During their middle age period, many women complain about menopause out loud, and everyone within earshot will soon know their complaints. However, in 2001 a woman going through menopause started an unintended support group for menopausal women with her tongue-in-cheek play, "Menopause Out Loud." From its humble start in a small theater atmosphere of a local perfume shop, the movement caught on with the millions of women in all stages of the mid-life "change." Those just beginning to experience the changes, those in the middle of it all and those who have made it through can all relate to the message being delivered.
Most women in menopause will discuss what they are going through with their close friends and some will talk about it with their spouse and doctor. However Menopause Out Loud allows them to know they are not alone as they go through the changes of life. As hormone imbalances seem to be an everyday occurrence, for most it helps to know they are not alone in what they are feeling.
The success of Menopause Out Loud could be due to how it can relate to virtually every female over the age of 40. While there is no established schedule for a woman to go through menopause, typically it will last from between 40 and 60 years of age with an average of 51 years. With Menopause Out Loud women of all ages can relate to the message being offered.
Celebration Puts Their Misery Into Words
By changing the lyrics of popular songs, Menopause Out Loud allows women to voice their complaints in a fun way and in a friendly and understanding environment. For many women, the seriousness of the symptoms, especially depression, can be tempered with humor and Menopause Out Loud allows them to do just that. For example, songs such as "Stayin' Alive" has been changed to "Stayin' Awake" to mock insomnia often associated with menopause. This and other problems are highlight through music.
For years women tended to suffer in silence about going through the change of life with whispered comments about her sanity when there were brief outbreaks of irritability. Today, Menopause Out Loud has taken the discussion into a public venue as a sort of help group for women in all stages of menopause. No longer willing to suffer silently, Menopause Out Loud offers women the chance to express how the life changing process affects them, their families and their quality of life.
