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?

Are you sex workers?

To add- if you are then the management can support by providing lubricants free of charge.

If you are not in a role that requires use of a vagina then I can't see why this is of any relevance at all. Awareness raising is to enable mitigation and support.

Maybe lubricants could be the management Christmas gift for all women over 45? Just in case?

Lottie,hot flushes have nothing to do with heating.I work can get a hot flush in the middle of a snow storm but when it's over I will feel the cold.
No one has to read the email.To miss out some symptoms is to sanitise the issue and for who.This subject is already so taboo that many women have no idea what to expect.
I have had vaginal and vulval dryness to the extent of chaffing causing bleeding (mine is an active job and on my feet all day) and while I don't discuss this it does affect me at work and included in not discussing would include having to explain frequent trips to the toilet.

This kind of nonsense makes me bloody glad I’m out of the workplace. When I went through the menopause the last thing I wanted was my colleagues speculating about the state of my vagina.

I think it's totally fine, but then I'm a grown up who doesn't feel like the word 'vagina' is embarrassing.

Tan has just illustrated the point that women do not realise that this has very little to do with lub !

I would have no problem and I am one of only two women in a company of 26 men.

I think its good to raise awareness of all manner of conditins, including those which are sex specific. I don't think it necessarily has to be about what uimpact it has on the workplace but if it means someone who is soffering from something they don;t know is realted to a condition then they can go to the DR and get chekced out and if appropriate, get treatment.

My son's dance school has posters about bowel problems up, talking about poo is embarrasing, but if it prevents someone getting advanced bowel cancer then thats a good thing.

Ok, was just trying to think of relevance to the workplace.

By all means provide a signpost so people can find out more about menopause symptoms if they want or it's relevant.

That’s equally strange, Comefromaway... Do people really need so much signposting to see a doctor if they have symptoms they’re concerned about?
How much handholding does a person of average intelligence need? . Posters at a kid’s dance class indeed...

I don’t understand why you can only talk about vaginal dryness if you use your vagina at work. That’s a bit of an odd assessment.

Vagina dryness can cause discomfort at work or require women to take more breaks to help with chafing if a physical job. Just like night sweats aren’t directly affecting a woman at work but can’t have a knock on effect.

Don’t we just list them as general awareness because all symptoms are relevant actually?

Tan has just illustrated the point that women do not realise that this has very little to do with lub !

That is rubbish, lubricants are advised for some post menopausal women to aid sex. So if a worker has vaginal dryness then yes- lubricants may help. Other treatments are not something that an employer could provide as they require a prescription.

From the Mayo Clinic

To remedy vaginal dryness and painful intercourse (dyspareunia) associated with the genitourinary syndrome of menopause, your doctor might recommend:

Vaginal moisturizers (K-Y Liquibeads, Replens, others), applied every few days to moisturize and keep vaginal tissues healthy.
Vaginal lubricants (Astroglide, K-Y jelly, Sliquid, others), applied at the time of sexual activity to alleviate pain during intercourse.

Do they have a menstruation policy too?!

I really think that natural bodily functions should not be taboo and that there should be good personal health education by parents and teachers to children.

However, I think there can sometimes be a danger in introducing a whole load of policies in a workplace, which can make it appear that women are hormonally deranged for a fair chunk of their lives.

I want my dealings with my colleagues to be professional. I don't really want to know if Ben in finance has anal leakage because he's been going at it too hard with his boyfriend and neither do I want to know if Anna in marketing has vaginal dryness today.

If a colleague has a health issue (physical or mental) that is impacting their work and they need some time out or some adjustments made, then I expect HR to deal with that in a confidential and respectful way. If any of the staff concerned are part of my team, then I'll help them as far as I can, but I don't necessarily expect them to share intimate personal details with me.

Employers have a duty of care for staff but I'm not sure they need to be educating their workforce in ways that may seem too intimate or personal and if not carefully positioned could actually negatively impact some of their staff, who may consequently be perceived in unhelpful ways.

tan is exactly the kind of person that needs educated, I dare say about a lot more than the menopause. 🙄

I don’t see the point of doing this unless you are in some kind of health care setting. and then surely something more in-depth than a memo would be necessary.
Also, I would hope you have a good mix of ages and gender working in your environment, because a solitary female of menopausal age in your workplace may feel singled out by your memo and it wouldn’t be very nice to have your colleagues speculating about your symptoms.

My work is due to issue a menopause policy. I thought it was daft to start with but having spoken to women in my profession (firefighting) it really does affect them at work. Everything from not being able to access a toilet for hours when out at incidents to the rise of body temperatures which our ppe contains. We are only 2% of the whole workforce but I'll be glad of some of the recommendations when I hit the menopause in the not too distant future.
If it doesn't affect your work then I'm not sure why there's a policy.

I don’t know why you would know that Anna has vaginal dryness because a general awareness email went out listing some of the symptoms faced around menopause? Surely you wouldn’t only know that if Anna told you?

I wouldn’t know Bob has erectile dysfunction because I know he’s suffering from prostrate cancer just on virtue of an email listing some of the symptoms of prostate cancer. I would know that Bob may have some symptoms listed but he would have to specifically tell me which ones.

The email isn’t specific - it’s generic about an issue that affects half the workforce.

I'm not sure about this. I am going through menopause. I talk openly about it largely because sometimes I get an obvious hot flush, however, I have perhaps been quite lucky, my symptoms are very manageable and I have not experienced vaginal dryness (yet, fortunately). I have also been dealing with it for a considerable time now. I am not sure I'd expect any adjustments at work because of it. Obviously, it is good for people to be aware that it can have a profound effect on some people, certainly in terms of mood, memory loss and (for me) some joint discomfort that occasionally makes me complain loudly. I think it's OK to say out loud that you're having an off day and why. However, it's something we all have to deal with eventually and I am not convinced it has to become part of workplace policy.

If the problem is a "Menopause policy was required and many managers (men in particular) are clueless of the symptoms and haven’t been showing any understanding."

I would expect the email to focus on symptoms that may have repercussions on the workplace and what is expected of managers/other colleagues re accommodations.

I'm not squeamish and I'm perfectly happy for vaginas to be mentioned if it is relevant to do so, but a random email listing all the possible symptoms of menopause seems a little invasive/irrelevant to the work context.

There are so many health issues that affect the workforce though SandAndSeals.

I just wonder why a company needs to email staff about symptoms of the menopause. Why not diabetes, arthritis, eczema, asthma, obesity? Would all the overweight people in the office want an email going around about chaffing skin and yeast growth in their sweat folds? They may not suffer from those particular symptoms but now all their colleagues might be thinking that they do! I'm not sure I understand the benefit of these type of email in the workplace.

I am all for more awareness about menopause at work. Lots of us are working full time these days while dealing with hideous symptoms and its something workplaces should be more aware of. When my mum went through it she was nowhere near a workplace, but these days its different.

PS As I work in the public sector, its only a matter of time before we have a policy on it...

I’m not really talking about whether the menopause needed to be discussed at all (the women’s network in this company feels it doesn’t though, so really it’s their decision I think), but specially whether certain symptoms should have been censored.

Why do you think that ‘vaginal dryness’ should be removed from the symptom list when it is a symptom that women face? Why is it different from night sweats or irritability? Is it because it mentioned the word ‘vagina’ or for some other reason?

Vaginal dryness is not just an issue with penetrative sex. It can cause ongoing pain, itching, etc. Your vagina has lubrication in it permanently to keep it functioning okay, a much smaller amount than when having sex, but it is still present. So yes it can be an issue at work.

And many women seem to know very little about peri menopause before it actually happens.

Many of the responses to this thread disappoint me.

A lot of large organisations are implementing or have already implemented menopause policies. A combination of factors, not least due to more women in the workforce and an ageing population remaining in work for longer.

There are other threads on here where it becomes really clear how the menopause can affect women at work. I’ve read many posters who feel their career effectively ended when they went through the menopause; issues such as brain fog, taking longer to do or remember things, being very uncomfortable so needing a lot of breaks (this could be hot flushes, even the vaginal dryness everyone seems so worked up about), irregularities in mood.

If we expect and want women to work, and to do so for longer in life, we have to have employers that are geared up for what that might entail, particularly in the larger organisation which employ so much of the population and have the finance and expertise internally to devise such policies and initiatives. In this instance it’s about how the menopause can affect women physiologically and emotionally which has a bearing on their health and wellbeing, and ultimately their ability to do their job and function at work.

No one is asking line managers or colleagues to enquire or speculate as to the lubrication of the vaginas of women at work. It’s making clear to them that menopause isn’t just a ‘thing that happens’ that all women can sail through, and can be very difficult for some women. Inevitably that could impact on them at work, and may even cause specific and direct issues for them at work.

So when a line manager has an employee open up about the fact they’re finding things a bit tough because they’ve started the menopause, the line manager has some idea of the extent to which this could affect their employee, be sympathetic, and then do whatever needs doing in terms of OH assessments, adjustments, or simply just being understanding.

Organisations like this tend to also have a variety of other policies and awareness raising sessions in place, for all sorts of health and wellbeing topics. Many of which would have seemed unheard of discussing in the workplace only a few years ago.

And on the comments about menstruation, I don’t think it would hurt if people had a better idea about how that could be a factor at work. Frankly the workplace wasn’t exactly designed with women in mind, and some people and organisations are slowly trying to amend that. Which I welcome.