Cultural Realities VS Myths: Unveiling Menopause Experiences in Black and Asian Women

“BAME women don’t go through the menopause. At least that’s the message being told to countless Black and Asian women in the UK. Look at posters in doctors’ surgeries, or do a quick image search on Google, and you’ll likely be met by images of white women with grey hair, invariably clutching a fan.” 

Damn that’s horrifying. Obviously, the poster itself is not saying that only white women go through menopause, but it is an indicator of how other races are treated during their menopause. 

This article is 3 years old, but I believe it still has validity:

https://www.redonline.co.uk/wellbeing/a35934384/black-and-asian-women-menopause/ 

EVERY SINGLE WOMAN IN THE WORLD GOES THROGH MENOPAUSE. 

Plain and simple. 

Women get belittled and shamed when trying to speak with their doctor about menopause. I’ve felt it, haven’t you? I am white, I am privileged, and I am not afraid to take my inner menopause bitch and unleash it on any doctor, male or female, who looks at me like I am making these symptoms up. 

It took a long, long time to find my voice with doctors. 

How long will it take you to find your voice?  

How many of your menopause symptoms do you ignore because you just do not want to put one foot back in that doctors office? 

What problems, NOT associated with menopause, do you disregard because, well, the doctor put you in your place with menopause didn’t they? Maybe it’s all in your head.  

I have ignored many symptoms possibly not associated with menopause. One was colitis. Not fun. My doctor dismissed my stomach pain as menopausal. I shouldn’t have ignored it. I ended up in the ER twice and it was severely painful. But my doctor, my white, female doctor, told me it was menopausal weight gain. I fired her ass and wrote a complaint to the insurance company. 

Why any doctor cannot treat each and every one of us with dignity and respect, as per their oath, is heartbreaking. And how they dismiss our symptoms is reprehensible. 

More from the article: 

“Although menopause is being discussed more than ever (about time as the definition was coined in 1821), the narrative isn’t culturally diverse. Take this year’s musical Cruising Through Menopause or Nicole Kidman’s series, Nine Perfect Strangers, all featuring menopausal women, but not one of colour.” 

Google famous menopause women and you get a more diverse community that is trying to stand up for women in Menopause. But they are not doctors. 

Angelina Jolie, Michelle Obama, Salma Hayek, Shania Twain · Tracee Ellis Ross · Drew Barrymore · Gayle King · Beverly Johnson ·  Sophie, Countess of Wessex. 

But all I see them doing though is waiving off a hot flash now and then or giving an interview once in a blue moon. They have a much bigger voice than you or I and one comment every year about menopause from each of them just doesn’t cut it. They need to be more vocal. So do we. 

Now, lets look at doctor demographics which you can find anywhere on Google: 

Percentage of active physicians by race/ethnicity.

56.2% identified as White

17.1% identified as Asian

5.8% identified as Hispanic

5.0% identified as Black or African American

Note that the race for 13.7% of active physicians is Unknown, making that the largest subgroup after White and Asian 

Not a lot of diversity there. 

Now after looking up the genders of these doctors, at least more doctors are women than ever before. 

BUT, THEY ARE STILL GETTING PAID ONLY 85% OF WHAT MEN MAKE 

Was I ranting? My apologies.

Part of the BAME article is about Karen Arthur:

“It took Karen three years of research to conclude she was menopausal. That the depression she was experiencing actually related to a hormonal drop she faced with menopause.

She now runs Menopause Whilst Black, an Instagram account and podcast sharing other Black women’s stories of menopause. She says this is 'essentially because, very little out there resonates for other Black women': 'There was nothing out there for women like me. The menopause landscape at the moment is incredibly pale.'

'Once we diversify the menopause landscape, everyone wins'

And although conversations about menopause are opening up, they’re not opening up for everyone. 'There’s a lot of white women making a lot of noise, but there aren't Black women making noise,' she adds. 'It's not that we don't exist. It's that we’re not seen', and – with the whole Black Lives Matter movement – she says: 'I feel at the moment there’s something about expecting Black women to only talk about race'.

When it comes to research around Black British women and menopause, Karen says she was shocked by how little was out there: 'The last survey was in 2007 on BAME women and HRT. It featured just three Black British women, and concluded more work was needed'...”

A ton of more work is needed.

We need all women to speak up.

·        Start a free blog.

·        Join a menopause group on Facebook or wherever floats your boat.

·        Complain to your insurer that your doctor is not listening to you.

Do something.

Our daughters, granddaughters, great granddaughters need us to speak up now, so they don’t get dismissed the way we do.