Monetising Menopause?

First it was the airbrush, that so called wondrous eraser tool usually deployed by middle aged male photographers that trampled most 'normal' people's self esteem and regardless of age set the 'I feel so inadequate' mantra quiet as a poisonous gas, so firmly into the psyche. The effortless swoosh of a small icon eradicating chunks (ok, slithers) of 'fat'/skin in nanoseconds serving up the squeamish consumer with constant dollops of insurmountable flawlessness. Cue the nauseating bouts of negative self contemplation. Of course it all went back to the same root, profitability. This 'perfectly manicured' picture story was trying to sell you something. It wanted you to feel hopeless because it is precisely that internal weakness that it preys on. You buy said miracle product/object/clothing and surprise, not much changes. And yet somewhere this glimmer of a product being able to make us better/more desirable/have a better life is repeated, by us. We do it, we actively and repeatedly buy into it

As Billie Eilish once penned, 'if teardrops could be bottled there'd be swimming pools filled by models.'

Complicit in the mute fraud.

But there's new kids on the block targeting women of a certain age - the menopause marketeers. Becoming increasingly less taboo now that some women in the public eye are beginning to talk about it openly menopause manfestations are a hot topic - night sweats (Naomi Watts), palpitations (Oprah Winfrey), sleep problems (Davina McCall). This new frankness amongst famous and importantly, older women to talk about what was previously a taboo subject is actively carving out a change of attitude towards menopause and abating ageism in general. Point in case Michelle Yeohs' words at the Oscars last night accepting her award for Best Actress; 'And ladies don't let anybody ever tell you you are past your prime.' This cultural turn dovetailing to nestle neatly into the post pandemic reality of a growing candour and acceptance to talk about mental health.

With this prominence and the fact that we are an ageing population, savvy businesses are eyeing up the promise of the inevitable 'menopausal gold rush.' Recent research indicates that the global market for menopausal products is forecast to increase from $15bn to $24bn in the next ten years. The audience is waiting in the wings for the onslaught of the shiny new 'miracle' products and trying to remember to proceed with caution towards so called 'perfection.'

Because what do we actually need in the time of our menopause? To make it more bearable? Is it just another way to buy more services and products that we might not need a la Valentines and Mothers Day ?Growing up my own mum and grandmother's menopausal comforts were stark indeed. In fact it was hardly mentioned; as a child I was totally unaware of any woman going through uncomfortable symptoms that book marked the end of a phase and foray into the next. Their help during menopause was probably mostly 'get the hell on with it' and maybe some badly researched HRT.

So now as the space in the market widens and fills, prepare for some seriously skewed marketing hype. Products that don't necessarily help anything other than the profit margin on menopausal styled crutches that promise to make us 'cooler, calmer, pleasant and content.' Which then begs another question of whether we are buying into an industry that is encouraging us to 'fix' ourselves. All of this unfurling into middle age is a natural phenomenon that our body and mind is working through - should we allow it to just get on with it as it knows best, like when a mother's body knows instinctively how to grow a baby or like going through puberty and healing wounds?

And maybe spend the money instead on good food and eating well rather than exorbitant supplements and beauty products that pertain to solve all of the peri and menopausal 'inadequacies?'

Spare a thought next time you come across a menopausal marketing slogan as to whether you might really just be propping up the purse of a new wave of 'meno-preneurs.'