For time immemorial, approximately half the human population has gone through “the change,” the mid-life transition from monthly menstruation to menopause known as “perimenopause.” One might assume that a years-long, enormously disruptive process that affects nearly every woman on earth would’ve been at the top of the priority list when modern medical research began.
Alas, nope. Not even close. But at long last, a whole generation of women is collectively raising our voices to say, “WTF?!?”
Millions of Gen X women are in the thick of perimenopause, with its 100-some-odd symptoms that range from the expected hot flashes to the unexpected frozen shoulder, itchy ears, joint pain, hair thinning, brain fog, panic attacks, weight gain, low-level rage, and more. It’s like a daily lottery of random phenomena that make you ask, “Am I dying or is this normal?”
Our mothers and grandmothers may have talked to each other about this experience in private, but Gen X is going public, calling out the b.s. with our whole chests.
Social media has given us a voice our ancestors didn’t have
First, let’s talk about the b.s. that is perimenopause itself. Considering that it’s just a biological process, it may not actually be b.s., but it sure feels like b.s.
For countless women, the upheaval that perimenopause brings affects everything. It taxes you physically, mentally, and emotionally. It impacts our relationships with others and with ourselves. In many ways, it feels like our bodies are betraying us. It’s disorienting at best and disastrous at worst. Maybe there’s a reason suicides peak for women between 45 and 54, and why 73% of women surveyed in 2022 blamed perimenopausal symptoms for the breakdown of their marriages.
In other words, this isn’t a few hot flashes and irregular periods.
Thankfully, we live in a time when it’s acceptable to talk openly about such things. In generations past, it was not proper to speak of periods or anything related to them publicly. But Gen X rejected such propriety in our youth, and we’re certainly not going to censor ourselves at this stage of life. We also have social media to help us share information and shout out our frustrations, which makes perimenopause a whole new ballgame compared to previous generations.
The b.s. of how little women’s health has been studied
It’s one thing to feel blindsided by perimenopause. It’s entirely another to go looking for answers and find out that what we actually know about perimenopause is a drop in the bucket compared to what we don’t know.
Then we find out the reason we don’t know much: Scientists didn’t even begin studying menopause until the 1980s. And the first longitudinal studies that followed women through the menopausal process didn’t happen until the 1990s, when Gen X were in our youth and young adulthood.
Again, half the population has dealt with this for all of human history. And you’re telling us it only started being researched during our lifetime?!? Granted, modern medicine has only been around since the 18th century or so, but even so, no one thought to study this until now? That’s all kinds of b.s.
Even now, there is a huge data gap when it comes to women’s health and aging. According to a 2024 perspective in Nature, researchers haven’t considered menopause in over 99 percent of studies of the biology of aging. And yet, female patients have higher morbidity rates for many age-related diseases and more frequent adverse events from treatments associated with them. Peachy, huh?
The tide is turning, thanks largely to Gen X
Unfortunately, this gap in knowledge trickles down into our health care. Even OB-GYNs, literally the doctors who specialize in women’s bodies, are often inadequately trained to support women through perimenopause.
According to Yale School of Medicine, “A 2023 survey found that over 90% of obstetrics and gynecology residency program directors in the U.S. agreed that residents should have access to a standardized menopause curriculum, yet less than a third reported that their programs actually offer one.”
Again, half the population for all of human history. And only a third of our gynecologists have access to a standardized menopause curriculum? Does that not feel like b.s.?
Thankfully, Gen X women are simply not having it and are saying so. Social media is flooded with perimenopause conversations, and there is growing recognition that women have been neglected in this stage of life for far too long.
And then there’s the role of capitalism, which, for all its faults, may also be helping move more research along. As Yale reports, “With the global menopause market set to expand from $17.66 billion in 2024 to $27.63 billion by 2033, we’re observing a push to develop effective diagnostic tools, pharmaceutical advancements, and preventive technologies to improve the health of women.”
Gen X women are essentially saying this reality bites, and we’re not gonna take it anymore. We’re going to get loud and make sure that our daughters and granddaughters have a whole lot more education, support, and tools for navigating perimenopause than women have had up til now.
