The Crass Medicalization of Menopause

Cross-posted from WIMN’s Voices:

Yahoo is running an ad on its homepage for Know Menopause. Being the average age for the onset of menopause, I naturally clicked it and (oh this was so predictable) landed on a website run by Wyeth, a company that surprise, surprise is a major player in th hormone replacement biz.

A really nice while blond lady gives an introduction to the site and then invites you to click on the “experts” As you click each one, they walk to the front of the screen and give their spiel. Actually it is pretty fun to watch them walk back and forth, and especially to pause between the parts of their presentation. Each part of the presentation makes sure that you understand that menopause has symptoms, and of course it’s up to you, but they can be treated. They even provide helpful information on alternative therapies–they haven’t been tested as safe or effective (and the drug companies don’t plan to test them because they can’t profit from them). Of course, none of the natural remedies come with the small print warning at the bottom of the screen:

“Hormone therapy isn’t right for all women, and it doesn’t prevent heart disease. Hormone therapy may increase your chance of heart attack, stroke, breast cancer, blood clots, or dementia, and should be taken at the lowest effective dose for the shortest time based on your goals and risks. If you have a uterus, estrogens increase the risk of uterine cancer.”

The website also invites you to hear the stories of real, live white women. Perhaps because white women are more likely to be able to afford Wyeth’s products?

From start to finish, this website is a crass and insulting effort to promote the medicalization of menopause with little regard for the negative health implications that may have for women’s lives.