The Menopause Manifesto Quotes

“Women are gaslit into believing that their bodies - the very thing that allows them to hack the big brain-small pelvis equation - are problematic and that consequently they themselves are problematic. We're dirty, silly, fat, gross, weak, or we're simply complainers. We are forced to make do with a medical system largely designed around the needs of men and we have our medical concerns dismissed as "not that bad" or we are told they are fabricated.”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“Humans couldn’t have evolved to this point without the strength of women in menopause.”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“and menopause is no more a disease than being a man is a disease.”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“Another group of researchers compared women ages forty-five to fifty-five with men of the same age and found that women performed better than men with memory tasks before menopause, but during the menopause transition and afterward that advantage became less apparent. This point feels important enough to emphasize. Yes, there is a temporary change, but even with that change women still out-performed men.”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“Sometimes it can seem as if your body is a car with a new and completely different warning light that appears each day. An unwelcome exercise in, “Oh what now?”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“what the patriarchy thinks of menopause is irrelevant. Men do not get to define the value of women at any age.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“When a woman starts skipping two menstrual periods in a row there is a 95 percent chance her final menstrual period will be within the next four years.”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“It’s a penis, not a magic wand.”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“Now imagine a world where we said men were in erectopause?”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“It’s important to remember that nothing is experienced until your brain tells you it’s experienced.”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“I proclaim that we must stop viewing menopause as a disease, because that means being a woman is a disease and I reject that shoddily constructed hypothesis. I also declare that what the patriarchy thinks of menopause is irrelevant. Men do not get to define the value of women at any age.”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“This idea that there was a window of safety for starting MHT—meaning starting hormones closer to the final menstrual period is different risk-wise from starting later—was born and is now supported by an increasing amount of data.”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“There's a myth that with age the vagina risks a "use it or lose it" scenario - meaning without the potency of a penis the vagina may shrink permanently. It's simply shocking (imagine my voice dripping in sarcasm) that there's no similar myth that the penis can avoid shrinkage with regular vaginal contact. The "use it or lose it" theory was based on lower quality data that wouldn't be accepted today. Loss of estrogen and age related changes are what affect a vagina: it's not a lament for the touch of a man.”
― Jennifer Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“Women who are generally fit with no limiting health conditions should consider the exercise goals already discussed in previous chapters—at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (e.g., brisk walking) or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity (e.g., jogging or running) every week and strength training two or more days a week.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“When menopause is discussed in Western society, it’s often viewed negatively, as a cruel joke or even as a disease.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“And it seems there is no greater act of feminism than speaking up about a menopausal body in a patriarchal society. So let’s make some noise.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“I also declare that what the patriarchy thinks of menopause is irrelevant. Men do not get to define the value of women at any age.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“A manufacturer can legally advertise a supplement helps “maintain hormone health” or provides “ovary support” or “memory support” without defining those terms or providing evidence of, well, anything. These quasi-scientific terms are very effective marketing. Who doesn’t want to support their ovaries or their memory?”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“There are many issues with Big Pharma, but at least I know that every pill, patch, or cream I prescribe contains the dose that it claims.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“In 2015 the New York State attorney general investigated herbal products sold at GNC, Target, Walmart, and Walgreens, and 80 percent of the products didn’t contain any of the herbs on the labels. Yes, 80 percent. Another study in 2013 from the University of Guelph found up to one-third of supplements didn’t contain the botanicals claimed on the labels.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“Omega-3 fatty acids lower triglycerides, reduce atherosclerosis, and may lower blood pressure. Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids is often indicated for postmenopausal women”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“Fiber lowers the pH of stool, is anti-inflammatory, and inhibits the growth of potentially harmful bacteria while increasing absorption of some minerals.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“A diet high in refined carbohydrates has been linked with lower levels of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and thus increased levels of active or unbound estrogen and testosterone.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“Every misogynistic trope about hormones was successfully rebranded by Somers as feminism, and the absence of medical evidence and taking an unstudied hormone regimen were apparently advocating for oneself.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“A HEALTHY DIET IS ONE of the cornerstones of optimizing health across the menopause continuum, and yet less than 20 percent of women in the United States maintain a healthy diet during their menopause transition and beyond.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“Phytoestrogens are compounds found in plants that can mimic estrogen or interfere with estrogen.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“There are five major classes of phytoestrogens: isoflavones (the most well-known are genistein and daidzein), coumestans, prenylflavonoids, lignans, and stilbenes”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“These are important questions as a recent study that followed over 52,000 women for eight years linked three glasses of milk a day with an 80 percent increased risk of breast cancer.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“There are claims online that “estrogen stimulates and progesterone calms,” meaning all women need both hormones, but that’s not true. The reason for a progestogen is the uterus, although there are some exceptions (always the exceptions with menopause).”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism

“it’s important to remember the three healthiest things a woman can do for her menopause have nothing to do with menopausal hormone therapy (MHT)—they are quitting smoking, getting the recommended amount of exercise, and eating a diet that meets nutritional needs.”
― Jen Gunter, The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism