Actress Halle Berry shouted about having menopause while flanked by members of the Senate on the Capitol Hill steps on Friday.
The Hollywood star was accompanying lawmakers who just unveiled the Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act, which seeks to provide $275 million towards research, awareness, and training doctors about menopause care.
“I have menopause!” Berry shouted while standing at a podium.
The star told a story about her doctor allegedly refusing to say the word "menopause" during a recent visit.I was at the doctor three days ago, and I wanted to talk to him about an issue, and I said to him, “You know why I’m having this issue, right?” And he says, “Yes, I know.” I said, “Tell me, why am I having this issue?” He said, “You tell me why you’re having the issue.” I said, “No, you tell me why I’m having the issue.” And we went back and forth: “You tell me, you tell me, you tell me.”
I finally realized he wasn’t gonna say it, so I thought, “Okay, I have to do what no man can do. I have to say it.” I said, “I’m in menopause! Okay? And that’s why I’m having this issue!” And he said, “Oh my God, I could never say that to you. Look at you. You don’t look like you’re in menopause. I could never say that, and if I said that to my female clients, they’d punch me.”
“I knew that is why I’m here doing this work, because it has to be destigmatized,” Berry continued. “The shame has to be taken out of menopause. We have to talk about this very normal part of our life that happens.”
Berry continued, “Our doctors can’t even say the word to us, let alone walk us through the journey of what our menopausal years look like, or our years after that.”
“So when I have these moments, real moments that happen to me, I know that every other woman around this country are having these real moments as well,” the actress said. “They’re lost, they’re afraid, they don’t have direction, and they need help.”
TMZ noted, "While Halle's heart is certainly in the right place, the reactions to her menopause proclamation -- and this bill in general -- are a bit mixed ... some feel it's simply not that serious or deserving of this kind of spotlight."
"Don't tell Halle that though ... she's all fired up about this," the TMZ report concluded.
