Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Anyone fed up of the commercial exploitation of the menopause?.

35 replies

CurlewKate · 03/05/2023 08:29

It's relentless. Menopause shampoo, pyjamas, gadgets for opening jars-(I kid you not-Meera Syal saying that since menopause her hands have been sore so...) and that's just in the last 30 minutes! I want to scream!! (I'm post menopause-presumably that's why predatory big business annoys me so much-it must be my lack of hormones....)

OP posts:
illiterato · 03/05/2023 08:32

I know what you mean. The increasing awareness is good but there’s a risk that menopausal women become viewed as completely incapacitated. There is huge variability in how menopause is experienced.

AssertiveGertrude · 03/05/2023 08:35

Yeah the menopause shampoo just had me 😠😠 like we want branded menopause stuff at a higher cost... ughhh

Lifesyoungdream · 03/05/2023 08:36

Yes I agree it’s another great money spinner and a lot of people are making a lot lot of money from it.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General health Menopause Women's health
Roselilly36 · 03/05/2023 08:38

Yes it seems to be a trend doesn’t it, the cynic in me wonders if they think “women of menopausal age” will have more disposable income and fall for the marketing gimmicks. However did women manage before 😂

mynameiscalypso · 03/05/2023 08:38

I'm also concerned at the number of women who are being fobbed off by doctors with 'it's the menopause' when there's another underlying medical reason for their symptoms.

Menopants · 03/05/2023 08:40

And the ‘supplements’ that cost 75 quid a month

Sarahconnor1 · 03/05/2023 08:47

Companies have realised that women have their own money and so are exploiting menopause for all its worth.

It's great that there is more awareness but let's not pretend these Companies are motivated by anything but profit.

blobby10 · 03/05/2023 08:49

Glad its not just me who is annoyed! I'm all for issues like periods, endo, menopause etc (and their associated hells) not being kept 'secret' but it seems to be totally out of control now!

jlpartnerrs · 03/05/2023 08:57

I specialised in women's hormones when I did my aromatherapy diploma, puberty, menses, childbirth and the menopause. I have noticed that there is a lot of people who are menopause experts, when really they've done the same stuff as I have - it's knowledge that you would expect someone who's a holistic practitioner to have. It does boil my proverbial. Women who are desperate for relief will try anything (I know I did) It took ovaries of steel and throwing money at a private practice to get HRT for me, my GP was next to useless.

Bluevelvetsofa · 03/05/2023 09:09

It’s a good thing to raise awareness, but not a good thing to make marketing opportunities out of it. A similar thing happened with mental illness. It was taboo to speak of it at one time, now it’s everywhere and in danger of becoming an excuse.

Original poster
CurlewKate · 03/05/2023 09:43

I'm glad it's not just me. Obviously awareness is good. But to me it seems to be a way of commercially exploiting women at a time in their lives where it's likely that they have disposable income AND a way of subliminally suggesting that women in their 40s and 50s are likely to be unreliable so maybe just let's promote men instead.

OP posts:
Whatwouldscullydo · 03/05/2023 09:44

Ha ha yeah I'm well aware of the potential horrors that await me any day now ( I'm.42 so...) I dont need to be flogged shit to patronisingly make me feel I'm doing something , anything about it.

Also sick of companies trying to make it mainstream and show they care by setting up virtual cafes/meetings/forums etc

How about you show you actually have an idea about what happens to 50 percent of your work force , by, i dunno, not putting staff in situations where they are lone working with no access to a toilet for hours on end . Just a thought

tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz · 03/05/2023 10:01

Sarahconnor1 · 03/05/2023 08:47

Companies have realised that women have their own money and so are exploiting menopause for all its worth.

It's great that there is more awareness but let's not pretend these Companies are motivated by anything but profit.

This

My mum suffered for many years in silence with menopause following a very early hysterectomy and this led to depression and to be honest ive only ever known her to be sad 😞 she's on medication and HRT now

I'm gutted this wasn't an open conversation when she was suffering as it could have made such a difference to her life

I agree the monetising of menopause is crap but hey, every aspect of female life has been, what's another? But so many women have (and still are) suffering with this stage of life. Hopefully the fact we're all getting bored with it may mean things are changing for the better

Nimbostratus100 · 03/05/2023 10:03

I am hating and loathing the growing assumption that middle aged women are sickly and unreasonable. It is simply not true. I do NOT have "brain fog". If I say something a male colleague disagrees with, I am JUST as likely to be correct as he is

Original poster
CurlewKate · 03/05/2023 10:08

Also-I do know that for many women the menopause is a horrible time. But for many others it isn't. We really shouldn't be terrifying younger women (being prepared is great. Being scared isn't) or handing employers another reason to discriminate against women. We've fought so hard for something approaching equality!

OP posts:
Hbh17 · 03/05/2023 10:11

Of course, the OP is completely right. I can't blame companies for trying to make a profit, but some women have encouraged this by constantly going on about menopause.
It's not an illness, and older women are not "weak" or in need of special treatment.
I'm late 50s and I haven't - and wouldn't - bought any of this stuff supposedly aimed at me.

Original poster
CurlewKate · 03/05/2023 10:11

And- while I'm on a roll, I remember a time when you went to the doctor and he (yep, he) said "It'll get better when you have a baby." Now it seems to be "Oh, it's the menopause."

OP posts:
Kanaloa · 03/05/2023 10:11

I suppose it’s like anything else. A pink tool kit costs more than a plain black one. If you choose to buy the pink one you support that. And with something like menopause that can impact people’s lives so much they have a sellable point because it people are uncomfortable they will potentially pay for items to help ease that. Personally I would just not buy the products.

Sarahconnor1 · 03/05/2023 10:20

Nimbostratus100 · 03/05/2023 10:03

I am hating and loathing the growing assumption that middle aged women are sickly and unreasonable. It is simply not true. I do NOT have "brain fog". If I say something a male colleague disagrees with, I am JUST as likely to be correct as he is

All this.

It perpetuates all the negative stereotypes of middle aged women.

potatohead1 · 03/05/2023 10:57

There is a 'menopause' shampoo and where the woman lowers her voice and whispers 'over 50' like it's some god awful thing we should not admit to. I hate it.

SouthCountryGirl · 03/05/2023 11:33

CurlewKate · 03/05/2023 10:08

Also-I do know that for many women the menopause is a horrible time. But for many others it isn't. We really shouldn't be terrifying younger women (being prepared is great. Being scared isn't) or handing employers another reason to discriminate against women. We've fought so hard for something approaching equality!

As a woman in her mid 30s I would like to be educated on the menopause so I know what to expect. But I don't want it to be turned into something to be scared of. But at the same time (I don't think I'm seeing this but just saying) I don't want it to made out to be something mildly irritating that I'll get over.

Original poster
CurlewKate · 03/05/2023 11:37

@SouthCountryGirl "But at the same time (I don't think I'm seeing this but just saying) I don't want it to made out to be something mildly irritating that I'll get over."

The problem is that for many women that's all it is. We have to find a balance, somehow and I don't know how.

OP posts:
Sarahconnor1 · 03/05/2023 11:42

For a lot of women it is just mildly irritating though. For those who struggle with menopause symptoms we need properly informed GPs, not overpriced shampoo and moisturiser.

BlusteryLake · 03/05/2023 11:42

What I find particularly irritating about the over exposure is that just as we've got out of all the discrimination that goes around pregnancy and having young children at work, along comes another reason to chose a less good man over a better woman.

MrBit · 03/05/2023 11:44

Agree @CurlewKate