. Watch out, everybody!'“Finally, we’re dealing with menopause and reproductive health and a lot of the other things that women have always had to go through, but sometimes alone, and sometimes without even the awareness in their families or the medical community, certainly the larger society, about what that is like."—in an interview with PEOPLE promoting her seriesGutsy
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Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton.Michael Loccisano/Getty
“After a certain age, we all seem to inherit these new things on our bodies. It was toward the end of [President Bill Clinton’s] second term, after I turned 50 in 1997, that I began to go through menopause, and it was something you didn’t talk about in those days. My friends and I would talk about it or roll our eyes, but not publicly.
“Thank goodness we’re getting into a time women’s health — and especially now with all the challenges about reproductive health — [that is] forcing this conversation out of the shadows and into the daylight.
“Looking back, I mean, it wasn’t yet at that point in our social or psychic development that I would’ve said, ‘Oh, okay, the first lady’s going through menopause. Here I go. Watch out, everybody!’
“Finally, we’re dealing with menopause and reproductive health and a lot of the other things that women have always had to go through, but sometimes alone, and sometimes without even the awareness in their families or the medical community, certainly the larger society, about what that is like.”
—in an interview with PEOPLE promoting her seriesGutsy
source: people.com
