Menopause Is NOT a 4 letter word...
I was a guest on a radio program last week to promote my newest romance novel. During the interview, I mentioned the word menopause and I actually watched the host cringe. Cringe! For a second I grew a little anxious - was menopause, like George Carlin's famous 7 words - banned from radio? Had I committed a huge broadcasting faux pas in blurting out the word?
No, I hadn't. I realized after a moment, menopause is not a topic most men feel comfortable discussing. My own husband, who is a physician, doesn't like to talk about it with me.
This got me to thinking why? Any man married or with a woman between 50 and 60 years of age is going to experience the condition firsthand at one point. I had one of my first hot flashes at a huge graduation party with family and friends and when my sweating became painfully apparent, I watched the men seated around me run for the hills. In a nanosecond I cleared the table of all Y-gened humans, to be left with sympathetic - and napkin fanning - double X-genes who understood what I was going through.
What is it about the word MENOPAUSE that turns men into little cringeballs? Maybe they're remembering what their mothers were like during the time pre-hormone replacement therapy and symptomatic control. Maybe they're squeamish in general and talking about anything "lady parts related" makes them shudder. Maybe they're old fashioned and don't like seeing tampon commercials on television and hearing their womenfolk talk about "the change."
Whatever the reason guys, suck it up! If you love a woman - mother, wife, sister, girlfriend, aunt, niece, cousin - they are going to experience this...well... experience, at one time or another, so you will be a witness to a flash, a mood swing from hell, zombie-like sleepiness, etc. Deal with it.
We have to, so... so do you!
No, I hadn't. I realized after a moment, menopause is not a topic most men feel comfortable discussing. My own husband, who is a physician, doesn't like to talk about it with me.
This got me to thinking why? Any man married or with a woman between 50 and 60 years of age is going to experience the condition firsthand at one point. I had one of my first hot flashes at a huge graduation party with family and friends and when my sweating became painfully apparent, I watched the men seated around me run for the hills. In a nanosecond I cleared the table of all Y-gened humans, to be left with sympathetic - and napkin fanning - double X-genes who understood what I was going through.
What is it about the word MENOPAUSE that turns men into little cringeballs? Maybe they're remembering what their mothers were like during the time pre-hormone replacement therapy and symptomatic control. Maybe they're squeamish in general and talking about anything "lady parts related" makes them shudder. Maybe they're old fashioned and don't like seeing tampon commercials on television and hearing their womenfolk talk about "the change."
Whatever the reason guys, suck it up! If you love a woman - mother, wife, sister, girlfriend, aunt, niece, cousin - they are going to experience this...well... experience, at one time or another, so you will be a witness to a flash, a mood swing from hell, zombie-like sleepiness, etc. Deal with it.
We have to, so... so do you!
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