The Menopause Manifesto: Get to know the facts to help you take control  

Bestselling author Dr Jen Gunter is on a mission. The US gynaecologist wants all women to know the menopause is a passing phase, not an endpoint. She talks to Marjorie Brennan about  hormone treatment, mental health and lifestyle choices

'I want to tell women that menopause is not a sign of irrelevance, it is not the end, it is a phase of life.' Picture: iStock 

According to Dr Jen Gunter, there is no greater act of feminism than speaking up about a menopausal body in a patriarchal society. To hammer the point home, the cover of her latest book, The Menopause Manifesto, features a megaphone — and Gunter most certainly isn’t afraid to wield this particular metaphorical device, whether it is on social media, her column in The New York Times or in her Amazon Prime series, Jensplaining, which highlights the impact of medical misinformation on women.

Given that most women will spend one-third, or even one-half, of their lives post-menopausal, it is not a topic that is much discussed. When it is mentioned, it is often with a negative or demeaning overtone. Gunter, a gynaecologist, obstetrician, and best-selling author of The Vagina Bible, has been at the forefront of efforts to change this perspective. Speaking to me from her home in San Francisco, I tell her about the recent revelatory airing of women’s experience around the menopause on RTÉ's Liveline programme. Is the taboo on the subject lifting? Gunter is wary but optimistic.