It’s World Menopause Day! Chew on this.

Posted by Liz on Oct 18, 2010 in Uncategorized | 6 comments

For two years, I’ve run the same piece on World Menopause Day. That post remains one of my favorites and I encourage you to check it out. This year, however, I’d rather call attention to the fact that having only one day devoted to menopause seems to run counter to the marketplace. Just check out the endless Wednesday Bubbles on Flashfree and you’ll realize that menopause is big business. Recent estimates place the market for hot flashes alone as high as $8B and that doesn’t necessarily focus on new applications for existing treatments, for example,  antidepressants for hot flashes. With a market this huge and the shrinking HRT market as the result of potential risks exposed in the Women’s Health Initiative, no wonder menopause has become such a hot commodity. Hell, there’s even a burgeoning market for male menopause, an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one.

• Feeling old? There’s a pill for that.
• Flashing? There’s a gum AND a drink for that.
• Wrinkly skin? Try this wonder cream!
• Don’t like your vaginal appearance? How about some rejuvenation? Better yet, get a two for one and a few botox shots while you’re at it.

…Tapes, magnets, ‘all-in-one’ supplements, everything for anything and everything that ails.

Beneath the hype, marketers are actually saying us that they don’t want us to look or be our age. But don’t try to look younger or date younger because then you are just inappropriate or better yet, a Cougar. In fact, just don’t exist. You’re over the hill, washed up, invisible. Call it a day.

But wait!

Why not have a ‘World Menopause Don’t Call it a Day… Yet?’ The old fat lady dressed inappropriately still has a few tunes left in her.

Rather than celebrate a year or hum a new menopause jingle, can we just find a way to embrace ourselves and what we are going through? We did great in our 40s, comfortable in our skins, more beautiful than ever. And then 50+ or its precipice started to get in the way and here we are, with a day on a the calendar and nothing to wear. How about wearing ourselves for a change or for the change?

Just a wee bit of fodder on yet another day of the year, week, month. Chew on this, won’t you?