Last March, Halle did an event in Los Angeles with Dr. Jill Biden about women’s health. Halle shared a story about how one morning after sex, it felt like she had “razor blades” in her vajayjay. Her doctor told her it was herpes, but it ended up being a perimenopausal symptom. A few months later, while speaking before Congress to push for legislation that would provide more funding for research and education on menopause, Halle shared that she had a male doctor who told her that she “didn’t look like” she was in menopause. Now, Halle has started a new company called Respin Health that aims to destigmatize women’s health and build a support community. It will also educate and empower women to make informed decisions about their body. In a recent appearance on Today, Halle revealed that people tried to talk her out of talking about menopause for the sake of her career.
On Feb. 18, the Oscar winner appeared on the Today Show to discuss her new company, Respin Health, which focuses on building a community for women navigating menopause. “When women have access to a robust community of like-minded women, they automatically start to do better,” the 58-year-old says.
Saturday TODAY co-anchor Laura Jarrett noted that although it sounds “ridiculous,” it feels like menopause is finally having a moment, with more people willing to have conversations about it.
Berry said at first she was discouraged from pursuing the passion project: “Sadly, people said to me, ‘Are you sure you want to talk about that? Do you want to align yourself with menopause? Do you worry how that will affect your career?’ And I said, ‘No.’”
“And that’s exactly why I should be talking about it because there’s nothing wrong with me being in my mid-life,” the actress continued. “There’s nothing wrong with being 58, and you have to stop telling me there’s something wrong with me. And I’m going to prove to you that it’s not. And so women, we have to work together to destigmatize this time of life and change culture.”
The Catwoman star encouraged other women going through menopause to lean into their health more and understand what’s happening to their bodies.
“Women find when they start educating themselves that they can make decisions from a place of power, and then they feel empowered and they don’t feel so hopeless during this half,” she explained. “It’s not time to sit down. It’s time to reinvent. It’s time to have a beautiful, glorious second act. We can still be our fabulous selves, but we have to learn how.”
During menopause, Berry added, “everything about our body changes, right? But that’s not to be feared. We just need education to navigate that time.”
Of course people would try to discourage Halle from speaking out about menopause and blame it on her career. She’s Halle Berry. She’s had worse gossip days than talking about vaginal lacerations and hot flashes, and her career is doing just fine. I’m glad she didn’t listen to the naysayers and is moving full-speed ahead with her mission. I love the idea. It sort of reminds me of what BabyCenter and The Bump do to guide people through pregnancy. I cannot tell you how much I learned about what I was experiencing and what to expect through their articles and message boards. I was 30 when my first son was born, but still the first in my friends group to be pregnant, so I had no peers to talk to. I’d be down to creep on a menopause version. I already get so much education just by reading the comments here.
Photos via Instagram/Halle Berry and credit Getty