Any gender can come to our work menopause cafe

[EachandEveryone]

Is that right? Im pleased work are acknowledging it as we are a 90% female workforce.mim just wondering why any gender is welcome? Before i drop myself in it is this the norm?🤔

It can be either I think, depends what the aim of the event is.

Could you 'seek clarification' and ask if they mean any sex, or any gender?
And reflect that you expected a place to talk about menopause to be a safe space?

Yes, I guess what is the purpose.

Is it for women to talk about how menopause can, has, might impact them? And discuss coping mechanisms, with the output to be recommendations to leadership team, for example?

Or is it for woke bros to show how woke they are,loudly and to reduce women on how they're menopausing wrong?

What is this obsession with women and cakes? Any meeting we have cake is always mentioned in the poster.

What a crock of shit.

Any gender should be able to come, as long as they of the female SEX.
Seek clarification…

Any gender can go through the menopause, as long as they are female.

I'd not mind if a transman or non-binary person came, as long as their sex is female. Menopause happens exclusively to females, and I'd want it to be a space for just females - some people find it really hard to talk about generally, so only those who can/will/have gone through it should be present if a mixed crowd puts people off.

However - I do think male managers could do with learning about Menopause and how it can affect women they manage. Brain fog, hot flushes, irritability - very common, and women going through it could do with some consideration.

Ask them to clarify if its sex or gender. No biological male needs to be in that group. If males need help with a menopausal partner then they can set up their own group.

Our company approach is that by including men it improves understanding and makes it less of a taboo.

Wouldn't want to be at a menopause meeting with men in dresses. Would be fine to be there with women who present as men. It's a woman thing. No men, not even to validate their phoney womanhood or excite their fetishes.

I’d treat it a bit like sex education in primary school - some sessions are for both sexes combined, some are single sex sessions.
OP, at the first meeting, I’d suggest setting dates for single sex sessions (of either variety of sex)

I wouldn't want to be discussing flooding periods, vaginal irritation, increased bodily odour, increased urination and night sweats in front of male-bodied people.

All of which are things that some menopausal women may suffer from. In fact, I don't like talking about them apart from with close female friends or my husband. On the other hand, it might give some male people a well-deserved insight into why women like female-only loos.

Agree that it depends on the purpose of the group.

If it's a support/safe space to vent about how shite the menopause is group, then obviously women only. Female exclusive.

On the other hand, DH is on the "menopause group" at his work, it's about a 50/50 split and they get together once a month to discuss what the business can do to support women in the menopause or peri-menopause. It's less a support group, more of a practical steps group, and entirely appropriate that he is included - he is in charge of one of the shifts. The other three managers are on it too - two other men, one woman.

Plus DH does have experience of menopause through living with me for the past 5 years.

It's because people believe that men pretending to be women can have the menopause now.
It's some kind of psychosis spreading over the land.

... yeah if it's a mixed sex group, I would opt straight out. YMMV, but not all female people are going to feel able to attend something obviously intended for female people, since this applies only to female people. I'm also not going to disclose to male staff what my menstrual cycle and body is currently doing. Again YMMV, but for me, no, really really not going to happen.

I get the impression the world is full of incredibly cool and liberated women. Sometimes that vigorous expression of coolness starts to become excluding rather than helpful.

I'd assume its on the off chance there is a trans man working there

@Gizlotsmum

Our company approach is that by including men it improves understanding and makes it less of a taboo.

Same for my employer. Raising awareness and understanding, in the same way hetro people are welcome at LGBT events/meetings

If it’s for people going through or approaching menopause then the ability to go through menopause is necessary. If it’s open to everyone and about ‘raising awareness’ of the impact of menopause in the workplace it’s wankfrippery anyway - with or without cake.

@Soontobe60

I’d treat it a bit like sex education in primary school - some sessions are for both sexes combined, some are single sex sessions. OP, at the first meeting, I’d suggest setting dates for single sex sessions (of either variety of sex)

That sounds sensible.

No idea what 'gender' has to do with it. Except perhaps for early menopause as a result of FtM transitioning?

n the same way hetro people are welcome at LGBT events/meetings

And in the same way the LGBT+ people may then begin to opt out because they are not a spectator sport. And Pride having become a straight corporate festival that a lot of LGBT+ people now avoid.

It's all very lovely, but it has its downsides and it does begin to exclude the core group via this lovely mission creep.

I can't imagine many women going through the unpleasant time that is the menopause would want to discuss these symptoms in front of anyone but others who will experience similar.

They may just mean “men and women are welcome” in a finding out more about menopause and how to support colleagues, partners, friends, etc, way. What else does the invite say about the purposes of the “cafe”.?

Is it actually called "Menopause Cafe"? As those are set up as a free for everyone informal non educational chat about menopause.

www.menopausecafe.net/

Generally it's a space for people to talk about menopause so for instance at some of the ones I've been to men have attended to find out how to help their partners. However it is not menopause training - are they offering the training separately?