Menopause and Menstruation at work

[Angels1111]

There have been a load of seminars on menopause in the workplace recently at my work. The idea is to raise awareness and talk about how to manage symptoms. Managers are encouraged to make reasonable adjustments. This is similar at other workplaces.

I was just wondering why nothing is said about "managing the symptoms" of its younger sister, menstruation.
What am I completely missing?

If someone has a diagnosed period issue though then that's definitely a reasonable adjustment

I know people will say it's different but the amount of times I've been told it's just a period and to get on with it and everyone has them but my pain level is not a normal period and it's a diagnosed condition

Well yes, quite. Why are we talking about menopause 🤷‍♀️.

Although in all honesty, I don’t think the two (perfectly normal) stages of life, are equally comparable. Perhaps that’s why. But mainly.. my above pondering stands.

I think this is actually it. People (women) have campaigned loudly and successfully to get menopause to the top of the agenda. And good in them, I think it's long needed. But the corporate world doesn't do anything it doesn't think I'd in it's best interest or, let's face it, makes them look good. Look how quickly Google/meta et al are jumping off the "EDI bandwagon" as I recently saw it called, now they think it won't harm theur reputations.

I wish periods had been talked about 25-30 years ago. The amount of times I would flood, it would be running down my legs as I was running out the office to the loo. I spent years thinking this was normal, that changing tampons and pads hourly was normal, for at least 8 days. And the doubled over pain, I couldn't sometimes get out of the foetal position off my bed/couch/floor!

Sometimes a super plus tampon and pad would last me 45 mins.

I'm sure now though that that was not normal and there was possibly something else going on - please if anyone has any suggestions enlighten me

No, we didn’t want “equality”, we wanted equal opportunities and equal consideration.
We didn’t want to be treated the same, because we are not the same.
But we did want women’s needs and issues not to disadvantage them in the work place, because of the practice of regarding male as the norm.
(What we wanted was liberation from all that - and from the rest of the patriarchal stuff)

Why don't you organise sessions on this topic to raise awareness? You are right that a lot if being said about menopause and it's same in my company. The people doing this and raising awareness, providing support, etc. are doing so on a voluntary basis through ERGs and other employee networks. If you want something like this done, why not be the one to do it?

I wouldn't talk about anything to do with my reproductive system at work, unless i was obviously pregnant

Even privately to a manager if it meant you were close to losing your job over it? I didn't want to but there was very little choice

It is a fact of life that many women have awful issues during menopause.
It is also the case that ageism and sexism are rife in society and within the workplace.
Putting these together makes for middle aged and older women being disadvantaged by how their normal biological and ageing processes are seen.
We were just beginning to have this kind of discussion and acknowledgement in my workplace when I retired.
I would have welcomed some adjustments that helped women deal with flooding, brain fog, hot flushes and the rest, without disadvantaging them and making them feel embarrassed.

So people with medical issues who need reasonable adjustments are "weak and incapable"? I hope you don't work anywhere you have any dealings with other people.

These perfectly natural functions can have a huge impact on women's lives and they are not just trying to get an easy ride.
Would you say that anyone needing reasonable adjustments to allow them to carry out their work to the level of a physically and mentally well, able bodied man, as that seems to be your benchmark, is just bleating and making themselves look weak and incapable?

The clue is in the name - 'reasonable' adjustments.

Lol.

Equality doesn't mean being treated the same. A wheelchair user doesn't achieve equality by living in a building with no ramp.

OP I hope this could be the beginning of wider discussion around the particular challenges that menstruation brings for women. Although, even within chat around menopause, there isn't a great deal centered on difficulties caused by the actual bleeding. I hear lots and lots about brain fog but little about flooding.

@DickEmery A wheelchair user doesn't achieve equality by living in a building with no ramp.

Nor do they achieve it by living in a building with a ramp. Nor do they get an average of 21+ days off being a wheelchair user. It is very offensive to compare menstruation, a very normal bodily function, with a permanant and severe disability. Some women do have signficant problems with their reproductive system, but I'd be interested in how many would exchange those for living in a wheelchair every day for the rest of your life.

Which is why I said it was a fine line

I don’t think there will be a wider discussion about periods until Davina McCall discovers them and writes a book. See also:- The Menopause.

There was recently a case or a law passed I can't remember which, that means employers now need to make allowances for menopause such as with pregnancy. I'm not sure about periods, I guess particular issues with them could come under medical, which pregnancy and menopause could do too but are slightly more complex with attached social attitudes

One of my workplaces has a Menstruation and Menopause Rep so perhaps awareness is growing?

I'm not comparing anything; I'm demonstrating that equality is not "treating everyone the same" and alluding to the fact that "treating everyone the same" actually entrenches inequality.

To expand on the example of our wheelchair user : ten people work in a building that can only be accessed by steps. Nine of them are not wheelchair users, one of them is a wheelchair user. The wheelchair user requests that the employer builds a ramp. The employer refuses to build a ramp. Working on the principle that equality means "treating everyone the same", the employer states that by requiring the wheelchair user to walk up the steps to access work, he is enabling the wheelchair user to achieve equality by treating him the same as everyone else.

Because it’s recently been realised that it impacts on women more than was (officially) thought, and it’s a current “thing”. There’s always a current “thing”.
This may result in some women having a better experience, which is all to the good. Or people may continue to dismiss it as a lot of fuss about nothing.

I had a terrible menopause and HRT pretty much saved my career. I was able to talk about it to close colleagues (middle-aged teachers, like me), which at least gave a feeling of solidarity. I think it’s being a bit overblown at the moment.

IME the least sympathetic people with regard to menstruation/menopause problems are women who haven’t experienced any problems themselves, especially female GPs. Men have been sympathetic and supportive.

We need equity, not to be treated identically. Life is harder for women, cycles, growing babies, menopause, bone density decline.

Men and women s bodies are not the same, our differences need to be supported so we can reach equity.

Men also have x17 times more testosterone than women. This impacts their brains, it doesn't make them Better, it makes then more reactive, aggressive and domineering. They don't consider repercussions as well as women, they just bulldoze on. Male entitlement is not questioned sufficiently and female modesty in respect of bodily functions protects men and the patriarchy.

Menopause isn't trendy either

This is a scary thread. I work with a lot of men who haven’t been to the doctors in a decade (and boast about it)! I refuse to apologise for explaining to them why not everyone is the same as them, ie breaks are appropriate in long meetings for people who might need to use the loo due to pregnancy, menstruation or a number of other reasons. For those who say “we wanted equality” - yeah, and that means the right to have a whole life career, just like they do, including the messy bits. The fact that we have more messy bits sucks, but for every 2 parents there is at least on pregnancy!
OP, completely agree, my workplace is the same and I’m always baffled there is nothing about pregnancy or menstruation.

Yes! These are the sort of reasonable adjustments I mean. We sometimes have 4+ hour meetings with only one break about 2/3rds of the way through. It's hard enough when I'm not on my period, but would be SO uncomfortable if I was. Making it a thing that there is a 5 minute break every hour would help everyone - those who need it can use the facilities, or stretch, refill their water bottle etc.

Yeh my previous workplace discussed both side by side