To think this is fine to talk about in a work email

[SandAndSeals]

I’ve NC as this is potentially outing.

An awareness email went out to colleagues about the menopause. Is the email, it lists the symptoms inc. hot flushes, low mood etc and also ‘vaginal dryness and reduced sex drive’.

My colleague has put a complaint email in about it as they don’t think it’s appropriate to mention vaginal dryness is a workplace email. However I disagree. It’s a common symptom and should be listed in an awareness article. You would take out ‘difficulty holding an erection’ when discussing prostate cancer, for example.

The Health team send out other emails about out conditions and illnesses depending on what’s being asked for. I’m in the Women’s Network so I know that menopause info has been asked for.

What do you think? AIBU or is she?

@gnushoes [My immediate boss knows the problem. Everyone else thinks I've got a bad back.]
Exactly my point. There is absolutely no need for all this 'awareness' shit.
Pathetic.

Bold fail....blame that on the meno too.

While I don't particularly want my office colleagues to know I've got a dodgy undercarriage I think general awareness that it's more than just the odd hot flush would be helpful actually @panbasher.

Just back to the matter of awareness campaigns (and someone saying how potentially seeing a poster about cancer after a family member having cancer is triggering):

Health campaigns are literally everywhere. On the bus, at the train station, in the city centre, public loos, tv adverts, internet pop ups, etc. If an email is triggering at work, it will be everywhere. We can’t always cater for an individual’s sensitivities, as much as we try. I’m not sure what you can do about limiting any fallout from that but sometimes messages still need to shared.

Generally speaking, we spend at least half our waking hours at work. If messages can pop up in a 2 min advert (which you can turn over) then what’s wrong with messages popping up in an email (which you can delete)? It’s not ITV’s job to inform people any more than your works place but they do it (and we do it) because Public Health show there’s a need for it.

And then back to the issue at hand - whether awareness matters are required or not, I still don’t see why we should censor certain symptoms because people get squeamish about the words. It’s an awareness piece, not a management reasonable adjustment issue, so for awareness purposes there’s nothing wrong with medical symptoms being listed.

As for men sniggering in the workplace - perhaps that has happened and I can absolutely see why some posters when considering their own workplaces might find that uncomfortable. However, how can we tackle the stigma if we don’t start talking about it? Change has to come from being open, honest and frank and censoring to avoid embarrassment is just going to cause the same ongoing issues for the next generation of women.

That’s a strange argument. Things being all over the media and possibly the odd train station poster doesn’t make having it all over the workplace as well any more ok.
It’s a workplace. Employees have no option but to go there. They can’t avoid the message being rammed home to them as they could if it was being rammed home elsewhere.
You should not be able to decide on their behalf that they can’t.

My work place has just held a menopause awareness session, and we were really impressed with the number of male managers who attended.

’m not sure I would require my manager Male or female to make allowances for my vaginal dryness

Still, think it's fine to make people generally aware of the syptoms.

If the email was about testicular cancer or prostate cancer I wouldn't blink if hey mentioned erectile dysfunction.... even though I wouldn't need to know about colleague's ed.

Having worked as a PA at director level for years, I can tell you for a fact that staff wellbeing is not the highest priority on the agenda in the commercial sector. Agree with a PP who said that employers trade people's time/effort for monetary reward. It's a very simple formula and the majority of bosses who run companies are not lying awake at night worrying that their employees are not being nurtured and fulfilled.

I would far rather bosses were focusing on equality, fair pay and not discriminating against older women. It would be far more use than emails educating everyone about the menopause.

I think it's fine to include.

But in terms of more effective messaging as a workplace communication, it might be better to explain those symptoms that are likely to affect women in the workplace AND the kinds of things that could help alleviate symptoms. A bit like how a good pregnancy policy should help the employer support the woman and comply with the law / avoid discrimination etc.

So actually making it positive and thinking of what would help, raising understanding of the most relevant symptoms.

Vaginal dryness is offensive to include, and I can see the point about general awareness raising, BUT I think to make the communication more effective it would be better to focus on the more work relevant symptoms and some suggestions for what could help.

Sorry autocorrect. Above was supposed to say vaginal dryness *isn't offensive to include. I'm not pearl clutching, honestly!!

Tbh I didn't know vaginal dryness in menopause carried any stigma because I didn't know about it! I know about it now though that's for sure!

I also didn't know how horrendous sleep deprivation with a newborn is, until it happened. Maybe there's a reason for some mystery in biology.

@stressedoutpa

Not sure anyone said it was the highest priority.

I work for a commercial company, as commercial as they come, but wellness is still important to them.

How close to the top are you @VanGoghsDog?

One of the last companies I worked for was an Investor in People, Celebrated International Women's Day, blah, blah, blah but it was a sales driven company and everything was about brand and spin. I heard some pretty horrid conversations about staff. I also saw staff unfairly managed out who certainly didn't deserve it.

Many employers employ lip service to a lot of staff initiatives because they are clever enough to know that it is a cheap way to keep the minions on side.

Generally speaking, we spend at least half our waking hours at work.

eh? How do you work that out ?
Even if people got 8 hrs sleep a night (which I know I don't, for one) that means they are awake 16 hours a day x 7 days a week, so 112 hours.

Not that many people work more than 40 hours a week even on MN

OP "Health campaigns are literally everywhere. On the bus, at the train station, in the city centre, public loos, tv adverts, internet pop ups, etc."

which is exactly why we don't need them at work.

this distracts from what would be really beneficial at work - proper policies relating to healthcare and managers correctly informed about how to deal with it and enforce it.

I would far rather bosses were focusing on equality, fair pay and not discriminating against older women. It would be far more use than emails educating everyone about the menopause.

I don't understand. Being willing to talk about and raise awareness of issues affecting women is absolutely related to equality and not discriminating against older women.

DarlingNikita but that seems to be debatable. Is raising awareness about the menopause at work, by sending an email to everyone saying that the symptoms can include reduced sex drive and a dry vagina helping bring equality and reducing discrimination against older women?

I can see how a robust HR policy that explains how to support women suffering from menopausal symptoms whilst in the workplace could help bring equality and reduce discrimination against older women.

There is a difference.

Could these emails and an HR policy not exist and work in tandem?

It would seem to make sense if they did - but that is a question for the OP.

Out of interest why do you think employers need to raise awareness that symptoms of the menopause may include reduced sex drive and a dry vagina? One of the after effects of having a baby can be reduced sex drive and a sore vagina but I wonder if employers need to email their staff that too. I understand some cancer therapies result in reduced sex drive too, but again wonder why that is information an employer needs to share. What action are they hoping staff will take as a result? Is that so colleagues don't ask Janet, whose having radiotherapy, if she had a good shag last night while you make idle chit chat before the 10am weekly sales meeting?

Out of interest why do you think employers need to raise awareness that symptoms of the menopause may include reduced sex drive and a dry vagina?

Well I don't specifically. And that's been my point throughout this thread. The complainant at the OP's work has zoomed in on one phrase that she's decided to find inappropriate, and some posters on here have followed suit.

My point has always been that anyone who focuses in on one set of words in a list of symptoms and gets offended/starts making jokes/sniggering at them, as has happened on here, is being prurient and needs to grow up. It would be plain weird for a list of symptoms of a condition (any condition) omitted one or some of them.

But why are they relevant in the workplace and what action are you expecting employees to take as a result?

How long a list of symptoms is it necessary to circulate in the workplace? Healthy eating is a really common topic covered by these "awareness" campaigns. Hundreds and hundreds of books have been written about healthy eating, so how much are you going to include? Are you going to start covering the low carb vs low fat debate? Who gets to make those decisions with 'awareness raising'?

If there is a HR policy then it has to be compliant with the law and it will be giving guidance for how employees should behave and how they should interact with colleagues appropriately.

Do staff have to 'take action' as such? Isn't awareness just that –being aware?

I'm not talking about someone thinking 'Oh, Joyce from Marketing is probably a bit tetchy because of her hormones,' more that (I hope) raising awareness (of whatever issues) encourages a generally more thoughtful attitude and the mindset that people might be off work/behaving in certain ways for many different reasons, and that that might be to do with something going on with their health.

I agree that being ignorant is unhelpful in life generally.

What I question is what I as an employee myself and manager do with "awareness" information. Do I have to read it? Let's say I'm a young man of 25 and I read the email about all the symptoms of the menopause that can be suffered by women aged 45 to 55 in my workplace. Do I now think, "wow that is a fuck of a lot of symptoms I am now scared to approach any woman in that age group, as chances are they are likely to be suffering from one of them and I don't really know what that means but it is off-putting?" Do I think "Fuck me, Tracey in accounts is the only woman in our company in that age group, did she ask for that to be sent around, because she is in the menopause at the moment?", do I piss my pants laughing because I'm young and stupid at the thought of all those older women in the workplace and their dry vaginas and secretly refer to them all as Desert Boxes with my equally juvenile colleagues going forwards?

And on and on I could go.

This is why I can't see the point of raising awareness in the workplace unless it comes with specific calls to action, guidance or support.

Exactly MargoLovebutter .What are people in the workplace meant to do with this ‘awareness’. What is the 25yo guy in accounts meant to do with this information? He will think, okay now I am aware, so what do I need to do with this information. Do I treat Doris in sales differently because she is around 50yo and maybe fits this information. How do I treat her differently? God, how confusing and why do they send me emails like this. Does her potential dry vagina mean she can’t sit down properly? What does this have to do with me? Context and guidance is provided with information ‘for awareness’.

I’d imagine that 25 year old guy doesn’t give it a second thought and moves on. The hope, is that when 25 year old guy is 45/55 and his wife goes through it he’ll remember that he knows a little something about the menopause which gives him pause to think about why she might be a little different and maybe she’s uncomfortable.

Awareness campaigns aren’t to highlight to the world that Tracy is going through the menopause and has a dry vagina, but to talk about different issues so the general populace has an awareness.

My main and still current concern is why, in an awareness email, you need to censor certain symptoms. Awareness emails are NOT about management or about reasonable adjustments - they are purely about providing awareness. And in our workplace they do directly relate to either Public Health key messages OR policy - in this instance a Menopause is being created so this is, I suppose, starting the discussion about the menopause.